Smells like earl grey to me. In the past I haven’t had much luck with earl grey teas. I’m not sure what it is about them that strikes me as odd, but I think it’s bergamont. Since I haven’t cared for the strong flavor of earl grey in the past, I decided to lower the suggested temperature and steep time. There is something very bitter to me about earl grey tea. It reminds me of when I was younger and my sister and I would play in the neighbors backyard which had tons of rhubarb growing everywhere. We would play pioneers and we would “hunt” and “gather”. We’d take logs from the woodpile and pretend they were hunks of meat from a recent kill and the rhubarb was our crop of choice. We’d even put the rhubarb and logs on my dad’s grill and pretend we were cooking them. He would get so mad when he’d go to use the grill and it was filled with logs and rhubarb! Anyhow, I remember after picking and playing with the rhubarb it would leave the most awful taste on your hands and if you accidently put your fingers in your mouth (as little kids often do) you would regret it! The taste I find in earl grey tea is similar to that taste.
I very rarely add milk or sugar to my tea, but this seems like the perfect candidate for a little something extra and to my surprise it actually helps a lot! I’m able to taste something other than the bitter “rhubarb” flavor. I can detect the citrus aspect which is very enjoyable.
All in all I just don’t think earl grey is my thing really. I’ll finish this tea, but I don’t think I’ll be rushing out to order more. Someone who really enjoys earl grey might love this.
