Cream Earl Grey

Yesterday, I declared that I would stop sweetening my tea. I drank my Dilmah Earl Grey without it and honestly, kinda suffered through it. But I stuck with it again today and brewed this up, adding only ice.

Yeah. I can’t do this. It’s going to be some kind of low calorie sweetener from now on, because all the sugar I’ve been consuming lately has been hurting my waistline. Anyway, um, about the tea…

Got it in a trade with Spencer. This is pretty tasty. The bergamot could be a bit stronger and cleaner-tasting, but it’s not bad. I particularly like the creamy aspect. But as I drank it, all I could think was “Man, this would be good with some sugar…” Especially since I brewed it on the strong side, and it was pretty bitter. I wish I had some more… I feel like I can’t even properly review it after today…

Sorry…but I’m really NOT a fan of this. It smells ok…but…it tastes like coffee creamer BEFORE you put it in the coffee…that is all…

ug.

From the second set of TeaFrog samples. It has cornflowers! Two in a row with the cornflowers and caffeine today.

This smells very creamy in the packet. I can also smell the bergamot. Just for curiosity’s sake, I smelled this one next to the Upton Earl Grey Creme Vanilla. There is a difference, and it’s pretty much consistent with the names. The Teafrog’s cream smell is sweeter and creamier. The Upton’s is creamy, but it also has a vanilla contribution to the fragrance separate from the cream. It’s got a concentrated, beany vanilla note to it. Which is interesting because looking back on my note on that one, I found it creamier than the other vanilla flavored teas I’d had recently. So by comparison to vanilla, it was creamy. And the TeaFrog, by comparison to vanilla cream, is still creamier. If you’re still getting my drift, you need to go have a cocktail right now.

The tea’s aroma is also very creamy. It’s not a cream soda or ice cream creamy so much as, I’d say, almost a whipped cream creamy. There’s a small amount of citrus sniffable in the cup.

Flavor wise, it’s very similar to how it smells. It’s strong on the cream, not strong on the tea, not strong on the bergamot, though both the tea and the bergamot are present. The not strong on the bergamot is exactly how it describes itself.

Points for being a self-aware tea.

I prefer the more vanilla-y cream of the Upton, but this would be a tasty alternative if I find myself just needing the comfort of cream. It’s fitting that one of my other TeaFrog favorites so far is the Chocolate and Cream.

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this tea.

I really like this one – very creamy and delicious. The vanilla and the bergamot meld together nicely and create a sort of “caramel-y” flavor. Really really nice.

Mmmm! This tea smells intriguingly wonderful! Upon first opening the package, a big cloud of bergamot oil hits me across the face. It is almost overwhelming. Then, I take a moment (to catch my breath), and I sniff at the leaves again. There is a smooth, underlying creaminess, reminiscent of vanilla, that suggests that the coming flavor might be something special! Following along with the instructions, I add one teaspoon of the very-scented leaves to my cup and then pour a cup of just-boiled water over them. Whoosh! The creamy scent billows up from the now-steeping tea. TeaFrog recommends 3-4 minutes for steeping, and I like to steep my teas about midway. Three and a half minutes later, a golden brown cup of joy awaits me. The aroma has mellowed out and the Earl Grey scent blends with the creamy notes. Drinking this tea, I find that it is so smooth! Delicious Earl Grey flavor, just as I think that Earl Grey should be, mixed with a creaminess that really hits the spot. The cup probably could have been steeped for four minutes and been just as tasty, if not a bit more so, but I will try that next time. I am also thinking that this tea would taste great if it were iced. This is definitely worth a try for any fans of Earl Grey (or someone looking to try something new!) On my personal enjoyment scale, I would rate this tea a 95/100.

Yum…I can really detect the creamy notes. Citrusy bergamot and cream. I forgot how much I love Earl Grey! And this is a mellowed-out version. I can detect a bit of burnt sugar and vanilla, cream and some fantastic bergamot. A very tasty mix!

This is the last of the TeaFrog samples I have that I took to work (I left all the rooibos at home, and I don’t drink tea as often there). The aroma on this one is super sweet creamy-vanilla, with just a hint of bergamot and black tea peeking in from underneath. The taste is surprisingly bitter for an Earl Grey cream. Maybe I steeped it longer than I thought, but certainly no more than 30 seconds longer. Guess I’ll make sure to go down to 3 minutes exactly next time. Anyway, the creamy vanilla flavor is also there with a good helping of astringent bergamot. I feel like they’re somehow separate, though, like they don’t meld together well. Usually I feel like cream Earl Greys are tamer than traditional Earl Greys, but in this one the cream doesn’t seem to mellow it as much. I’ll definitely adjust my steeping parameters and try again, but right now this is not my favorite as far as cream Earl Greys go.

Update on this tasting note: The smell in the bag, CREAM. It is incredible. Could not wait until the 3 minute brewing time was over, took a deep smell…I know that smell…butter on toast…I’m not sure. Taste, good in fact yummy. Maybe I do like this EG, but alas, as I got closer to the end of the cup, the bitterness, astringency reared its ugly head and then it was there…the perfume, the flowers…ugh…I give up on the Earl. Sorry Jean-Luc Picard, I wanted to like it…I really did….I could not believe something that smelt so good in my cup was doomed to failure. So I tried this again..the bitterness and perfume was gone in this cup. I did like it and I do plan to taste more EG in the future. Thanks Jean-Luc for not letting me give on your staple tea:)

Yum! I’d never heard of a Cream Earl Grey before but it’s quite nice. Creamy with a slight vanilla flavour. The flowers really add to it. Stands up well to a bit of milk. Yet another to add to the reorder list….