Earl Grey Cream

Another tea from the Traveling Tea Box! Of course I had to try this one, it’s an Earl Grey Cream and I am on a quest to catch ’em all. Or, well, try ’em all.

This one sounded interesting since there is coconut oil added, I think the idea of a tropical EGC is really interesting. Sadly, that’s not at all what this is: there’s no coconut at all! I wonder if there’s just not enough of it or if the flavor has waned since it was first bagged up. I agree with Tea Sipper’s note that the packaging seems less than ideal, just light paper to keep it from the elements!

I have tried so many EGCs, and many of them are quite spectacular. But I guess a lot of the middle of the road ones blend together, and this is one of them. The bergamot and vanilla aren’t as well balanced as I would like. It’s a bit creamy but nothing in it really screams “I’m an ear grey cream!” Don’t get me wrong it’s a nice blend, but I think at this point I am so spoiled by the better EGC blends I’ve tried. However, this does make me really want to mix a coconut tea and EGC together and see what happens!

I thought I’d keep up my Earl Grey trend of late and start my morning with something completely new to me — an Earl Grey Cream. Since I drink all my teas straight I really couldn’t fathom what a “cream” flavor would be like paired with an Earl Grey. The answer is yummy.

This tea isn’t listed on GTC’s website yet, so I sent Daniel Mann a PM to see if there’s any info available yet — I’ll update this tea’s listing and my note once I hear back. ETA: Daniel got back to me and yes, this is a brand new blend and he’s using us lucky Steepsterites as guinea pigs. I’m a happy guinea pig :D

The smell of both the dry leaves and the steeped ones were a sweet vanilla-ey fragrance with undercurrents of a black Earl Grey tea. I can’t say that I’ve ever used the term “hairy eyeball” in my life until I started trying GTC’s teas. I can’t say that I’m in love with the general combo of EG and a sweet vanilla-ey creaminess, but with this tea it’s really really good. I could imagine this type of tea going horribly wrong, but I think it works here. There were quite a few sips that were “NOM! NOM! NOM!” in a desert tea type-of-way. I could imagine this tea eventually becoming something that must be in stock in my cupboard, but it’s too soon for me to say. The EG itself was nice and smooth.

I must admit that I was once again distracted while trying to enjoy this tea: my final shipment for my Geek Pride Day Giveaway came this morning (only took the order 20 days to arrive :P) so I was busy putting the final touches on everything before I posted them. Therefore, the last 1/3 of my cup had completely cooled. I did not like the cooled cup — the citrusy aspects of the EG came through too much. The second steep (added a minute) was still yummy, but perhaps not as sweet. I look forward to trying this one again with complete focus. Another huge THANK YOU to Daniel Mann for sending this sample to me. NE

Into the last dozen TTB teas I haven’t had, woooo. The only problem with this is I’m basically just trying each one and sending them back on their way because nothing has been OMG MUST KEEP when I have so many teas….way too many….someone make me stop.

So I thought I’d get vanilla and cream from this especially given an addition of coconut, but eh it’s really light. I actually kind of get more a nuttiness than a creaminess from the coconut. I’m guessing this is because I only did a 3 min steep? I also let it get way too cool…I need to set a second timer for when tea is at my optimal drinking temperature. Jeez.

May try this one again, not sure yet.

I actually have a lot of Earl Grey Cream in my cupboard right now, and I’ve also already found one I really like and am not really looking for a replacement. Nevertheless I ordered a sample of this one from GTC because I’m always interested in Earl Grey Creams, and because it had a rave review on here (though it’s possible the blend has changed once or more). It is also supposed to have a hint of coconut, which I thought would be an interesting addition to an EGC.

One thing I noticed when I was portioning the tea out was that the leaf was more intact and nicer looking than I expected. There were some fairly large leaves in there! When I first took a sip while it was still very hot, I was very pleasantly surprised. I expected this one to be a fairly standard Earl Grey Cream without much in the way of interest in the black tea base. But there was actually a kind of nice, caramelly, tasty black there! Unfortunately as it cooled it became fairly bitter, so perhaps this one needs an even lower steep time. Beyond the bitterness, the tea had a nice bright bergamot flavor and a lovely rich almost caramelly creaminess (no doubt helping to bring out those flavors in the tea base). There was no distinct coconut to speak of, but that’s not the point of it here… it’s suppose to just boost the other flavors. If I can get the bitterness to go away this could really jump in ratings.

It’s been a while since I have tried a ‘new-to-me-Georgia Tea Co Tea’.
I’m trying to get thru this box so I can get it out in a few days! I HOPE I HOPE.

Oh yes! It’s from the “Here’s Hoping” Traveling Box!

Even tho I started my day with a Green Smoothie I followed it up with my tea habit!

This is a gentle EG and a little bit lighter on the cream to the EG but it follows-thru well! At least it’s not overly ‘creamy’ – I had an EG once that was a creamy EG and it was awful! TOO Creamy! Not this, tho! This has a nice Creaminess to it – it’s Earl Grey but with just a little bit more creaminess than the EG-ness! A nice combo!

Tea #18 from the ‘Here’s Hoping’ teabox.

This is a nice EG cream. Lots of bergamot flavor, and the vanilla gives the tea a smooth, creamy quality. The base tea is a little weak for my taste. I sipped this while folding laundry, and when I reached the bottom of my cup I thought that it was a nice cup and I would resteep the leaves later. So, nothing that made me stop and really take notice, but a nice cup nonetheless. If only I could find the bottom of my laundry basket as quickly as I find the bottom of my tea cup!

thanks again, Dinosara, for a great trade! I think I drink Earl Grey Cremes on a twice a month schedule or something, so this is a welcome addition to my Earl Grey Creme collection! But I saw the way the packaging was: it looks like a paper bag! And it doesn’t have a zip! I just feel like teas are going to age faster in this sort of package. But the taste is pretty good. I steeped for three or four minutues. I don’t think the flavor is as strong as it should be. But there is that lovely flavor I’ve gotten to love in the earl grey creme. (Oh who am I kidding with the “gotten to”? I loved it the first sip I tried.) It was interesting when I saw a big vanilla chunk fall into the infuser! The black tea seems to have a stronger flavor that might be overshadowing the bergamot and creme. I agree with Dinosara: no coconut here!I like this, but it isn’t my favorite Earl Grey Creme. But Earl Grey Creme is one of my favorite discoveries this year!

I think this may be one of those teas where I just got an unusual sampling from the batch, or my tastebuds are going haywire today. Usually my tasting notes fall into line with some/most others, but not this time.

My first smell of the dry tea was an abundance of bergamot. It was so strong, it was almost overwhelmingly floral/medicinal. This will probably lessen over time, as the volatile compounds leave the opened bag. But it was so strong this time, it was almost enough to put me off the tea.

After steeping, a lot of the smell remained, but it was not as overwhelming. I did not pick up any cream, coconut, or anything else much other than the bergamot. It may have been there, but just not able to sneak past the overwhelming bergamot.

Please note that as of this tasting, I have not tried many Earl Grey cremes. I would expect that after tasting some others, my palate would be somewhat better defined, and perhaps better able to pick up on the more subtle notes. The black tea base did seem pretty nice.

Update, after second steeping: This has at least turned out to be a very good Earl Grey, especially if I let it air out a little before steeping :) I still do not pick up on any “Cream” aspects in the second brew, which I was hoping would happen when some of the bergamot gone. But it is still a nice tea.