Earl Grey Supreme

The aroma of the dry leaves is a perfect blend of light bergamot and delicious tippy black tea. It seems to be uncommon to be able to discern the tea base under the bergamot in earl greys, which instantly piqued my curiousity. On my first sip it becomes apparant that the brilliant black tea base is the real star of the show, while the bergamot is relegated to lowly chorus-line duties. I was worried milk would mute the flavours too much, but the tiniest splash really bought out that maltylicious taste.
Personally I find this disappointing as an earl grey (due to my extreme bergamot needs), but incredible as a black tea.

First things first… Hello Steepster. It has truely been a rough to weeks. I have a couple apologies to pass out. To both Tommy the Toad and to Brian. You have been amazingly patient and i kinda dropped the ball hard. Shortly after i set up our swaps, a hateful turn of events with a room mate ended in an immediate removal of my family and all of our property. it did take us sometime to get back on our feet and i promise that as soon as we get the reat of our tea collection here and sorted, both of your shipment will be on its ways with excellent extras. again guys i am truly sorry for my slip and i’ll make for it. Good night guys

My daughter brought this sample to me saying “I think you will like this EG”
I have tried it this morning and have decided that this must be what Picard was drinking on Enterprise. This is smooth, not perfumey(I am so glad, I hate drinking perfumed teas and I can’t imagine Picard liked perfume either:), the citrus notes are light and flavorful. This is like a cross between a mild EG and Blood orange Black: the base contains Ceylon(I am a huge fan of Ceylons) and the citrus notes are present(not as strong in this tea as the Blood Orange) but I do like it. My search may just be over for an EG. I have found a few others that I liked, but they were out of my price range due to shipping to the US.
I think if you really liked a traditional EG, you may not like this too much. But for me, it is the perfect ratio of everything. Now I can say “EG hot” and get a tea that is very much drinkable!
Thank you Mrawlins2 for the sample:)

It’s chilly in Houston- in the lower 30s, which is not common here! So, thinking “I’m in Texas.” I was underbundled this morning. By the time I got to school, I was pretty shivery. Although I generally like milk in my Earl Grey, I decided it would be worth it to try this one plain just to warm up, even though all I had was hot water cooler water.

Pretty good earl grey! I didn’t brew it under optimal conditions, to be sure, but I think I may still prefer Tea Gschwender’s Earl Grey 69. This one just didn’t taste quite as rich to me. It was delicious, but a bit muted. Perhaps I under-steeped it. Thanks to Kristin for the bag!

A fantastic earl grey! Wow this is good. So well done with the flavouring. There is the perfect amount of bergamot in this blend, and of course it’s not bitter at all. I just put milk and agave in this cup, but I wish I had something to make a frothy latte with. This is the best earl grey in my books, so far. This will be a re-buy!

Free sample from Harney and Sons.

This is a bagged tea.

I LOVE bergamot. Pretty much all it takes to get me to like a tea, is to add bergamot. So naturally Earl Grey is my all time favorite tea. I was quite excited to receive this as a free sample. On opening the package and smelling the tea bag, it was strong, sweet, bergamot. I could hardly wait for the tea to steep.

Slight disappointment on the smell of the brewed tea because I could hardly smell any bergamot, but only smell the black tea. But it redeemed itself on the taste, it certainly is strong citrous bergamot. Delish.

Although this tea has a strong bergamot flavour, I don’t seem to be liking the black tea base. It just doesn’t taste quite right to me, not smooth. It seems to me that the black tea base would be bitter, the bergamot is supposed to balance that out, but its not quite the right balance. There is a weird aftertaste that is lingering for a long time.

Overall the tea is still good, but I think I prefer other brands.

After watching the horrible video out of Japan I needed comfort this am. This seemed to fit the bill as it was quick and effortless. I brewed this sachet in a big Starbucks mug (these sachets are made for 12oz. water). Added 2tsp sugar, a touch of vanilla honey, and a healthy splash of 2% milk. Served with oatmeal raisin cookies. Feel marginally better, but really need to turn the news off and focus on work.

Tried this today (the bagged version)… thanks traveling tea box (v. 1.2)! I have to say, I was sorely disappointed. I think I should’ve gone at least 5 min. on the brewing time, because honestly there was very little flavour to this blend. I am thinking that the loose version of this blend has to be better (especially with so many positive reviews here), but really there’s not too much to say about this at all. Smells great, tastes like nothing. :(

http://instagram.com/p/TQ5TB_oc7E/

I am on the search for my perfect Earl Grey, but I’m not quite sure what defines that yet! I’ve enjoyed Earl Grey tea bags (Twining’s, Stash) with no care as to steeping time or anything, yet many of the loose leaf Earl Grey’s I’ve tried have been too bitter for me, and lacking the “right” flavor. I’m not sure if the bitterness I’m tasting is from the tea or the bergamot, but somethings amiss.

Anyway, the first time I brewed this Earl Grey I found it bitter (too long steeping); this time, at three minutes, I enjoy it more, but still a lingering bitterness dampens my enjoyment. The citrusy notes of the bergamot come through nicely. Perhaps I’ll drop it to two minutes next time.

My only experience with earl grey is very limited; I think just twinnings tea bags, but I can’t quite remember. But all I did remember was that I didn’t like it.
But I got a sample of this because I wanted to see what real Earl Grey was like.

To me, the dry leaf smelled a little scarily strong to me, like perfume (as others have said Earl Grey can smell). However, the brewed tea was a very nice blend of flavors and the bergamot was present in just the right amount. I very much enjoyed it. I would probably even buy a tin of this if I was into black teas. But again, my love for other teas (Japanese greens!) outweighs this, and also because of the extra caffeine in black teas. I’m glad there’s more left in the sample for one more round though!

What can I say about this Earl Grey that has not already been said? Earl Grey is one of my favorite types of tea, but this one bills itself as a “SUPREME” interpretation of the classic Earl Grey. All I can say is, it completely lives up to the hype. This is an absolutely phenomenal Earl Grey, and one of my current favorite teas of all time (as of this review). If you like Earl Grey, you owe it to yourself to give this a try. It will not disappoint.

I was earl grey-less and then this showed up. Nice! It has that bergamot zest going on, and it also has a sweet blend of black tea that is robust and delicious. I love it.

I usually drink my Earl Grey with a splash of milk and vanilla syrup or brown sugar cubes to make myself a london fog latte. The strong aroma of EG stands out even after the addition of milk. So I’m not literally an Earl Grey enthusiast, though I always have several different EGs on my cupboard. It was my first time trying H&S EG Supreme, thanks to Janefan, and I have to say this is pretty good! The bergamot scent isn’t as strong once you steep it, but there is enough. Overall, a light EG that I don’t mind drinking straight.

My new favorite Earl Grey. I was always mad at the overpowering bergamot that made teas in some spiced chi crap. This stuff is the real deal, well balanced, high quality, and at a good price.

Blended 2tsp EG Supreme with 2tsp Lupicia’s Strawberry and Vanilla (a green tea) at 180* for 2 min. Works for me.

I can see why Harney and Sons says that people who try this never go back to regular Earl Grey! I was not a big Earl Grey fan, and when this one came with my tea chest I expected the “Supreme” to mean that they had added a lot of extra bergamot. Not so! They put all the Supreme into the leaves themselves! This is a beautiful base of black tea, oolong tea, and silver tips. I believe Mike Harney’s book said they order Formosa Oolong especially for the base of this tea. The bergamot is a lovely addition, but not overwhelming and only enhances this tea. It isn’t there to cover up the use of inferior leaves, as is often the case with flavored teas. This one will definitely be kept in stock in my cupboard.

Hello, hello. I’m at an oil called Bergamot. It’s everything I wish I didn’t know. But you give me some tea I can drink.

You could reeeally smell the Bergamont in this one. I’ve only had Earl Grey once before and daang this was good :)

Doing a comparison between this and Joy’s Teaspoon Earl Grey. Dry, I think I like the smell of Joy’s better; it’s gentler and sweeter. The H&S dry hits you over the head with bergamot.

Brewed, they look identical, a lovely ruby hue. The Joy’s continues to smell mellower, though the aroma of the H&S has backed off a bit now. The flavors match the smell impressions; Joy’s is gentler, softer, but still full of flavor (as it sits it takes on a tasty, invigorating lemon-y tang). The H&S isn’t bad at all, but in the context of such immediate comparison it comes off as far more bitter, though still full of nuance. The Joy’s is easy and enjoyable to take straight whereas the H&S can handle a healthy splash of milk. This leaves me conflicted because I tend to add milk to my afternoon Earl Grey just out of habit, so while I like the Joy’s more here the H&S might be more appropriate for how I tend to use EGs. Hm…