Earl Grey de la Creme

I must thank JacquelineM for this sample. I’m not going to write a lengthy note on it because I ended up becoming disappointed. I did not start out as such, but let me explain.
I’ll start by letting you know that there is no tune to be paired with this note. We were watching Snow White and the Huntsman… the film proved to be the undoing of this tea. You see I found it to be delicious from the first sip. I have less to say about the Earl Gray part and much more of the de la Creme portion.
The Earl Gray was smokey but not as bold as I would have guessed, my assumption being that it would take something with kick to be coupled with the sweet vanilla notes that are so prevalent in this tea. The de la Creme part was so creamy and smooth that the only thing I can think to compare it to is actual cream, maybe with honey as well.
Now back to the movie…It starts out a captivating film with wonderful special effects, an intriguing character (evil queen), and an unpredictable twist on a classic tale. And here lies the problem with the drink. I was drinking happily away on this juice when I got pulled in by the movie long enough for my drink to cool just a bit. Before that happened I was sipping on it while it was still plenty hot yet once it cooled it became bitter. I’m talking hard to continue bitter. Tis a shame because it started out so good.

I am the worst swap partner ever. While I always send out my parcels and delight in receiving something in return, I rarely get to actually drinking the tea. That said, I extend endless apologies to Mercuryhime who sent me some of this as well as a handful of oolongs to try…a year ago. Oy. It all ended up in an envelope in a basket in my cupboard underneath 50 or 60 other samples. I hope to remedy my tardiness though!

Opening the bag, I’m hit by an intense citrus aroma, one I am calling lime. The lime is fab. There is something behind that though that is dusty and musty – that’s probably the bergamot. I’m not getting any creme but neither does this smell like a typical earl grey. I’m not a huge Earl fan, but I like Lady Greys and Cream Greys, so this could be great.

Steeped, I get lime and orange with a sweet creme beneath, I am reminded of those popsicles with vanilla ice cream on the inside. Creamsicles, maybe? Anyway, the steeped aroma is delish and decadent, I’m loving the vibe I get now. The first sips are mild, sweet with some light citrus in the background. The taste still holds with the steeped aroma, popsicles and ice cream! There is no dustiness from the bergamot and no bitterness from the black tea, so I’m gonna call this blend a win. I get the sense that it could become bitter as the cup cools but I’m off to enjoy it quickly. Yum, and many thanks to Mercuryhime for sending it to me!

After my recent sipdown of DavidsTea’s Cream Earl Grey, I was craving it rather badly (figures), and decided to look through my giant box of teas from LiberTEAS to see if there was another variant in there, since she is fond of earl greys. Sure enough, I found one!!! So this came with me to work tonight in the no-longer-quite-so-chai-scented Timolino.

Unlike the DavidsTea version, I found this one to be much more like a straight earl grey upon the initial sip, with the cream coming more in the aftertaste. This could have been an artifact of brewing the tea a bit stronger than intended, but I don’t think so, I think the cream aspect was just done a bit differently here. I have to be honest and say that while the tea was still hot, I really wasn’t getting much of the creaminess, and was therefore kind of disappointed, however as the tea cooled, the delicious creaminess emerged more and more. I definitely like earl grey creams better a bit cooler!

Anyways, I think I’d be likely to choose either DT’s or Upton’s Cream Earl Grey over this variant (which is probably ok since I think SpecialTeas is no longer?), but all three are quite delicious. So much nostalgia for me!

Thanks for including some of this for me, LiberTEAS , and saving me from having to run to DavidsTea to get my fix! I still have enough for at least another cup; hopefully I can stave off the craving for a while longer (or perhaps there’s another cream earl grey lurking somewhere in a swap box that I have yet to track down…!)

I didn’t know this was possible, but I’ve been too sick to want to drink tea. This goes against all my ideas of what is right and proper! You’re supposed to want tea MORE when you’re sick!

But I finally got to a point where I actually wanted tea this morning, and since I’m working from home, I decided I should make a big pot of some new-to-me tea to celebrate.

Looking through my cupboard, I found my sample packet of Earl Grey de la Creme. Sounds perfect. So I got my water heating up, and opened the packet. Oh yum!! The cream and bergamot smell amazing together. Like a slightly sour orange dreamsicle. YUM!

The packet reccomended sugar and milk, and as I’ve said – I tend to like my tea sweet. So I went ahead and poured two little cups. One with a little splenda and half and half, and the other plain. Plain was nice. A little weaker than I expected, but had a hint of natural sweetness and some floral overtones.

Then I had my milk/sugar cuppa. Can anyone else hear anything over the cacophony of birds singing hallijuia? I know I can’t. N to the O to the M to the OMG – that’s just good. The vanilla and the cirtus are great together. I like this tea. My goodness, I like this tea.

This will be a definite re-order.

Oooooh vanilla! When I opened the sample packet the smell was a mix of citrusy and a creamy-sweet smell that made me think of melted ice cream and creamy caramel – can I eat these leaves? ;)

The taste is nice, the bergamot sort of pushing the cream out of the way to take center stage. It’s isn’t too pungent, which is a problem with Adagio’s Earl Grey Bravo, and it has a clean citrusy flavour with a touch of spiciness. On its heels follows the cream flavour which is a bit muted but it gives a sweet, vanilla accent to the tea.

I love love love love Creme Earl Grey! It’s my new favorite! I somehow have in my possession three blends of earl grey in the last month! This was sent to me by Rumpus Parable (thank you!). I love the perfect mix of creme and bergamot and a black base. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t even like bergamot by itself. I could drink gallons of this stuff. But this is why you don’t try the horrible tea bag labeled ‘earl grey’ and then assume you won’t like any other earl grey. As far as my Battle-of-the-Creme-Earl-Greys goes (see the Element Creme Earl Grey), this one is pretty darn similar to that one. Is it possible it is the same blend? But the more I have of this, the better. I won’t ever get sick of it! (I think I’ve already had six cups of creme earl grey in the last two weeks!)

Actually, I’m not sure if this is the tea I have. It’s one steepster select gave out but it is labeled Creme Earl Grey. Can someone confirm if it is the right tea? I couldn’t find Creme Earl Grey and I figured it would be on steepster somewhere, as it was part of Steepster Select…

This vanilla and cornflower-blossom blended Earl Grey brings a lot to the plate. A light sweetness I presume is from the vanilla also seems to soften the often light bitter twinge from any good high quality Earl Grey.

The leaves look to be between 1/16 and 1/8 inch in length with these very pretty blue conflower-petals mixed in. It’s quite nice to look at.

While not as good as some Earl Grey variants I’ve had, I would clearly place this Earl Grey de la Creme in the top five or so.

Kudos to Special Teas.

Backlogging here. I do love this blend. Very rich and strong. Heavy vanilla and strong bergamot.

This tea is phenomenal. It tastes exactly the way it sounds. Kind of like a vanilla earl Grey. I sell it with my own tea company- http://www.tiestatea.com/collections/slenderizer/products/earl-grey-de-la-creme

I enjoy many different teas. Tis is a great version of Earl Grey. It has subtle flavors of vanilla and citrus that mix well with the slightly smoky black tea. There was no bitterness that I could detect and would be a good through out day tea. In the morning I enjoy stronger teas to get me going and in the evening I enjoy subtle teas such as whites or light oolongs. If you need strong earl grey blends then this is not for you, but if you want a different change of pace with many subtle flavors this is really a tea to try.

All of the flavors are well balanced and don’t get lost in each other. I really love how it distinguishes itself from other earl greys with the creamy vanilla. Definitely nice for a change of pace (though I did drink it constantly for about a year). Very nice black or with a bit of soy milk.

Quite possibly the best Earl Grey I’ve ever had. The texture is such that it’s like it already has cream in it.

Adding milk and sugar makes it taste like (an elegant, sophisticated) candy. If you like that sort of thing. (I do.)

Hmmm… I was afraid the cream/vanilla flavors wouldn’t be noticeable against the earl grey but it was a nice balance. I thought the tea was a little on the weak size overall through when I steeped the recommended 3 minutes. It was much better when I let it steep for 5 minutes like I usually do with black teas. Also, it’s not really sweet on it’s own but for some reason, a little sugar/sweetener seems to go a looong way. I had to add less than usual to keep it from tasting too sweet. Other than that, it’s a nice twist on a classic. Don’t know if I’d go out of my way to order more but I can see adding in more samples next time I order from SpecialTeas.

Earl Grey is my favorite tea, and I am sad to leave the only negative review thus far. I found the cornflowers overpowering, and couldn’t enjoy the bergamot aftertaste. Perhaps I should just steer clear of floral Earl Greys, though I love the Edwards Premium Tea Apres-Midi, which is black tea with rose, jasmine, and bergamot. I much prefer SpecialTeas’ Fine Earl Grey.

This has been my “drink it every morning” tea for several years. I add a dash of sweetener and fat-free half and half. I love it!

I think it tastes like Lemon Chiffon and not Earl Grey. It’s a pleasant tea and one I’m sure others would enjoy, but I like my Earl straight up.

Watched French Open and had a cup of Earl Grey. Nice!

This is by and far my favorite Earl Grey. The cornflowers lend a delicate, creamy sweetness that helps to temper the bergamot.

Earl Grey is the first tea I ever really fell in love with. I don’t drink it too too often, but it takes me back to such a specific time and place – a time when I realized how soothing and delicious tea could be. This is an excellent Earl Grey. The vanilla is creamy without being overpowering, and the bergamot is lively and fresh. This is great.