Tippy Earl Grey

Random Selection from Golden Moon Tea Sampler—perhaps #18? I have lost count.

I had read the reviews of this previously and when I opened the package I was initially enchanted by the aroma. At last a Golden Moon Tea sample with some real character—which I have not seen since their wonderful Melon tea. Then I thought of a comment that Rabs had made about how this dry tea smells like Pledge furniture polish—-the thought popped into my head—I had read her review but it seemed like a long time ago.

So there i was with the proverbial mixed emotions: wanting to try a tea that kept oscillating in aroma between a good strong bergamot and Pledge. A sequence of ancient Pledge commercials paraded before my eyes and then led to a vision of that Ty-D-Bowl guy—-a miniature of the actor who played Murray on the Mary Tyler Moore Show—navigating the waters of a toilet on a small raft singing an eerily awful prototype of a raggastan number.

So I had digressed mentally but my nose had ferreted more deeply into the aroma and I was set to enjoy the tea—visions of New Lemon Pledge and Ty-D-Bowl notwithstanding. (The thing about popular culture is that it wraps itself around society including those virtuous people who don’t watch television but yet have somehow learned by magical Osmosis that Cyndi Lauper and Sharon Osbourne are on the Celebrity Apprentice kow-towing to Donald Trump—-and yet there was not one single mention of Britain’s parliamentary elections of yesterday in my local newspaper).

Another digression. The brew was a fairly decent Earl Grey but not one that made me want to sit up and salute. It’s a good Earl Grey but I continue to search for the definitive Earl Grey that I will want to always keep in my cupboard. There are a couple of candidates thus far, but this one just does not quite make it—sort of like the political parties in England—there is no clear winner yet and I will keep on trying Earl Grey teas but I don’t think I will end up with this as my standard of Earl Grey Excellence.

Not at all a bad effort, just not a stunner.

Dear the Earl of Grey,

We have such a complicated relationship, and it’s really beginning to make my head spin. I’m not sure if we should break it off or not. I keep coming back for more, but instead of embracing me in your earl-y arms, you just forsake me, and leave me weeping, begging for a cup of something else.

I had faith that today you would be a bit less moody than normal. After all, Golden Moon blends you with the the tips of black tea, and lavender. I figured you’d be complex and mysterious and intriguing. That your bergamot would blend with your black and that for once, everything would be copacetic.

So, with slight anticipation (because I’ve been let down by you so many times before), I steeped a cup. Your leaves this time were quite gorgeous, with lovely golds and browns and greens. And you smelled absolutely delicious this morning – more on the floral side of bergamot than the citrus side.

The infusion today was red and copper, a beautiful color. And the smell coming from the steeped cup was more black tea toasty-ness than actual bergamot. Could it be? Were you ready to embrace me with open arms?

Mr. Grey, I have to say, you were quite tolerable today. But still heavily disappointing, just because I was expecting you to be that much better. I think the lavender smoothed out your rough edges, and took a bite out of your bergamot sharpness. Although I couldn’t taste the lavender component of the tea, there was a soothing feeling about you today. Your black base was definitely more delicious than usual, and a bit more complex than normal. But then your bergamot flavors had to invade and ruin the party. Granted, you weren’t as bitter or abrasive today. You were almost soothing. But there’s still something off between us.

Maybe we’re just not meant to be together. Yet I’m still attracted to your tweed and monocle. I just can’t help myself. Maybe our next date will be better.

xoxo,
teaplz

I chose this one today because the moment I’ve been waiting for for three years has come!!! My lavender plant that I raised from seed IS READY TO FLOWER!!!! Yaaay!!!!!!

I wanted to drink this one without milk (I’m at work, plus I thought lavender and milk would be…not so good. I think this is where I screwed up the rose tea and made Rose Milk Lotion – shudder! Anyway!) so I brewed it slightly under boiling and for only 3 minutes.

It’s really nice! The black tea base has no bitterness brewed like this, and the lavender with the bergamot is not overpowering – just a good old fashioned fruit and floral. This is one of those teas that I would probably only want to have every now and again, when I’m in my nostalgic moods. Since this is the first I’ve tasted, I’d like to taste around a little… if you’ve tasted one from another company that you thought was stellar, I’d love to hear your recommendation!

I did a second steep at 5 minutes and it’s very similar to the first. Mmmm! I also think this would be spectacular iced.

The much anticipated tea that I won from the SororiTEA Sisters blog (run by our very own Steepsterites – LiberTEAS and TeaEqualsBliss) arrived today! That was extremely fast – great customer service from Golden Moon.

On to the tea:
I was a bit afraid of this tea because Earl Grey can easily become perfume and because I was afraid the lavender would be too floral. The scent of the dry tea was reassuring because it definitely wasn’t the strongest bergamot Earl Grey I’ve come across. After brewing, the tea was a medium brown and the bergamot/lavender scents were present, but muted. Taken plain, the tea is quite serviceable and smooth with the lavender and bergamot blending nicely with the medium strength black tea base.

I love drinking Earl Grey in the mornings, so for this tea to be suitable as a breakfast tea it had to pass the milk and sugar test. The additions nicely complement but do not overpower any of the flavors present in the tea. This will be nice with breakfast.

I want to thank LiberTEAS and TeaEqualsBliss for their entertaining blog that allowed me the opportunity to win this giveaway. I’m very glad that the giveaway tea was such a great one. I think that any Earl Grey fan would love this and I also think that people who don’t love Earl Grey because of the perfume-like aspect would appreciate this.

My first tea of 2010. Go me. No specific reason for having this one. Just because I can.

This smells nice. Fresh, citrus-y, lavender-y and a little… sweetly spicy (probably the lavender again?). The taste doesn’t quite come across to me as rich as the smell. The lavender is more pronounced and the citrus not quite as juicy as I’d like. There is a little tingle left on the tip of my tongue that matches up to the sweet spicy smell. I do enjoy that.

The overall taste is smooth and a little sweet but a nice, warming finish. I might have enjoyed this brewed longer for a more robust taste, though. But I think the lavender will always hold it back just a little for me. Don’t get me wrong, I like lavender EGs, but I think they do best to gentle a not-so-good EG. Have a bad EG? It’s gross. Have a bad EG with lavender? Suddenly it is much better.

I think I would have liked to see what Golden Moon could have done with a straight EG. But at the same time, the few sips of EG I had at the London Tea Room (stolen from the husband) were really what I wanted in an EG. Strong bergamot with a juicy, fresh taste. And this one just seems a little pale in comparison to the memory of that one. That being said, this is a pretty good EG. If I had a tin of this, I don’t think I’d have any problems drinking it up. But it’s not the fresh-squeezed-EG taste that I’m really wanting.

I did have enough for the husband to have his own cup. He is a fan, he says. He also compared it to the EG he had at the London Tea Room (which was Rishi) but says this one is sweeter and has a hint less citrus. That’s probably because of the softening factor of the lavender. Anyway, I think he’d be happy if we had a tin of this laying around.

Golden Moon Sampler Tea #16
So, when I was reading the description on the sample packet, they referred to the “tips” in this tea as “buds” but, for some reason, at first I read it as “suds.” Obviously, I immediately did a double-take and corrected myself, but I think the whole soap idea stayed with me, because that is what I smelled when I opened this tea. Seriously. Soap. What is wrong with me?

The tea brewed up just fine, a darker red. On tasting it, however, I got…paper. Paper, water, and soap. What. As I drank further, I eventually isolated the paper down to the kind of peppery taste of the lavender. I got nothing about the soap though, I think it’s just imprinted on this tea now, which is a shame because…Earl Grey!

All while drinking this, I was unable to convince my brain that I was drinking tea and not papery dishwater. Oh Tippy Earl Grey, I want to love you, as I love most of your kind! But I don’t think it’s meant to be. Lavender is, apparently, just not my thing, and I have no idea what the hell kind of brain fart has made me unable to let go of the soap thing, but I think I’m not gonna be able to rid myself of it.

Golden Moon sample No. 25 of 31.

I was hoping this would blow me away with it’s “claming aroma” (typo on the sample bag label), and that I would have found another staple Earl Grey.

This isn’t terrible, but it’s not among the better Earl Greys I have tried. The leaves are nice looking with their light colored tips, and there is a strong bergamot scent that, while it isn’t oily, is definitely heavy. I couldn’t identify lavender in the scent of the dry leaves. And I wonder why I’m supposed to, since it isn’t listed among the ingredients.

After steeping, the bergamot fragrance becomes milder. I’m still not smelling lavender, mostly what I get underneath the bergamot is a malty, black tea scent. The liquor is fairly dark orange/brown.

There is a hint of bergamot in the taste, which is what I prefer. I don’t love very strong bergamot in the taste, as when it is too strong it can do a number on my stomach. But this was perhaps too subtle even for me. I still can’t find lavender anywhere. But the other taste I do find is something odd. It’s a sort of a flat taste that hints of bread, but not in a delicious way. I’m wondering if it is what the tea tasting books refer to as “bakey” or over fired? If it is, it would make sense as there is a baked feeling to it but not in a tasty way. Like the stuff that sticks to the bottom of the cake pan and is heavy on the baking powder.

In any case, not a success in my further attempts to populate my Earl Grey stable.

Oof. Adagio needs a social media makeover….whoever’s on their Facebook page thought it’d be great to call Teavana the “Enron of tea” and this is so beyond tacky it amazes me someone tried to defend the comparison. Swindling billions out of your employees via fraud is so like people choosing to work in a high pressure sales position, right.

Anyway. This tea relates to neither companies obviously but that is seriously bothering me right now.

Typically I am not a big fan of Earl Grey because I think it smells like cleaning solutions, but this smelled a bit different from the lavender, so I figured I might like it.

Without milk, no, it’s too much bergamot for my liking. With some coconut milk added, it’s much, much better. (And seriously I love using this stuff, no coconut flavor detected!) I do like the floral note added by the lavender, it makes it a bit different, but I still don’t care too much for Earl Grey.

Another sample De-cupboarded this morning:) Finally went back to some of my Golden Moon samples from the sampler I purchased 8 months ago. Have 8 or 10 different samples to knock off my list.

I really like this Earl. It is a lightly sweet Earl, with a upstanding Bergamot flavor. The flavoring isn’t perfumey, it’s nice and citrusy floraly sweet. Not as sweet as the vanilla and cream earls, but lightly sweet, not bitter or tannic. This may be my favorite Earl as of today. I’m so happy I tried this tea today!

Wowsa. Orange Pledge dusting spray. That’s all I could smell when I cut open the sample bag and the bag was nowhere near my face. I just couldn’t believe that smell was coming from that tiny bag. So I did a tentative sniff and it was confirmed: Orange Pledge dusting spray. ::shudders::

I really hadn’t thought much of this sample until I read Ewa’s review and my curiosity was piqued. I mean, perhaps I could balance out that review since I’ve only smelled Earl Grey whilst preparing its bagged version for others. I am now trusting Ewa’s tastes in all things Earl Grey.

I woke up a little stuffy, but that smell did assault my sinuses into waking up a bit more. But I think that my stuffiness adds to the difficulty of my reviewing this one. It’s black tea-ish with fake orange smell, and something else that I couldn’t identify until I reread Ewa’s note: papery lavendar. Bizarre, but true. I’m on my second steep (yes, I’m sadistic) and I’m getting a teeny-tiny bit of sweetness – but lordy, my throat is starting to feel really rough. It’s like the astringency is going from the back of my mouth all the way down my neck. You know that unpleasant tingly feeling the underneath of your tongue gets that happens right before you blow chunks? Well, I’m actually getting that specific sensation, but without the fear of the usual followthrough. I’m not going to finish this second steep. Ick. GA

Wow, quite an aroma when you open up the packet! Pungent – it’s the bergamot without a doubt, but the lavender is really prominent, making the whole thing much more aromatic. The leaves look nice; it’s gratifying that they seem to be using good quality tea as their black base.

After five minutes, the liquor is medium-dark brown, and is just about as fragrant as the dry leaf. Lavender is still muscling its way to the front of the room, with bergamot trying to get a word in edgewise. Taste, I’m getting the same dynamic – I’d probably call it lavender tea with the addition of bergamot rather than the other way around. Not sure if I’m a huge fant of lavender tea however – it’s an aroma I associate with perfumes and potpourris rather than consumable items, so this one is probably a bit too much for my taste. Interesting to try, though.

This is a really good Earl Grey! The black tea is brisk enough to work as a “first of the morning-get up and go” kind of tea, and the bergamot is very lively. The lavender softens the bergamot a bit which I really like. It’s not like a distinct lavender flavor, but I can taste it. It plays very well with the bergamot’s floral tendencies.

I’m loving this cuppa!

I’ve wanted to try a bunch of different teas from Golden Moon for a while now, so when a free shipping on any size order came up a while ago, I went ahead and ordered a bunch of samples. This was definitely going to be one of them, as I love a good Earl Grey. I’m also very picky about my Earl Greys, though, so getting a new one makes me both excited and apprehensive. This one apparently has lavender in it, too, which I didn’t realize, but lavender Earl Grey is a flavor combination that I like, so here’s hoping!

The dry leaf smells great, for a start. Nicely bergamotty, with a hint of lavender, but they meld well together in my mind and become hard to distinguish. The aroma of the brewed tea is a bit more subdued, as I would expect, with a malty black tea base showing up. The bergamot is still at the forefront, however, with a lavendery underlying scent.

I’m really enjoying the flavor of this one. It’s light; I feel like I could brew it for longer and get a more robust cup. But even like this the flavors are all very well done and well mingled. At the beginning of the sip I get a bright bergamot taste, followed by a wash of lavender and then the warm, malty black tea. It comes out some sips more than others, and I do want to try steeping this longer to get a more robust black tea taste, but I do really like this tea. The bergamot is strong enough but not overpowering and bitter, the lavender is light and not at all soapy, and it has a black tea base that I enjoy. It seems like it’s a bit polarizing, but count me on the side of those that really do enjoy it. I should have enough in my sample for one more cup, but I can definitely see rebuying this one.

Well this was definitely better than the bagged Earl Grey I had at a conference this morning. Not as good as my Damn Fine Tea Earl Grey, although that could be because I was distracted and made it with a little too much water. So yeah, it seemed weak but could have been “brewer error” :)

I’m not thrilled by this one. I really , really like Earl Grey, but I’m not liking the lavender in this blend. I would drink this if it was served to me, but I wouldn’t seek it out. The bergomot gets kind of lost. It’s as if you planted a citrus tree and a field of lavender grew up around it. IMO, the lavender just doesn’t belong there.

Other people liked it a lot. I just don’t “get it.”

I find this to be a very flavorful tea. You can equally taste the bergamot and lavender but I will say they both appear to be fighting for first place. This is not a tea I could drink everyday but if I did have the urge to raise my pinky I would reach for this cuppa.

This is a very fragrant, flavorful Earl Grey. I actually got the hints of lavender and jasmine they mention on the package, and I think I liked this better without milk than with. A bit of honey is nice, but it’s not harsh enough to need sweetener. All in all, pretty similar to the Buckingham Palace Garden blends, but with more of a kick. I expect to get a second steep out of this, but haven’t made it yet.

ETA: Oh wait, there’s actually lavender in the blend. In that case, it’s not so overpowering as to be unpleasant, but just faintly there. This is a plus, IMO, as I’m not a big lavender fan.

I received this as a free sample from Golden Moon today. This is the first tea of theirs I have ever tried. It has a wonderful aroma as you open the envelop. Different than other Earl Grey I have had from other companies. I really believe it’s the Lavender addition. It’s a nice touch and calms down the bergamot. The coloring of the steeped tea is lighter in color than other Earl Greys I have tried. I like the fact that it’s a little different than other brands since Earl Grey has been done by just about everyone and their brother…so for that…I will give it a thumbs up. I will be drinking again…

It’s a very passable Earl Grey.

It’s also just a very basic one. There are no surprises here. The flavors are very forward; behind them there’s a little bit of something like honey that I wish had a greater presence in the overall taste. I could drink this over sandwiches at lunch or brunch with milk/cream and sweetener (which is really the only way I ever drink Earl Grey, for whatever reason) and be satisfied with it, but I don’t think I’ll be ordering any more of it. There just isn’t anything about it that lifts it up above the endless heads and shoulders of other Earl Grey teas, and I think I’ve grown pretty fond of the added vanilla element in Earl Grey cream teas.

It smells good though. Mmm, lavender.

Thinking I’m going to brew my other two Earl Greys (both of which are of the aforementioned cream variety) and see how they compare.

It is cold in my classroom. Is working heat too much to ask for?!

I have this on my tea table next to me and have been drinking it all morning trying to warm up. This is the 1st Earl Grey I have liked so I can’t really compare it to any others. I will say that the addition of lavender seems to really balance out the overpowering nature of the bergamont and perhaps that is why I like it.