Earl Grey

The bergamot is quite subtle, it doesn’t dominate.

This brings me back to my childhood – we always had Red Rose, Twinings Earl Grey, and Peppermint teas in the house. I loved to horrify my father (still do!) by putting milk in this one. :D

So while this is a very furniture-polishy, tooth-squeaky type of tea, it’s also something I love because I used to drink it all the time.

I have a feeling this came from MissB, when she was in London. Thanks so much!

Delightful! It’s like drinking a bowlful of flowers, without the annoyance of having to pull stamens from your teeth.

I have stayed away from Earl Grey previously because I’m not big on flavored teas, but it was inevitable that I’d get sucked into this classic sooner or later. I would prefer less bergamot flavor, as the flavor is stronger than the Teavana Earl Grey I had a few days ago. However, I didn’t like the Teavana Earl Grey until the second cup, so I’m guessing that this one will grow on me as well. I’m apparently very easily satisfied when it comes to tea, which is good for me…new additions all the time!

My favorite earl grey sold in teabags (as opposed to loose leaf)

So this is the tea that started it all for me. My entire life I got used to drinking supermarket tea and was fine with that…until I tried this one. This is technically a supermarket tea, but definitely higher on the shelf than your standard Lipton’s and Tetley Teas. The aroma from this is just the most pleasantly soothing smell I’ve ever experienced. The bergamot is very pronounced and warm and comforting. The taste is, well, also warm and comforting. I drink this normally without any cream or sugar, but when I’m feeling like I need a special treat, I will make a London Fog out of this and it is just absolutely amazing. Do try it! I’m sure you won’t be disappointed!

The workhorse of my tea world. This is without a doubt my favorite grocery store Earl Grey. The flavor is light with a hint of citrus and lacking the bitterness I associate with grocery store brands.

This is my favorite from Twinings, the aroma is amazing. I really enjoy the citrus smell of the Bergamot fruit. I brew this in both teabags and loose leaf. I enjoy them both, the teabags are more convenient for carrying in your pocket. I usually take one with me to work and have it during my break since they only offer coffee. This is definitely perfect for daily consumption, great flavor and it wont break the bank. :)

A coworker/friend of my husband’s is staying with us for a short period of time until he gets his new apartment. He doesn’t drink coffee, and apparently loves steeped tea from Tim Horton’s and all I have for tea is loose leaf greens/herbals. So I decided to pick up a variety pack from Wal-Mart of different black teas from Twinning’s (it came in a 20 tea bag variety where as other black teas were told in 72 tea bag varieties… I only drink black tea on occasion and there is no way I’m going to go through that much black tea before it goes stale).

So, I was at work and my loose leaf green tea spilled out of my tea filter on the inside of my purse so I decided to steal one of the earl grey tea bags. I know I over steeped it a little bit (probably for around 3 min) when I would have preferred it being less than 1 min. Either way it’s still decent: good amount of bergamot and not too astringent. I can only drink this on occasion due to a sensitive stomach, but it’s a nice “treat” when I can. Still not as good as loose leaf of course, but decent for a bagged tea. And its good to keep around for company as well :).

Grocery store teas often deserve more credit than they are sometimes granted by those who graduate to better teas. Are there better Earl Grey teas out there? You bet. Is this, when doctored up a bit with some cream and sugar, a reasonable tasty beverage? It is.

Disclaimer out of the way, this Earl Grey has just enough of a (vaguely lemon’ish) bergamont to carry a single steep in a small cup. After that you’re left with a one-note black with very little aroma and too much astringency.