This tea was not at all what I was expecting. I was expecting a lighter, sweetish, almost dessert-like, mild EG. But this is rich, heavy and pretty decadent. I did add a tiny bit of sugar but honestly, I don’t think it needed it because there wasn’t any bitterness or ick that I could taste trying to come through the sugar, though it is possible that the sugar did bring out the orange flavors a hair.
This isn’t overwhelmingly citrus. Instead, it is a heavy, silky, smooth tea with a light fruity sweetness surrounding the tea flavor on all sides. Knowing that it is bergamot, orange and mandarin, it’s noticeably citrus (though a dark, heavy citrus) but not knowing what it is makes the flavor a little difficult to identify past “something fruity”. Because the bergamot doesn’t overwhelm, my brain doesn’t really slot this in with EGs.
Now, I did brew this tea at potentially a too-hot temp – my Zojirushi was set at 208° so I put the water into the cup for a moment before putting in the infuser – so it is possible that at a lower water temp the citrus will come out a bit more. However, since that isn’t something I need to enjoy this tea, I’m not concerned. Probably my biggest sorta-issue with this tea is how rich it feels. It’s almost a little overwhelming since I wasn’t prepared for it but it definitely grew on me. Something so heavy might not be the best thing for first thing in the morning, though – my stomach needs to wake up a bit.