Earl Grey Creme

Finally got into a Teavana for the first time. Wasn’t thrilled with the selection; most of what I went in there to try was out of stock. However, I did pick up some of this tea to try, and want to see how it compares to my current fav, Creamed Earl Grey by Tealish. Currently watching the final episodes of Downton Abbey Season 2, and distracted by the butter tarts that I am shoving in my mouth. I’m not going to rate this tea today as it would hardly be a fair review, but will say that it was an enjoyable enough experience with the butter tarts, and of course, my beloved characters of this show.

Stopped by to see my friend who works at the South Park location. This is one that I have had the pleasure of wafting but had yet to taste. So I grabbed a cup. I do like a good earl grey so I anticipating a good experience. Seriously a good brew. The vanilla mellows but doesn’t completely cancel out the bergamot flavor. As it cools there’s a hint of chocolate maybe that’s part to the base black tea. There’s maybe even a hint of maybe creamsicle. I have to admit that there was a fantastic empty cup aroma…a sign of a good one :) This may have to be added to the collection.

I am one tea closer on my quest to try all the Earl Grey Creams. I got a sample of this from Marcel Duchamp, thanks a bunch!

This is STRONG for an EGC. The bergamot is really assertive, but I like a good in your face earl grey so I don’t mind it. Usually the cream tempers the citrus aspect, but this is one of the less creamy earl grey creams that I’ve tried. There’s a hint of vanilla, but this is kind f a reverse of the usual EGC: in most the vanilla/cream is in the forefront followed by bergamot. Here there’s bergamot first and then a whiff of cream!

It’s not bad by any means, it’s a nice change of pace from my usual EG cuppa. I’ll admit that I turn to EG blends far more often than straight EG: cream, smokey, mint, jasmine, rose, lavender, lady grey… but rarely just a straight Earl. This almost fits that profile, really I wouldn’t know it was a cream blend if the label didn’t say so! I got two ounces of their standard EG for Christmas that I have not tried yet, perhaps it’s time for a taste test to see how it compares to this one!

Sipdown, 248. This one comes to me thanks to Tea Sipper!

I have been a bit curious about Teavana’s Earl Grey and variants thereof, but never enough to actually seek them out. But Tea Sipper included a sample of this, so I get to try it.

My first impression immediately after it was finished steeping was that of cleaning solution. Uh oh. There is just something about the bergamot that seems off. I feared Bitter Bergamot Syndrome in the taste of this one, but actually it turned out alright. I mean, it’s not terrible, but it’s not really good, either. Despite the fact I used slightly more leaf than I normally would for this cup, the flavor is kind of bland. The cream is nice in the aftertaste but not great in the main sip. The bergamot is kind of meh and more typical of mediocre Earl Greys, not fruity and citrusy and lovely. All in all, not a bad cup, but not one that I will look for again.

This was a pass-along from one of you wonderful people out there … at least I think so … uh, I mean I know it was a pass-along. The “I think” part stems from the fact that it’s in a zip-lock bag without original packaging, so I just matched it up visually with the dry leaf picture.

But if this is what it is, it’s really tasty! I am not a huge bergamot fan, but there’s just something in me that wants to learn to love it. You can’t be a tea geek without liking Earl Gray, at least a little bit. So the heavy cream flavor served as “training wheels” and maybe, just maybe, I can start doing EG on its own.

First off, I should mention that I won this from Teavana in one of their giveaways on Twitter!

And right now I’m listening to the King’s Singers (a virtuoso group from England) singing about being trains. “Look at me, I’m a train, I’m a train, I’m a choo-choo train…” oh, it’s so great.

On to the tea! It’s definitely a strong Earl Grey. It’s much stronger than DAVIDs. That being said, it’s not bad. I certainly have to add milk and sugar to make it drinkable, since I don’t particularly like bergamot, but it’s a lot better than Teavana’s straight Earl Grey. I don’t think I’ll get it again, since Earl Greys aren’t really my thing, but it’s not something I just want to throw out.

Also My tea cupboard is getting a bit boring, but I don’t really have the money to go out and shop. Does anyone want to do a swap for a few samples? :)

Thanks ToiToi for sending me this sample!

Smells pretty good. Not nearly as strong as an earl grey so hopefully this one will sit well. Just steeping.

It was my birthday a few days ago and today my friend gave me my gifts – one of which was a Buddha board! So awesome (I even did a blog post on it!). I’ve been playing with it all night. I can see many study distractions in the future with this on my desk. Oh my.

I’m enjoying it more than pure earl grey for sure. But still not thinking it’s what I’m looking for in an earl grey. But I’m also not sure what exactly it is I’m looking for. Perhaps I’m just destined to try every earl grey out there.

Thanks to IHeartTeas for sending this as part of the fire sale, I got to try a ‘battle of the Earl Grey Cremes’ after getting three Earl Grey Cremes in the same week. I thought I wouldn’t like Earl Grey at all, since the bergamot doesn’t sound very good to me at all. But the creme makes it amazing! HOWEVER, this Earl Grey Creme loses to the other two (Element & SpecialTeas). The flavor on this one just isn’t as strong with either the black tea, bergamot or creme. And it also leaves my mouth a bit dry. If I had tried this one before the other Earl Grey Cremes, I would have loved this one more than I do, but the other two are perfect.

I’ve never been too familiar with Earl Grey teas, I’ve only had a few, the most recent one was the sample I got from The Jade Teapot.

This one is definitely different, not nearly as floral smelling… This one actually almost reminds me of a perfume though… The vanilla is definitely a nice touch to it..

This one goes down really smooth… I love the creamy vanilla taste to this. I think I just need to spend more time with this tea and Earl Greys in general… It is a great morning tea…

I’m just gonna continue my day watching the April Fools’ marathon of the Three Stooges… I love these guys…

This tea had to grow on me. At first, I didn’t like it so much. I found myself just wanting a plain Earl Grey. But the more I drank it, the more I liked it. I especially like mixing it in with other black and oolong teas I have.

It’s good. I may not buy it again soon, but it’s definitely a possibility in the future.

This tea was brought over by a friend to try out. She enjoys it quite a lot, so I had to give it a shot!

The aroma of the dry leaf is a little overpowering, but not in a wholly unpleasant sort of way. I find that using the recommended amount of leaves and steeping time with Teavana teas leads to a very dull flavor, so I used more tea than they suggest and steeped a little longer as well. This did seem to prove me right once more and I could tell the full flavor of the tea was working its way into the liquor.

The bergamot was a little over-strong for my taste, but I am not a particular fan of bergamot, so this is very subjective. There are those who love the bergamot flavor, so this would be more up their alley. I did enjoy the creme undertones, however. It was nicely noted on the tin that there was no dairy involved in the creme (important for vegans and those who are lactose intolerant).

After trying a few sips plain, I added a small amount of sweetener and a little milk to bring out the creme flavor more fully.

Overall, I did enjoy this sweet, creamy Earl Grey. The sweetness of the bergamot and the blue cornflowers almost were too much for me, but they balanced with the creme and small amount of milk I added after the first.

I probably wouldn’t buy this for myself, but if someone gifted it to me, I would likely drink it somewhat regularly on a weekend morning.

To me, this is a tea for blending: by itself, it just makes me wrinkle my nose, but it makes an interesting addition to some of my other teas. This time, I added a pinch to my second steeping of Teavana’s MateVana and found the combination pleasant, though I can’t say exactly why.

So this tea is pretty much my favorite tea ever. Like, when I woke up feeling all ‘Blerg’ this morning, I made this.

I don’t know why its my favorite. I generally do not like Earl Grey anything. But this I adore.

ADORE.

I made it this morning for me and the boy who came over to chop off the top of my lawn with a big machine. As I was brewing I said, “Oh, and this is my Earl Grey Creme” and he said, through a mouthful of whatever the heck I made this morning, “I know. I can smell it.”

….y’all. This boy knows only about three types of tea. “Sweet Tea” “Sweet Tea with Lemon” and “The Froo-froo stuff you’re drinking.” So if that tells you how often I brew this bad boy, then you know that I love it.

I got this in my Teavana order to see if it was any better than the Earl Grey Creme Vanilla from Upton. Really, I do think they are pretty comparable in taste. I think I am going to have to do a side by side comparison soon. I also have a sample coming from a tea vendor who sells Metro teas, and am assuming the Earl Grey Creme from that vendor is also from Metro.

Pretty enjoyable. I do like it, and since I have a thing for JavaVana Mate…I can see buying this one again if it does taste better than Upton’s in the side by side. Otherwise, the Upton is a hard one to beat due to price.

After having my first Earl Grey in the form of a Tea Latte this morning at Caribou Coffee, I thought I would pick up some Earl Grey at Teavana. The associate let me smell both this and the plain Earl Grey, and I chose this for it’s creamy sweet aroma.

This tea brews up a nice golden brown color with an aroma of an orange creamsicle. I haven’t sniffed such an enticing brew that wasn’t an herbal infusion prior to now. Wow do I enjoy sniffing this tea.

The tea has a bright taste from the bergamot and a smooth creamy blackness to it. I really am enjoying this tea. Glad I brewed two cups, as I am nearly thru with the first after writing this review. Trying this sans sweetner and cream this go round as my stomach isn’t settling from lunch. Maybe I’ll try with cream after dinner.

I received this from SoccerMom, who found out she wasn’t so fond of earl grey. I am always open to trying different EGs, so I was very happy to receive the package. I loved the smell, which didn’t smell like a typical earl grey because of the addition of vanilla and cream flavors. So far so good. I used 10oz water instead of the standard 8oz and steeped 2 minutes and 30 seconds, which is what I usually do when I drink my earl greys straight.

The result? I have to say, thank you, SoccerMom! I like this. As an earl grey, it is on the lighter side, more floral notes than bergamot. I am not a big fan of vanilla by itself but the sweetness made the floral scent less perfumy for me. I like it. I also like the blue cornflower that makes the blend look quite pretty.

This Earl Grey Creme is a pretty mellow, friendly tea, if a little inconsistent across similar brewing parameters. I’ve had a few amazing cups, and I’ve had passable cups. Always at least a decent performance, though, so it’s quite comfortably my go-to tea for any situation.

(That’s just because it’s an Earl Grey, though.
…I love Earl Greys, even if I’m not an expert on them.
…Yet!

And today’s situation: approaching 2 liters on this EGCreme, and 38 hours straight of being awake. Ah, but I really do love cheating on the human biological need to sleep… Especially with the help of a cup of Earl Grey.)

Though, while I still do like this specific EG quite a lot, I’m not quite as in love with it as I used to be. Hmm…? I wonder what happened? I’m quite certain it’s not stale – it’s not that old of a batch, though it’s old enough that this is Teavana’s previous/discontinued EGC formulation, with the blue cornflower petals. Although I’m sure it’s not stale, I am questioning the potency of the creme flavoring a bit – it’s been diminishing, so that this is tasting just a bit more and more like a plain Earl Grey over time… I don’t know. I still need to learn more about the dynamics of flavored teas, I think!

It’s still nice, but I haven’t been able to brew up the best of this in a while. When done right, there’s that sort of wonderfully silky cup that’s absolutely show stopping… the texture feels just like the softest soymilk, and the citrus-creme flavor just sinks right through and builds smoothly and sweetly over the entire session… The creme flavor is so gentle, it’s almost cooling at the back of the mouth, like vanilla mint. Oh, and this ideal brew usually arises from a resteep. This tea resteeps extraordinarily well.

This current run is above-average, a little heavier on the bergamot that I’m used to from this EGC, but still as smooth and soft and astringency-free as ever. Despite the noticeable consistency issues, this is still a solid tea. Too bad Teavana changed the formulation!!

There is not much creme in this earl gray creme. The bergamot flavor is very strong with a sharp slightly unpleasant aftertaste. The cream tones it down a bit, but it is still not my favorite. I much prefer the Tippy Earl Gray from Golden Moon which is much smoother even without any cream flavor. Have had this a bunch of times trying to finish it off because I bought 4oz of it. I have so many teas that I enjoy more that I think I’ll look to swap this one since the tasting notes suggest others enjoy it more than I do.

This is my “go to” Earl Grey. Always add a little milk to round out the creamy texture. There are other Earl Grey Cremes that are comparable but I just wait to restock when Teavana offers online coupon codes. I drink it at least once or twice a week.

One of the first Earl Grey teas I’ve really tried. But all I can say is I loved it! Has a nice balance of cream flavor and bergamot. It had a very creamy finish. That’s all I really have to say about this tea :] Very simple yet delicious!