Earl Grey Cheesecake

I’ve been camping since friday morning and I just got back today, and it feels good to be home. I enjoy camping for the most part, but for some reason my family just loves the campground with the beaten down trailers and pink lawn flamingoes, and the tattered rebel flags wavin’ proud while old toothless men sit around drinking bud light and blasting country music. I’m not being judgemental, that’s just not my scene.

I had to listen to one too many conversations about how terrible a president Obama is, how he’s “a foreigner and a muslim and he should be assasinated” and things of that nature. All this has left me in a bad mood. One of the most resounding sentences that I heard come out of someone’s mouth was “Now I ain’t racist or nothin’, but I just don’t think that an african-american or a muslim should be running this country”. WOW. Sometimes I just have my mind blown by just how bigoted and mean and misled and racist some people can be. So yeah, I’m really glad to be home.

Anyway, on to the tea. I definitely am starting to see what Liberteas said about letting this tea sit for a little bit. I’m already starting to notice a creaminess coming out that was totally absent before, it’s not quite cheesecake but it’s good. Along with that, the bergamot is starting to mellow out and taste a little more natural. I better enjoy my stash while I can because my tea budget just went out the window after I bought my girlfriend a very expensive piece of jewelry for her 18th birthday. I’ll enjoy this stuff while I have it.

Okay, I think 52teas is officially my favorite tea company ever. Not only do they make delicious, addictive teas, but I placed an order on Friday night and it arrived TODAY!!!

Alright, on to this tea. I love Earl Grey, in fact, the Earl is possibly THE tea that got me into the tea habit. This is a very strongly flavored Earl, but not off-putting at all. I am pleasantly surprised that the cheesecake is so noticeable and complimentary to the bergamot. I also like the addition of the Darjeeling which seems to add a bit extra. Wow, this stuff is good.

And the best part is that I have 2 other pouches to dig into tonight!

I suspect that I looked like a kid on christmas morning when I pulled this out of my Fire Sale box from Rachel. I knew it would be good stuff, but I was expecting samples…. not, you know, several practically full bags of awesome discontinued/unavailable teas. That’s right, I have a whole bag of this! Which is nice, because it’s so good it makes me cry a little to think about drinking the last of it.

The bf had a sip from my cup and described this as “earl grey with a slice of cheesecake melted in.” It’s just…. perfection. The earl grey is very strong, pretty heavy on the bergamot actually, and with a hint of lemon as well. First you get the bold, super-strong earl grey, then there’s the creamy, sweet cheesecake. There’s no crust element, it’s more like cheescake filling. But for me that’s the best part!

EDIT: I resteeped this twice last night: the second steep was even cheescakey-er than the first, and the third held up well too!

Wow just wow – can I just say that Frank at 52 Teas knows how to do cheesecake blends? HE DOES! I am not a huge fan of Earl Grey … I don’t hate it I just don’t reach for it often but I had to try this and I thank Amanda for generously sharing this with me its SO good I don’t know if I could share if I had it in my stash! LOL its THAT good!
This should be brought back!
OMG I just went to the site and it HAS been brought back! LOL WIN!

I couldn’t wait – I had to rip into my bag as soon as it came this morning! eee!

It smells very lovely, nice and strong earl with a hint of something else… could it be cheesecake? ;)

Oh it tastes wonderful! It’s like an Earl Grey creme but with cheesecake notes instead of vanilla! I added a bit of cream and sugar after the first few sips, because that’s how I like my Earls, and mm it does not disappoint.

I am getting a creamy, slightly tangy cheesecake taste that gets stronger and stronger as the tea cools down. I know as the tea ages a bit it will intensify even more, so I’m looking forward to that!
As far as the Earl base goes – it’s nice and strong, not for the faint of bergamot heart, and a bit floral. I like that :)

Blog review in the future!

Another sample from momo.

Eh, I’m not a huge fan of Earl grey, but I was hoping for more with this tea. I mean, it’s not bad. Hot it’s not very good. I just tasted bergamot, and didn’t get any cheesecake. Chilled it’s better, and I’m starting to get those desert notes. Actually, it’s really not that bad chilled. I’m probably just being too hard on this tea. I really wanna like Earl Grey, but it’s so hard. This tea is definitely not as and as a straight Earl Grey, though.

I think I’m going to do a cold brew next time and see how I feel after that. Not like I can order more or anything …

Out with the old – in with the new. Since clearing out my cupboard I thought I should reward myself with opening a new tea.

I really love this one – its so smooth, even for an EG! And that’s without sweetener! Rarely can I drink any kind of EG without sweetener. The bergamot doesn’t overwhelm. The cheesecake is there in all of it’s tangy, creamy glory! And the tea base is a nice sturdy one. Dare I say the perfect trifecta!

Having said that, I look forward to playing around with this. I’m curious if my older tea habits of dirtying up a perfectly good tea will sully this stellar offering. But that will have to wait another day…

Look, a tasting note!

The base on this is very smooth… its softer than the bases from previous black teas that I’ve had from 52teas. So, bravo Frank!

Now, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a huge bergamot fan to begin with, and I’m especially fond of bergs with a creamy or vanilla bit to them. I’m also fond of cheesecake. That means what we have here is a win/win/win… win.

This tea is fairly sweet all on its own, so careful with the sugar, friends! It’s not cloying, mostly due to the sharp citrus element to it, but I think you could hurt this if you were overzealous with the sweetener :)

Anyway, num nums. Glad I picked some of this up :)

I drove to class just to find out it had been canceled, so I’ve got some extra time this morning in which to drink tea!

By now you are probably all aware of my love affair with cheesecake (if not, just look at a picture of my stomach and/or thighs and you’ll see just how much I enjoy the stuff) so I had to buy this. The smell of the dry leaf was very lemony and tangy. The steeped tea smells almost exactly the same as the leaf only slightly less strong. This seems promising!

I’d say there’s about a 3:1 ratio here of Earl Grey to cheesecake. The earl grey seems to be of a high quality, and it is delicious and full of great citrus (bergamot, actually) taste. The cheesecake is more of a lingering taste on the back of your tongue, but it is there. I don’t know how much of an actual cheesecake taste this is. It’s more of an Earl Grey Creme. However, this is still great. My mouth is quite happy.

OK… so you know I had to order this one – I mean, Earl Grey? Cheesecake? YUM!

The aroma reminds me a bit of an Earl Grey creme.

Nice! The flavor has a nice bergamot taste and I like how it pairs with the cheesecake. Of the several cheesecake flavors that I’ve tried from 52Teas/Zoomdweebies, I think that this is the strongest distinct cheesecake flavor.

The tea base is also quite nice… I like the touch of Darjeeling in there, it adds some interest in the flavor – it seems a little lighter and a little more complex. I like it… and really glad I ordered it so that I can spend a little more time with it!

This sample comes to me thanks to Azzrian! Thanks!

I approach this tea with some trepidition. On one hand, Earl Grey and cheesecake sound just like the kind of flavor combo I would adore. On the other, I have never had success with 52teas in the past. For some reason, they just don’t sit right with my palate, which I always am sad about because he always blends the most interesting flavors.

So yeah, this tea. The aroma of the steeped tea is really interesting. The bergamot is almost floral to my nose, and I can definitely pick out the creamy, sharp, slightly sour cheesecake. It smells like a tea I would really like. First sip, seems good! Not a hint of bitterness from the black tea base. A decently strong bergamot without bitterness there, as well, and for once I do actually taste the creamy cheesecake flavor in a 52teas tea. The bergamot has a lovely floral nature that I think is being partly brought out by the tang of the cheesecake, and it works well (helps that I love florals). I still am not the biggest fan of Assam and so I would prefer this on a Chinese or Ceylon base, and there is perhaps the tiniest hint of a bitter-citrus note in the aftertaste that kind puts a little damper on things. But on the whole it is a delicious tea and you can color me impressed.

Another very old sample from my box of goodies from LiberTeas – thank you! This is one that made it to the bottom of the basket otherwise I would have drank it all down in the first place. I am not a huge fan of the old 52Teas base and I don’t really enjoy Earl Grey but I DO love cheesecake! I am thinking that the improper storage will have hurt this one though, I don’t get any earl or cheesecake aroma from the dry leaf. Everything in that basket of samples took on a weird aroma which I STILL haven’t identified but really don’t enjoy. Let this be a lesson to all of Steepster: store your samples properly and use them quickly!

Steeped, I get that funky smell (I think it was a mix of Pancake Breakfast and Buttered Popcorn, neither of which I really enjoyed) and a hit of something that puts me in mind of coconut. Bad sign. Da*n you Uniquity-from-the-past for your carelessness!

Unfortunately, the taste is about what I expected. Some astringency, no bergamot or cheesecake. I’ll just toss the rest of this and move on to something else. I bet it would have been wonderful if I had tried it a year ago, heh.

I decided to cold steep this and I am so glad I did! I’ve always just brewed double strength and poured over ice for EGs and I was curious what this one would be like especially. I’ve not had a Earl Grey creme of sorts ever, but I get the feeling I should try one! Then again, with this one, who needs that?

It comes off as pretty strong on the bergamot but the tangy creaminess keeps it under control, no citrus cleaner taste here. It’s also pretty floral, but the cheesecake just really brings it all together. I’ll have to of course try it hot and the other iced tea way too, but cold steeping works quite well!

This was the other tea I got in my package today! My mom was helping me pick a tea from all my new ones to try. She saw this one and said “This. One for me too.”

Her comments on it were “Mmmm, good” Nice, and simple!

To me, it’s a very nice Earl Grey. But I think it may be covering up the cheesecake though :( I added some sugar and milk, hoping to make the flavors pop as with the Butterbeer. Ok, I can taste a bit of the creamy, tangy cheesecake flavor. But it’s still really subtle. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be stronger or if I brewed it weird or what. I have noticed that with some 52teas, there seem to be really specific brewing parameters to get a good flavor. At least I have plenty to experiment with!

I consider the fact that this came out the week of my birthday to have been fate. Earl Grey, my favorite tea, combined with cheesecake, one of the more delicious desserts. Of course I grabbed it.

I was surprised when my order came today although I guess it has been 4 business days. Still, the post office has not exactly been inspiring confidence of late.

Leaving the strawberry matcha for tomorrow, but I HAVE to try this tonight. Handily enough, I made slow cooker bread pudding last night, so I even have a dessert to try it with – not something that happens very often due to lack of self control (which leads to obsessive sweet eating when I buy them, which leads to lack of buying sweets)

The tea looks quite nice with yellow petal looking things which are probably…something. The smell was a bit worrying – it had an air of the kind of papery Earl Grey that I don’t really like and I can’t say as I was getting cheesecake as such. Still, I had faith!

The tea brewed up pretty dark and the scent remained that of papery Earl Grey, BUT when I tried it, while it WAS a very solid Earl Grey it was not papery at all (score!) in fact, considering I don’t currently HAVE an Earl Grey, if that had been all, I would have been fine with it since it is a VERY nice balance of Earl and Grey (as it were :P). However, the cheesecake, while faint, is definitely there, right around the edges, as you finish the sip. It’s like Earl Grey, Earl Grey, Earl Grey, Earl Grey…cheesecake! A nice little surprise at the end. I would assume that, as with the cheesecake chai, the addition of milk will bring out this flavor more. I am usually very against adding milk to Earl Grey, but…for cheesecake, sacrifices must be made.

I added some (almond) milk once I got halfway through the cup. Can’t say that I really noticed the cheesecake more…well maybe a little more but still more with the aftertaste – and the milk unfortunately brought out the latent paperiness of the Earl Grey…think I’ll be drinking this straight.

I’m so glad I was able to grab some of the reblend of this! It is absolutely lovely. Everything an Earl Grey should be – lightly floral, good helping of bergamot, sturdy base – with a wonderful creamy note that isn’t particularly sweet, but really rich and full textured.

I didn’t really get a strong distinguishable cheesecake note, but the overall creaminess gives a sort of suggestion of cheesecake. I kind of like that, surprisingly.

This holds up as a really great earl. I was initially hoping for a more strong, sweet cheesecake kind of thing, I was pleasantly surprised by this blend. I can see it becoming a staple for me, which makes me sad since it’s not a part of the permanent collection. A real shame, this is such a subtle and classy blend.

Rachel sent me a pot’s worth of this. Thanks, darling! I’ve been wanting to try it for a while now. I’m always looking for new Earl blends to try, and cheesecake? Anything with cheesecake is better (just found a recipe for red velvet cheesecake…that’s definitely going to be made soon!).

This is definitely a great Earl blend. Smooth, creamy, strong on the bergamot. Yum!!

I knew going in with this one that it would be an offshot for me to like it. It was almost a tea-dare for me to try it.

And yeah, I got burnt lemon ass. No, I don’t mean lemongrass. Dry and brewed the smell almost turned my stomach and now . . . not so much.

Momo included a few cups of this in the sample sale. Thank you! This is creamy and dreamy. Nothing beats an excellent earl grey creme! (And yes, this is mostly like an earl grey creme because cheesecake is cream cheese!) This DOES have amazing balance like the description for the tea says. It has the perfect balance of black teas, bergamot, and cheesecake flavor. This tastes better as it is cooling. Good stuff! I’m going to savor the couple of cups I have left! Why does it seem like all the teas I’ve rated are in the 90s?

It smells like caramel. Yum. The brew alternates between being an earl grey to a dessert tea with caramel sugar flavours. Not exactly cheesecake; more an homage to cheesecake essence. My reviews tend to give way to poetic sentiments when I can’t clearly transcribe what my tongue tastes. Just have to add, I finished the cup over ten minutes ago and my nose is still buried in my mug to inhale the lasting aroma which reminds me of creme brûlée.