Earl Grey de la creme

http://www.itsallabouttheleaf.com/2514/tea-review-distinctly-tea-earl-grey-de-la-creme/

I think that one of the best things that ever happened to Earl Grey tea was meeting the vanilla bean. It must have been movie magic. I can see it now…

INT: A Parisian Salon.

Various teas and flavorings lounge about, chatting, discussing worldly matters and current gossip. VANILLA sits in the corner, alone, draped across a chaise longue. She is long, lean and highly sweetly scented.

The camera pans to the door where EARL GREY, a dark, swarthy yet citrus scented tea enters. He scans the room until his eyes fall on VANILLA. He beelines to her, drops to one knee, grabs her hand, and looks deeply into her eyes while kissing her hand.

EARL GREY (huskily): ‘Allo. I find myself inexplicibly drawn to you. I feel we could make amazing brews together.

VANILLA: (swoons)

Music swells.

….and scene. Only problem is that just like movie magic, there are frequent copycats that just don’t have the verve and je ne sais qua of the original. I’ve had varied luck with the different Earl Grey de la Cremes out there on the market.

Luckily, Distinctly Tea has got a pretty good version of this classic couple. The black tea base of ceylon and assam is sturdy and the flavoring agents blend beautifuly. The vanilla is creamy, and the bergamot avoids the trap of tasting like perfume. Highly scented, highly flavorful. Lovely tea. I reccomend it.

Yum.

The concept of a creamy Earl Grey sounded great to me. Distinctly Tea says that this Earl Grey de la Creme has hints of vanilla and cream in it. Smelling the dry leaves, I can definitely pick up on the sweet vanilla scent. It almost smells like Earl Grey with a high-end coffee creamer mixed into it. Following the packaging, I steep a heaping teaspoon in eight ounces of just-boiled water for four minutes. The aroma of the steeping leaves still carries a tinge of the sweetness with a lot of Earl Grey and its bergamot. The resulting brew is a subtly sweet brew. The vanilla blends wonderfully with the not-overly-strong bergamot to create a very pleasant pick-me-up drink. On my personal enjoyment scale, I rate this tea an 88/100.

As Picard would order: “Earl Grey (de la creme) HOT.”
Finially, an Earl Grey that I like!
This one is mild in bergamot but BIG in creaminess. Love the scent of vanilla wafting from my cup:)