Earl Grey

Has this ever happened to you? “You don’t want that tea? Give it to _____! She’ll drink anything!”

Thus, a nearly full box of Earl Grey bags on my desk, minus one suspiciously eyed, hesitantly tested bag.

I will finish the cup, but (apologies to those of you who like this) it tastes like furniture polish.

Correction. Maybe I will finish the cup.

This is a review for the newer “full leaf” tea sachets that you can find at Starbucks, not a flat tea bag. I got a cup of this at the airport today… Yes, back at the airport. I have seen way too many airports in the past month, even for me.

I immediately put milk and sugar in this mostly because I wanted something comforting and was too tired and annoyed at having to be my the airport to mess with trying this tea on its own. Nevertheless, this is quite clearly a much better quality tea than the tea bag version. The bergamot was nice and strong, but with good flavor too. Maybe sometime I will try this on its own.

I was craving bergamot and I had this lying around (untouched for ages) and out of desperation I brewed some up. Now I remember why I left it sitting. This stuff tastes how I imagine lavender scented perfume would taste, with a slight aftertaste of soap. On the bright side, I’m re-watching a fantastic documentary called “Wild China”. It shows different regions in China and explores each regions nature, wildlife and culture and let me tell you, it’s a BEAUTIFUL country with amazing people. On my list of top 5 places to visit in the world, China would be number one (with Japan and Canada following). But now I’m rambling a bit. But if you’re bored or looking for something with substance to watch and you have Netflix, you should definitely stream it or rent the discs. It’s a great documentary about a beautiful and culturally rich place (and, of course, the motherland of our precious tea).

This was my 2nd cup of tea at breakfast.
I can’t say I’m a fan, but at least the lavender wasn’t too prominent. I love lavender, the smell of it is wonderful, but I don’t care for it in my tea or in my food.
Gratefully I’m home now, where I have a crazy & wonderful selection of teas that I do love!
BTW…did you know that under the ‘companies’ heading, there are 4 listings each for Stash & for Tazo? This applies to several other company listings as well. If I had more time, I’d go in & consolidate all the multiple listings, just because (look out, here comes a rare left brain moment, someone let Ms Theresa out of the closet) it really irritates me! Maybe a group of us could each agree to take a letter of the alphabet, & clean up that letter, consolidating all the companies & reviews that have multiple listings. Any comments?

I needed a pick me up this afternoon and my stash at work only has herbal tea…that wasn’t going to work. So I hopped on over to the campus bistro thing and got this. As it steeped I swear it smelled like fruit loops…yes the cereal. After the first sip I knew I needed to doctor this up with some sweetener and skim milk. I usually don’t add much of anything to my teas, but this needed it in a big way.

Thankfully we’ll be passing a real Starbucks tonight where I can get a Green Tea Latte mmm…

I was so chilly before class tonight that I ran into the Starbucks on campus to get an Earl Grey tea. I really enjoy this Earl because it’s so lavender-y! It always surprises me that something so unusual can be bought at such an ubiquitous place. I think it’s absolutely delicious – the loose leaf is a great improvement over the former bags – and my best treat at school! I was going to buy a tin, but I said nah – let it be my special thing to get out and about before lecture.

Steep time and water temp unknown, but I will say the walk from the campus center where the Starbucks is to my building for class brews an excellent cup of tea! Throw out the bag before I sit and I’m golden!

This is the box of Earl Grey that my junior got me for a gift. I have been putting off actually trying some because I don’t really like the Tazo brand. So, I have decided that if I don’t like this one, then I will just pop the box into my teacher’s tea basket when I get back to school.

It smells like an Earl. I think it smells a little stronger than Numi’s Aged Earl or Twining’s Earl or Lady, but it doesn’t smell bad. It is very astingent. I can feel my mouth get dry as I take a sip. It tastes like perfume. Yeah. Mouth drying perfume. I think I can see how it might taste good as a latte because the milk would tone down the flavors. But, I don’t normally drink milk with my Earl Grey. And if I did, I would want to start with a better Earl.

Maybe it is the books I am reading (everyone is drinking tea and wine in them) or the fact that I purchased this for my husband – his insesent whinning about how I have all this tea and I am not sharing made me purchase some of this Earl Grey; man! men can be such babies when they are left out! LOL

When I popped open the tin, I nearly decided to not give this tea a chance, so overwhelming was the scent of lavendar that I was worried this tea would taste soapy. Lavendar is always a scary scent in foods and teas, too much heat makes it soapy and yet too little heat will not always steep the tea correctly.

This tea steeped fast, and turned a dark burnt caramel or chocolate colour.

I noted a lot of malty floral scents, but no lavendar… strange.

It tastes REALLY bitter, which makes me a little sad, because I don’t have any cream and I find sugar and honey ruin the taste. … Maybe if I had some agave, it would help?

We’ll see what happens as it cools some more.

I had a very busy day, and didn’t have time to stop and think … much less brew a cup of tea. So after dropping my youngest off at her dance class, we went to Starbucks and got a cup of Earl Grey to help ward off the lack-of-caffeine headache that was starting.

It’s OK… certainly not the best Earl Grey I’ve had. Even a bit bitter and I didn’t let it oversteep.

Against my better judgement, I snagged a cup of this instead of my usual mocha at Starbucks on the way up to visit my family. Earl Grey is a tea I can take or leave, and I’ve been generally unimpressed with Tazo’s offerings, but I had a weird craving for it today, so I got it.

It wasn’t awful. It wasn’t great — the citrus was completely absent from my cup — and it didn’t help that I burned my tongue with the first sip. And it got a bit cloying toward the end. But even so, it was better than I expected, with a slightly floral flavor. And it did the job, getting me caffeinated. (I work nights, so any day with the family is an early one for me!)

I’ve had much better teas, but I’ve had worse, too, so I will give this one a pass.

Made this into a London Fog, since I was gifted an entire tin of the loose-leaf tea bags. It’s alright and it’ll satisfy the London Fog cravings I occasionally get, but there are definitely better Earl Greys out there.

Pretty good for a teabag. This earl grey has a nice balance of citrus from the bergamot and spice from the lavender. It feels very chai like and I swear I can taste some clove in there too. This tea also has the big plushy pillow size teabag which definitely kicks it up a step from other teabags. Very relaxing.

This is a perfect Earl Grey tea. Nice on a cold day.

Quite a strong Earl Grey, but I love the bright lemon note and delicate lavender scent! Didn’t know Starbucks had such nice tea!

It’s easy to bash on the big bad corporations, but when Tazo (wholly-owned by Starbucks) upgraded its teas from fannings in fabric tea bags to whole leaf in sachets, they drastically improved their product. This updated Earl Grey is more on the smokey side than it is citrusy, and I appreciate that. If it was strong on the bergamot, it wouldn’t go as well with additions at the condiment bar, since Starbucks usually doesn’t have lemons handy. It also gives you the option of making it into a latte, where the smokiness shines.

Try it iced before the summer ends. Order it as follows:
“Short earl grey, 2 tea bags, venti cup of ice.” Make sure the water is filled to the top of the short cup, and make sure the venti cup is filled to the top with ice. Steep as recommended below, and add sweeteners (if desired) while hot. Once dissolved, pour over ice, and either add cold milk on top, or add more water to fill the cup up. Either way, it’ll be perfect! I have made this drink a couple of hundred times, without fail.

Eh. The first few tazo bags in the sampler I liked, but this and the chair bored me to tears. Granted I’ve never had an Earl Grey before, but this tasted like I stole perfume and guzzled it. It was not enjoyable in the least…I actually threw most of the cup away, which I never do. I will try again maybe when I am less tired and cranky.

This tea has been a bit of a stand-by during trips to Starbucks. As other reviewers have mentioned, it steeps very quickly. Basically I let it steep during the walk from the counter to the place to put milk in it. Usually there is someone else in the way, or someone is smiling at the baby, so I would put it at about a minute and a half! I guess Starbucks teas are for impatient people. When it is too strong, and I let it steep beyond the walk, it is cringe-worthy.

It does need “toning down” with milk, and makes an excellent latte. It is actually like some sort of rich, malty hot version of ice-cream, if that makes sense. I am on a mission to find the hot equivalent to ice-cream. I wish I could have something that is as satisfying as ice-cream, while being cozy and warming instead of chilling. And at 140 calories it pretty satisfying without adding inches.

How should I describe this Earl Grey? It is strong and malty, like an Assam, but has the subtle taste of lavender underneath the Bergamot overtones. In fact, I found it a little too strong for an Earl Grey, and was only satisfied by the aroma. Earl Grey teas are a signature tea for each company. For this reason, I expect a variety in the flavor from company to company. And perhaps Tazo simply wanted to make this blend stronger than most Earl Greys. Still, I find myself going back to Twinings or Harney & Sons for the best Earl Grey.

Another day, another sad Venti single-bag of this non-descript bag blend. I really hope I can avoid these in the future. If I know I’m gong to be at Buckie’s, I should bring a bag from home. At least then I won’t steep to disappointment.

If I drown the perfume and bergamont with vanilla soy its drinkable. Not a fan