Lavender Earl Grey

This is the next Jade Teapot sample I’m trying out of the ones I’ve received.

The first things you notice with this tea are it’s amazing smells of lavender and the bright purple flowers throughout this black tea. While steeping this tea, you’ll notice how the black tea stains the purple flowers, so they turn to this almost greenish color and won’t be the vibrant purple they started out to be. But tea is all about the taste, not about what the infused tea looks like afterward, right?

After steeping this tea, the lavender smell is still pretty strong, but not nearly as strong as it was in loose leaf form. I can definitely smell the bergamot in this now.

Taste wise… It’s really strange, but a good strange… I was expecting a huge floral punch in the face, it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. There are floral notes to it, but it’s a slight bit, has a relaxing feel to it. I can definitely taste the earl grey, the bergamot flavor isn’t huge, but it’s there. I think this has a very nice balance to it. This would be a solid buy.

I would write a bit more, but the Blues are on now. KICK THE SNOT OUT OF COLUMBUS!

EDIT: quick note… there are multiple steeps in this, but the second and third steeps lose the taste of black tea and I taste nothing but floral, which isn’t really a bad thing.

2/4 leaves – i think with some fiddling with amount and time it can get to 3/4

Steep Information:
Amount: 3 tsp
Additives: none
Water: 1 cast iron teapot full of filtered boiling water
Tool: Cast Iron Teapot with Mesh basket strainer
Steep Time: a little over 2 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: strong lavender and bergamont
Steeped Tea Smell: mild bergamont and a hint of lavender
Flavor: smooth black tea with some bergamont and then a floral end
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: floral
Liquor: translucent light brown

This came in a cute tea tin with clear labels including the name and ingredients. I wish it had included steeping instructions!

Next time I might do 3 minutes and / or 4 tsp as it’s a bit lighter than I’d like, but with all the over-steeping and burning of leaves I have been doing lightly I wanted to start light.

Instead of awakening I find it soothing.

Post-Steep Additives: none

Resteep: 3 min, weak and bitter, bleh! ok so next time 4 tsp and stick to 2 min

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/03/jade-teapot-loose-leaf-black-tea.html

I wanted to get a sample of this because I love earl grey and was curious how lavender would complement the traditional flavors. I was so excited when my samples came in, this tea is so cute!! Just look at the picture! I already love this tea just based on the pretty little leaves.

This is actually a very good tea. The bergamot isn’t as strong as I would normally like, but the addition of lavender more than makes up for it. I think if the bergamot was any stronger, the lavender wouldn’t taste right. This doesn’t seem to be a very strong tea, but has a nice lavender aftertaste that is very calming. There is a great caffeine kick as well – although I wasn’t sure about that based on the extremely smooth taste. I don’t typically like that many floral smelling/tasting teas, but this is great. I could see myself buying a big container this in the future. Although I would also have to invest in a regular Earl Grey. This is a good alternative, but not a complete replacement for me.