Earl Grey Bravo

I should just throw in the towel with Earl Grey, or perhaps I didn’t like Adagio’s blend. Or maybe I brewed it up incorrectly. :(

Whatever the case, this didn’t work for me this morning. This tea smells absolutely delicious – more like a Lady Grey than an actual Grey. I’ve had my nose permanently stuck in it since my Adagio order came in. It’s mouthwatering. And pretty, with the little blues and the dark black of the tea.

And it steeped up to a beautiful amber hue, with a very pleasant smell. Bergamot and citrus and floral.

But the taste left something to be desired for me. It was fairly smooth at the get-go, but then there was a really bitter kick at the end. Very bitter. As in, over-steeped tea, even though I followed the directions that Adagio gave for brewing this baby. Or maybe it was bergamot overload. The bergamot flavor here comes on stronger in the sipping than it does on the nose. Like really, really strong.

I think I need to lower the steeping time on this one significantly. I’m feeling fairly disappointed right now, though. I thought I was going to experience an Earl Grey revelation. As in, “Ahhh, now THIS is what Earl Grey is supposed to be.” I was able to finish the entire cup, but I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as I hoped I would have. Maybe it’s time for me and Grey to part company – even though I really do love Twining’s Lady Grey.

I’ll keep experimenting with steeping time, though, and see if I can mellow this beast.

(P.S. This is one of the funniest reviews that I’ve read about this tea: http://www.teaviews.com/2007/06/25/review-adagio-earl-grey/ I can’t say my experience was AS bad, but it was disappointing on so many levels.)

To me (and this may just be me) the leaves of this tea smell EXACTLY like Froot Loops. In fact, I was having childhood flashbacks just sticking my nose in the tin.

After the recommended steeping, the tea has a sweet, flowery aroma that’s both pleasant and powerful. Again, it’s very reminiscent of Froot Loops, and brings to mind the idea of smelling sugary. (Not sure if that’s even possible, but hopefully you know what I mean. It smells like the sugar coating on a bowl of Froot Loops.)

In terms of taste, this tea has a definite sweetness to it, as well as a bite on the edges of your tongue where the tart/tangy nature of the tea comes through.

There’s also a lingering, sugary sweetness to the flavor that rounds out the Froot Loop experience. It sounds crazy, but the association was so strong, it was hard to ignore.

Overall, I enjoyed this tea, and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys sweeter, flowery flavors.

Split open my sample of this today to make a few lattes. I don’t make them very often, because I’m lazy, but this is my third today… and I’ve started practicing latte art too! There was a heart in the foam here :)

Not sure if this should go under chance combinations or straight, but I mixed in a bit of lavender. I don’t like Earl Greys plain, but as an ingredient in other things I don’t mind them.

Sad night. Watched Interlochen’s Les Preludes webcast. Cried. Brought back so many memories. I probably go back to that night daily, the last time I was there, but I’ve forgotten what it was like, really.

But tea helps.

I am truly loving Earl Grey at the moment which is why I ordered a sampler of this with my recent Adagio order.

Upon opening I had a strong whiff of orange and bergamot which is a good sign for me as I love it strong.

Taste is sweet, citrus, waxy, strong but is missing something that stops it from making a nice tea into a very nice tea. Its not of great quality or freshness and its bitter and waxy, not blended well. Such a shame.

Yay for finishing off another tin! I didn’t have quite enough of this for my morning tea so I put a little blackberry in it. Why blackberry? Well, I thought of Irish Breakfast but realized that I probably wasn’t going to greatly enjoy this cup and why waste my yummy Irish Breakfast on it? And the blackberry was right next to the Irish Breakfast, so I just grabbed it knowing that blackberry isn’t my favorite either.

Mixed results on this one today. The instant this touched my tongue and as it was in my mouth I got a smooth, almost chocolaty taste from it with a hint of kumquat. It was nice and pleasant and made me smile just a bit.

But then I swallowed. And as the tea moved out of my mouth, I tasted this… taste that made me think of the time I had a kumquat that was overripe to the point of almost-but-not-quite rotten. And then after I swallowed, I’d get this… astringent but perfumed taste that physically poked at my tongue and cheeks. So as I drank each swallow, I had to wince a bit. I ended up drinking it pretty quickly, though, mostly because I didn’t want to taste (or feel) that aftertaste for long so I’d quickly take another sip to get me back to the happy taste. And once I was finally done, I needed a gum chaser, STAT.

Okay, so maybe not so mixed. Because really, how much does that initial flash of happy taste really count for? There was a time (before this tin) that I liked this tea. So making my way through my second tin of this tea, I kept hoping that I’d get back to that previously happy experience I had with it. I kept giving it the benefit of the doubt, even when the first few cups from it tasted like bubblegum.

But no. So I’m finally finally adjusting my rating. Down. A lot. But not as far as I would if this was my first or only experience with this tea. Because I can’t discount the fact that used to really like this tea.

I love Earl Grey teas, so when I saw this available for swap on the swaps thread, I had to pounce on it. oOTeaOo and I worked out a swap, and a new earl is mine. I am actually quite surprised that I haven’t tried Adagio’s Earl before, as I have ordered samples of several of their teas.

I don’t know if I brewed this wrong, shouldn’t have added cream (but I drink all my earls with a splash of cream), should have steeped longer, not sure, it just doesn’t have much flavor. It doesn’t have much scent compared to the two earl’s I’ve been feinding over the last month (RoT’s Earl Greyer and Lupicia’s Earl Grey). There is some off-putting scent coming from the steeped leaves that I can’t place, and don’t care to play around with right now. Maybe I will give this tea another chance another day without any additives, but for now, this is going down the drain.

Went back to a staple this morning (although I am nearly at the end of my tin, and Adagio is still out! >:O )

Oh Earl Grey Bravo, you are the best Earl Grey. Why do I even try other Earl Greys, when you are so delicious and so good at letting early morning abuse roll off of you? You do not taste like soap, or like paper, you just taste like Earl Grey, super tasty Earl Grey. Perhaps there are better Earl Greys, but you also have the benefit of being relatively cheap! That is why I love you best.

Get back in stock sooooooooooooon

This tea was sent to me by my SweeTea, oOTeaOo! Thanks!!!

This is a good Earl Grey – smooth (surprisingly smooth for an Adagio black tea!). The bergamot is sweet and orange-y and not perfume-y. Delicious!

Thanks again oOTeaOo!

I was a little bit scared to try this tea! I had it sitting in my cupboard since Feb 2009 (mine is actually called Aristocrat Earl Grey) because the bergamot smell was SO overwhelming when I took it out of the box! I’m sad that I left it sitting so long because I am really enjoying it. The bergamot is bright, sweet, fruity and more lemony? orangey? than many I’ve tried. It’s pretty too :) Does anyone know what kind of flowers the little blue petals are from?

The smell from the tin is just gorgeous but, sadly, an empty promise. Does not translate into the cup at all.

First steep was 2.5gr/7oz water at 90C for 3 minutes. Forgot to rinse the leaves, big mistake: some unwanted astringency. The taste was obscenely floral. I’m not the greatest of palates since my idea of Earl Grey is Twinning’s, but it definitely should not taste like field flowers at dusk. This is more like a Lady Gray. Decided to add a teaspoon of sweetened condensed milk to balance the astringent part.

Second steep was 4 minutes, the tea was balanced, the floral part not as potent but still there. No need for milk. 3rd steep for 5 minutes, regular tea with a hint of bergamot.

The smell of the unbrewed tea is just fabuous. I followed the directions on the bag — 1 tsp of tea, boiling water, steep for three minutes.

First infusion: very astringent. I can see why people use this as a substitute for coffee. I had to add honey before I could take more than a few sips. Once I did that, suddenly the orange notes started to appear. Wow, that is just yummy and good.

Second infusion: I made the mistake of adding honey before tasting. Again with boiling water and steeping for three minutes. Mmmm, just on the too much side of sweet. It is still astringent, but not like the first infusion. I really need to try the second infusion without honey.

I definitely like this. I’m going to do some experiments with steeping time to see if I can get something that I feel comfortable drinking without honey, but this is pretty good as is.

This one doesn’t taste as strong as Adagio’s decaf earl grey. Still nice and didn’t require any additives. Left a slight astringent note in the back of my throat; otherwise, it is tasty.

Definitely strong bergamot. Also citrusy and powerfully floral. A very thick mouth feel. Good hot and cold. I would probably not choose this over an Earl Grey Creme but this was a good swap. :)

This tea would probably benefit from a shorter steeping time; say, 3 to 4 minutes max. That said, here is my review, at 5:00, as suggested by Adagio.

The nose is classic earl gray. A sharp black tea with a singular bergamot note. The nose is delightful, and just begs you to brew it. It’s one of those teas you stick your nose in, inhale deeply, smile, then go for another, as-deep-as-possible breath. The electric-blue bergamot flowers a visual delight; like miniature blue fire flies in an inky black well.

The taste: It’s classic earl grey. It’s a bit lacking in the bergamot that I so thoroughly enjoy about earl greys. A favorite earl grey of mine is Mariage Frères Earl Grey Imperial. I’m using this as a baseline of comparison. To me, an earl grey should have that little touch of smokiness. Just a hint. Like a man smoking a pipe in the other room. I don’t find that here.

The tea is good. It’s not great. To me, it’s a bit flat—a little too two dimensional. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but I can’t say I’m in love.

I have been very excited to try this tea after a good recommendation from a friend and I’m glad he pointed this one out. Ever since my first cup of Earl Grey I’ve been trying to find one that I really enjoy and I think this one might be it. The cup I’m drinking now has a great bergamot aroma and the taste matches the aroma quite well. The next time I brew this tea I will use less leaf as this time around it is a little on the bitter side because I used too much tea. I used 1.5 tsps in a 12oz. cup @ 208º for 5 minutes. Next time I’ll drop this down to just 1 tsp and see how that does for me. I’ve been finding that 1 tsp for Adagio’s black teas is enough even in a 12oz cup. Perhaps that is the secret to me finding a good balance with these teas.

This is an amazing Earl Gray. The first thing you see are the blue cornflowers and orange peels. The scent is wonderfully citrus from the bergemont. I steep mine for about 3-4 minutes and add 1 tsp of honey, which accents the citrus wonderfully.

Wow… I am overwhelmed by the amount of reviews for Earl Grey Bravo! And the extensive array of opinions! Well… here comes my review and opinion to be added to the pile!

Earl Grey reminds me of being a little girl. Though my Dad drinks mostly herbal tea now, he used to always drink a cup of black tea after lunch. I can vividly remember him dunking his teabag in the hot water over and over again, then removing it and straining it against a spoon so that even the last drop fell into the cup. He would then leave the used tea bag on a little plate while he drank his tea. The smell of this tea bag was delicious to me. I have now learned that the tea bag held Earl Grey and that I, in fact, also really enjoy a good cup of Earl Grey!

Brief background being told… This Earl Grey has always been enjoyable to me. The leaves’ appearance is delightful. The dark tea leaves with the blue cornflower petals and the pieces of orange peal contrast beautifully in this blend. The smell is unmistakably sweet and citrusy. It is one of the stronger smelling Earl Greys, the Bergamot is syrupy and robust. I am happy with the smell, the strength and sweetness was just right for me! (It is worth remembering that I have a rather pronounced sweet-tooth…)

As I brewed the 2 teaspoons of leaves, the water turned dark quickly. As with all of the black teas that I have tried from Adagio, if you steep for any longer than 3 minutes, you end up with bitter and undrinkable liquid… The smell of the leaves is maintained as you brew.

The resulting brew has a super strong bergamot flavor (good if you like it, but then again, I can’t imagine someone drinking Earl Grey if the didn’t…) with the black tea popping up once in a while in the background. Definitely more bergamot flavor than black tea flavor… I have to add 1 teaspoon of sugar to this cup in order for it to be drinkable. Simply cannot stomache it if it isn’t sweetened.

I have found that over time, as I have tried more and more teas, this particular blend has tended to float towards the back of my cabinet. But it is still always there! All in all this is the strongest bergamot flavored Earl Grey I have tried. If you are curious, try it! You might be pleasantly surprised!

I’m usually not an Earl Grey fan because usually the tea is so overwhelmed with the oil of bergamot that it gives me a headache. Not so with this tea. I opened up the sample and I thought “wow, this is really strong,” so I flash rinsed it first before making the tea. The tea is lovely. The bergamot is there, but not overpowering. The tea tastes good with or without sugar.

Now, I can be like Captain Picard and say, “Earl Grey, hot.”

I am finding this a passible Earl Grey, but nothing stunning. There is a little bitter note behind the tea, but overall it’s like a standard Earl Grey. I prefer other Earl Grey blends, but this is here now, and is getting me through the afternoon.

I don’t have a lot to say about this one. Its a very basic earl grey. Nothing wrong with that, but nothing extraordinary here.