Mount Gray

It’s dreary, rainy, and cold, but what do I care?! I’m on Mount Gray!

As soon as I saw this offered, I knew I had to jump on it — I’m am Earl Grey Fiend and I loved what A&D did with their last Earl. As always, it came lickety-split (with an AWESOME Mount Gray magnet. Thank you! I love the little clever extras A&D include with their teas!).

I think this might be my favorite A&D tin yet. The hand catching the plane! The bear on the top! The wood grain! The color (or mostly lack thereof) scheme! Well done, well done.

Ok, the tea. It’s supremely bergamot-y. The tea base is good and robust. I wanted to take it plain, so I only steeped it for three minutes. Perfect. I can see this one at 4 minutes with milk and sugar if I was in the mood for that, but I wouldn’t take it over three minutes if you are going to drink it plain. It resteeps beautifully. Lighter on the bergamot, but the tea is still completely flavorful and similar to many teas first steeps.

I don’t want to get embroiled in gender politics, but this is a manly Earl Gray if I ever tasted one. I love my delicate Earls, but for those times that you want to cut through exhaustion and fog — this is your man. This is an Earl at 11 :) Great for work, great for school. Love, love, love.

I used to enjoy an occasional Earl Grey over ice.
Then I didn’t.
I didn’t really like it hot either.
The bergamot seemed acidic, I don’t know what happened, really.
For a long time I didn’t like any earls…maybe they were just crappy ones that I was sampling.
But Tony loves Earl Grey, so I started picking up samples for him to try, to support his addiction. I took a sip of them here & there.
Then I started maybe enjoying them a little.
It started with the Earl of Grey by The Tea Spot, which Tony didn’t like. It tasted like lemon bars (think lemon curd on a pastry crust…delicious).
Then it was Jubilee from London Tea Room, his favorite, which is heavily laced with Orange, as well as bergamot. I didn’t like this one at first, it seemed really harsh to me, but then I started kind of liking it a little.
Some of them I still don’t really like. Maybe the bergamot is artificial or something.
So that brings me to Mount Gray.
I wasn’t sure if I should buy it. There’s 3 oz or so in the tin it comes in, that’s a lot of tea for something I might not like.
I bought it for Tony to sample. If I didn’t like it, he could have the whole tin.
He doesn’t get to have it. This tea is delicious. I will share it with him, of course, but the truth is, I love it.
The tea base is sufficiently bold & worthy, the bergamot is strong but not acidic, and not fake tasting, & there is a lingering aftertaste that I haven’t quite identified yet, but I like it.
Yay!

Late morning cuppa…..

Just like JacquelineM, I had to jump on this one. I love a good Earl, and also, love Andrews & Dunham. A complete ‘no brainer’ in my book. It got here in just a few days, and I too love the magnet they included. It seems they always include something extra cool in their orders. As always, the packaging is too fun.

Onto the tea….Wow! Bergamot! The tea base is nice and hearty/mellow. It needs to be that to stand up to the ‘pow’ of bergamot this one packs. I would put this one just a little stronger than Lupicia. I do think the black tea base is a blend, but I am having a hard time sorting it out precisely. I would guess China black with a bit of Ceylon. I think the bergamot in this one is less on the orangey side (like the Lupicia), and more lemony bergamot. Lovely! I am so happy I bought this, and that it is NOT a limited edition!

Usual mug method.

This is from the “Here’s Hoping” Traveling Tea Box I just received and opened today! I had yet to try this one from A&D so I was very excited to try this one when I first saw it! YAY!

This is a very satisfying EG – nice and vibrant – strong and eager to please – and it DOES! There are lovely little woodsy notes in there that are surprising yet appreciated!

This is delightful! I really like this!

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @100C, steeped 4 minutes, drunk bare.

WOW.

I don’t drink a lot of Earl Grey, because I’ve had so much crappy Earl Grey, stuff that tastes like it could be furniture polish (Twinings), or just tastes stale, or uses a crappy tea base (again, Twinings). Damn Fine’s Earl Grey, which came with in a set with Caravan and Jasmine, was lovely. I think Mount Gray is even better.

The black tea base seems to be a China tea: light body and a slightly sweet finish, no malt. The bergamot is beautiful. Not harsh but deeply fragrant. I brought some Mount Gray to my worklace, and I can smell it through a sealed Ziploc bag. The mineral finish works very well with the bergamot, which does not overpower the tea. All in all, an excellent, and vert refreshing, Earl Grey. Once again, Damn Fine lives up to their name.

Bear with me Steepsterites, I’m logging a teaful day. Got lots of teas recently, so I’m going through and trying them all.

I love A&D’s design sense, and adore the Mt Gray magnet that came with the tea. Even though I had a hard time finding the tea on here since as far as I’m concerned, they spelled Grey wrong :D

I made a latte with Mt Gray this morning, and it was all right. I think I’m kind of tired of Earl Greys, there’s so much else to explore. It’s decent though. But I have so many other EGs and love my Kusmis, so I kind of wish I’d gotten the trio with Russian Caravan instead of this.

I’m sure I’ll drink it though, and probably make a few for my hubby.

So I have not found an equal to Andrews & Dunham’s last earl gray. And it was a limited edition.

Needless to say my life has been an empty pit of despair since series 3 sold out. Fortunately, A&D came out with Mount Gray and I jumped on it like a drowning man to a lifeboat. Or clambered up the side, weak, wet and cold from my ordeal, whatever.

I can’t compare it to their last Earl Gray, since I used the last of it quite some time ago. But it’s front loaded with a strong hit of Bergamot, yet not the flowery bergamot. Underneath it’s smooth and satisfying.
It holds up to second steeping, retaining it’s mellow characteristics with a subtler bergamot taste.
All in all, this tea is like spinning around and around with my arms outstretched on a hill with the Swiss alps in the backdrop. And maybe a spot of Metallica playing in the background. Hey, I gotta keep some sort of dignity.

It’s been a while since I’ve had any activity around here, but I logged in today specifically to rate this tea. Because I like it. It is good. I happen to think it’s very good.

I think I expected it to taste like A&D’s last Earl Gray. I was fine with that, as the previous one was good. This one is better. As others have already noted, there’s no skimping on the bergamot here. This is unsurprising if one knows Mssrs. Andrews and Dunham. Actually, I don’t know them, but I buy all of their teas. It seems to me that they like strong black teas. I have no quarrel with this.

So yes, healthy infusion of bergamot here, but there’s something slightly different about it here. Good different. I haven’t yet decided what I think that is, but I don’t immediately associate it with any other particular Earl Gray that I’ve previously enjoyed. I account this a good thing because it tastes great. I agree with Jen that it seems like there’s some sort of blend in the base tea. Regardless, it’s delicious.

Fortunately this is not a limited edition. While I enjoy getting a numbered, limited edition tin as much as the next guy, I don’t feel like I have to sprint through this tin to justify ordering a second before they run out…and there will definitely be another tin of this in my future.