TWG Earl Grey Gentleman

Tea courtesy of Doulton, and idea to drink an Earl Grey courtesy of Miss Sweet! Check out her Ode to Bergamot in her tasting note for Earl Grey Excelsior!!

Taken with a little pinch of sugar.

This one is different! I’m not tasting an overly bergamot flavor. I taste lime! The tea is dark and bold for a Ceylon – I think it would have taken a drop of milk nicely if I had any. It resteeped very strong, too!

It’s not knocking me over – and I think it’s because I really want milk with it! I think I also like my Earls a little less of a gentleman ;) Give me some more Calabrese bergamot of the peasantry, wontcha!

Another gift from Doulton! Thank you!

And like Doulton, I too adore Earl Grey teas. There is just something so amazing about that bergamot – the aroma, the flavor, the way it lingers on the palate. Pure delight.

The aroma of this Earl Grey is strong, especially true of the dry leaf. No big surprise there, because most Earl Grey teas boast that same strength in aroma. Generally, if I find an Earl Grey that is lacking in it’s aroma, it’s been my experience that the tea is lackluster at best. Not always true, but, it is generally the case when it comes to Earl Grey.

The tea base is quite bold, with a slight bitter note to it – not distastefully bitter, though – so it surprised me to learn that this is a Ceylon base, as they tend to be much more mellow.

The bergamot is pleasant in this blend – not quite as floral in flavor as in other blends. No perfume-y flavor to it, just a very delightful, slightly sharp bergamot flavor.

If I were given one of those impossible philosophical chores—-you are stuck on a desert island and can only bring one tea, or if you had to pick one tea only to drink for the rest of your life, my immediate answer would be Earl Grey. I’ve loved Earl Grey teas and tasted quite a few of them. When I saw that I could try TWG via mail order, I was ecstatic.

The packaging is delightful. When you open the inner lid on the canister (yes, there are two lids) that Earl Grey aroma is overpowering in its seductive goodness. I noticed this first—many Earl Greys signal their presence with a whiff of vaguely citrus aroma. TWG most certainly has the full fledge bergamot odor—indeed, I felt that I was romping about in a Calabrian bergamot grove. The citrus aroma has overtones of pear, and you can make out the distinctive touches of orange, grapefruit, lemon, and lime clearly.

I loved this tea! Drinking this tea after another Earl Grey is like having the most expensive, exquisite, carefully made deep chocolate after a Hershey’s bar. They are from two different planes of experience. Compare the pedestrian, everyday life, which can be drab and dismal, with the most exquisite day you can imagine—a day in sun-drenched Italy, perhaps and you can conjure up the sense of discovery I had with TWG Earl Grey Gentleman. It’s deep, rich, satisfying, filling, and almost a full meal on its own. It does not need sugar and milk, but I tried some with my second cup and the sugar and milk are not strong enough to mar the flavor at all.

A second steeping was flavorful and satisfying. I plan to try other TWG Earl Greys.

They have nine listed on their website:
Breakfast Earl Grey
Earl Grey Fortune
Smoky Earl Grey
Earl Grey Gentleman
English Earl Grey
French Earl Grey
Earl Grey Theine Free
Earl Grey Buddha
Earl Grey d’Amour

I won’t be rating this tea yet…
I’ve been lured by the Gentleman in this tea name. Expecting something slightly refined, I put way too much leaves in my strainer. Second I put less water than usual in my boiler and did not get a full teapot. Third and last, I got busy while brewing and forgot the tea for way too long.
The resulting brew was strong, with a slightly bitter touch, that did not prevent me from drinking it all, though with probably not as much pleasure as could have been. The citrusy flavors seemed well balanced and very pleasant.
I’ll have to prepare it by the book next time to try to see if I get my gentleman and not the ruffian just out of the boxing ring, all sweaty and male I ended up with today…

Earl grey is my favorite tea, and it was TWG that introduced me to it! Needless to say i fell in love pretty quickly. The bergamot aroma is very strong, and the taste almost equally so. Apart from the bergamot, I’m not getting any citrus flavor, but that’s fine with me. The flavor holds up well to milk, which I love.