Earl Black

Steep Information:
Amount: 4-5 tsp
Water: 750ml at 185°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 2 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: currant, lemon, floral, sweet
Steeped Tea Smell: floral, vegetal, sweet currant, hint lemon
Flavor: vegetal, floral
Body: Light
Aftertaste: lemon
Liquor: translucent light yellow-green

Smells delightful, pretty standard white.

Post-Steep Additives:
White sugar
more current flavor comes out

Resteep:
750ml at 185°F for 3 minutes
Light, floral, delicious

Rating: 2/4 leaves

Blog: http://amazonv.teatra.de/2013/02/06/52teas-loose-leaf-white-tea-earl-black/

I used 1.5 tablespoons of dry leaf for 375 ml of water.

The dry leaf smells like strong cherry medicine. I did pick up on Black Currant notes similar to what I was getting in the Black Currant Bai Mu Dan by 52teas.
I’m not detecting any bergamot aroma from either the dry leaf or the brewed tea. The brewed tea has a sugary berry aroma.

There is a sourness present. The white tea swampy flavour is very prevalent and there is a roasted-vegetal bite to the immediate and lingering aftertaste. The berry taste is quite faint. The sugary berry taste is present in the aftertaste. I’m not picking up any definite notes of bergamot.

The black currant flavour becomes more prominent as the tea cools.

I got a sample of this from Dustin. Thanks Dustin!!

I really loved the smell of this tea, esp. when still dry. Unfortunately I had a similar ‘grape-medicine-like’ tasting experience as one of the other reviewers. The tea was very soapy to my taste. Perhaps overly floral? I really couldn’t finish it… :-(. Due to the very good ratings of the others I’m somewhat hesitant to give it a 1… After all I could just be me… I’ll skip on rating this one.

Nevertheless I’m very happy that I had the opportunity to try this one…

I was glad when I smelled this one and got a nose-full of black currant scent. I love black currant, and I was feeling bad about panning three 52Teas offerings in a row, so the fact that I would probably like this one was heartening.

And I did like it. I found it refreshing. To be honest, I mostly tasted the black currant and the white tea and a tiny bit of sourness. I didn’t taste bergamot at all, which was OK with me, because I’m not really a huge fan of it. I did sweeten the 8-oz. cup with 2 packets of Splenda. I’ll probably make a pitcher of iced tea with this one this summer, I think it will be really refreshing.

I didn’t put the preparation details because I can’t remember them—whatever the Breville setting is for white tea is what I did.

I just got to drinking this out of the 12 Days box yesterday.

So, I like white tea but haven’t really drank much of it because I love flavoured teas and you see the best flavours in black teas usually. So I was pretty pleased to try this one, especially since it smelled so juicy and berryish.
Brewed it up (with the fantastic Breville PerfecTemp kettle Mr P. Sheep got me for Christmas, the water temp was perfect and not scorchy!), and it still smelled fantastic.
This one did not disappoint, it tasted like it smelled, and that was juicy. sweet, and blackcurranty. The tea wasn’t at all bitter or grassy, and this was just a very pleasant tea overall. I would probably buy a bag of this.

I steeped this without reading the description and tried to figure ut what it tasted like that way. What I decided? Grape. Lots of grape.

Turns out it has black currant in it. :P Oh well – from the comments I’m not the only one who thought so. For a tea named after The Earl, I’m not detecting any bergamot, which is actually a blessing as I’m sorta picky about how much of that I can stand.

There’s a bit of tartness and more sweetness but it’s very pleasant. I haven’t had many white teas but I could see getting more of this in the future!

On the fourth day of Christmas, 52Teas gave to me…Earl Black!

Once again, I’m struck by the smell as I open the envelope. It’s gorgeous! I can smell fresh, juicy blackcurrants, a hint of citrus from the bergamot, and the floral sweetness of the Shou Mei white tea base. I’m a huge white tea fan, so my expectations are high. I don’t think I’m going to be disappointed, though.

Brewed, this tea takes on a slightly deeper, less sweet aroma than the dry leaves possess. The blackcurrants, which are abundantly present among the white tea base, seem to take more prominence and contribute more of their flavour.

To taste, this is much the same. The blackcurrants are the star, and add a slightly tart and tangy note to the delicate sweetness of the white tea. The bergamot is very slightly present in the aftertaste, but isn’t all that noticable.

This is a fabulous white tea…one of the best I’ve tasted in a while. I don’t think the bergamot is quite strong enough to merit the “earl” tag, but it’s nevertheless a very pleasant blackcurrant white. Another winner!

Backlogging

Was not fond of this tea. It started off at a disadvantage because I don’t like earl grey. It wasn’t horrid but really just not to my taste. I don’t really have much to say about it so I won’t ramble on.

ETA— If anyone who didn’t get the 12 days of tea and wants to try it I can send it off to you.

When I opened the bag, I got a full whiff of licorice. uh ohh.
But it’s actually pleasant, light, a little fruity. The flavoring is really very subtle (the bergamot is really undetectable) and pairs nicely with the white base. I wouldn’t order any more of it, but I am absolutely enjoying my cup right now.

Edit: as it cools I’m getting a stronger black current flavor with a sour aftertaste. Still not much bergamot though.

This tea is so smooth and the black currant balances with the bergamot well… The flavors also don’t overpower the white tea’s flavor. It’s pretty sweet on its own, so I didn’t add any sugar. This is equally delicious on the second steep, but the bergamot comes on very strongly as an after taste where it didn’t as strongly from the first steep.