Organic Earl Grey

Not a bad Earl Grey. A little too light to inspire me to switch from my regular steep. I did a long review on my blog.

First an earthquake. Then a hurricane. Now a volcano?!?! Ok, so the Chilean volcano has been erupting for months now, but that doesn’t mean that it didn’t just cancel my flight from Buenos Aires to Trelew, Argentina. Sigh. Now I’m booked on an overnight bus, and I’m chilling at a cafe with wifi in the bus terminal until it leaves. What to do but have a cup of tea? I brought sachets of this tea with me to Argentina to have when my tea options were thin. I already had one pot of flavorless argentine black tea earlier today, so I busted out one of these for one. I haven’t tried a lot of the bagged teas in the supermarket, so I took a gamble and grabbed this one.

I’d say it turned out pretty well. It’s a pretty nice basic Earl Grey that satisfies the craving. The black tea base is nice and smooth (Ceylon, my favorite for an EG), slightly malty, and it pairs well with the bright, citrusy bergamot. The bergamot in this isn’t bitter or astringent, but it’s also not shrinking into the background either. This is an EG that I could easily drink regularly, which is good because I have the rest of a box of it!

A beautiful bergamot aroma filled the air when I opened this package. I just love bergamot!

I do wish that the brewed liquor were a little more fragrant, but the flavor is very nice. It is pungent and juicy with citrus flavor and a pleasant bergamot sharpness to it that I really like.

I got this tea in a swap, and of course the Earl Greys are the first teas I hit. Steeped for about 3 minutes, added just a little sugar.

High quality tea. I could barely taste the ‘hint’ of bergamot. I do think I can taste hints of jasmine though there shouldn’t be any jasmine.

Now to see how the leaves stand up to a second steeping.

My first whiff of the dry leaf in the pyramid bag was a little strong. The bergamot is perhaps stronger than I would prefer (a non-regular Earl Grey drinker). The brewed liquor is a nice deep amber and the aroma is similar to that of the dry leaf.

My first few sips were when the tea was freshly brewed and pretty hot still. The lemony bergamot really packed a wallop and I wasn’t particularly fond of it. It had a vaguely soapy, almost Pine Sol-like after taste for me. I let the cup sit a bit and the tea cooled. Once it was in the “pleasantly warm” category, I tried it again and basically all of the bergamot overkill had passed into history.

I think this will make a nice iced Earl Grey in the summer months, but I think I’ll pass on future hot cups.

Thanks again to Two Leaves and a Bud for sending along this sample for me!

Had this cup of Earl Grey away from home, from the Little Italy Pappalecco in San Diego, CA.

This seems to lack some character. I like a stronger Earl Grey, but this was weak enough that I could taste… the water, and whatever it was carrying. Although the so-so water quality isn’t this tea’s fault, a teabag should be resilient enough to stand less delicate, more standard-coffeehouse brewing conditions than looseleaf, and this was lackluster. Little to no aroma to enjoy, here. The bergamot taste was weak, resulting in a taste like a thin generic black with just a dash of citrus, not amounting to much in the end. It never even got the nice bitterness of a good, oversteeped teabag! This Earl just never developed any spine, or something.

It’s too bad, I could have used a good, assertive Earl Grey with the lovely vanilla cake I had at the Pappalecco cafe. I loved everything else from there, besides this cup!

In the airport my choices were McDonald’s for tea or this tea at a coffee stand. I went for this :) Not too disappointed. I wouldn’t by the tea in a store but one of the better teas I’ve gotten out. The flavor has a good balance. I usually find earl grey’s are too strong or lack flavor but this one doesn’t have either problem.

I’ve been drinking this tea relatively consistently in the last couple weeks and I am always happy with it. I love the flavors that come out but since I am still a teenager and my taste buds aren’t fully developed I generally add a bit of milk for creamy and sugar because I do still like sweetness.

This is my mother’s absolute favorite Earl Grey and so I bought her a few boxes and tried a cup. So far this is an enjoyable Earl Grey. The level of bergamot isn’t too sharp and it has a light and pleasant citrus flavor. I’d love to have it with some cranberry scones and Devonshire cream.

There is nothing more fantastic than a cup of Earl Grey tea with a bit of vanilla and a bit of (almond) milk. One of my favourite breakfasts is toast with plum jam and a cup of this tea. This particular Earl Grey doesn’t have a really strong Bergamot flavour – I always buy the loose tea and use my favourite mesh ball to steep it. The best part? Amazon carries it with Prime shipping, so whenever I’m running low, I just click the “oneclick” button and more tea magically appears.