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Ahh, Earl Grey Cream, one of my absolute favorite teas. I’ve been thinking about that thread—the “if you could only drink one tea for the rest of your life, what would it be?” one… and EGC might be it for me. That or a nice brisk assam, or bao zhong. Okay so I could never choose one, BUT Earl Grey Cremes are near the very top of the list. I have tried a ton of them, but mysteriously this one slipped through my fingers even though I have tasted a ton from The Persimmon Tree. So how does it stack up against the myriad of other EGCs?

Well, it’s impossible to go wrong here really. Earl Grey + Vanilla? This one, though, is one of the creamiest I’ve had. Well, not creamy, but vanilla-y. Often the flavor comes out as just plain cream, but here it’s distinctly nice vanilla—not boring vanilla extract, but actual whole bean vanilla. It’s very complex and gives the tea an almost pudding-like dimension with milk and sugar (which I used on my first steep). Rich, decadent, very dessert-like. Towards the end of the cup I’m reminded of a vanilla cupcake with lemon zest in the batter, or I guess bergamot zest if that’s a thing you could actually bake with.

While the bergamot isn’t in the forefront in the first steep, it comes out loud and strong in the second one and the vanilla smooths out even more. It’s less prominent, but still distinctly an EGC—just with more bergamot than most, which is good because many go light on the bergamot and super heavy on the cream. Here I think they’re nicely balanced, and I definitely have enough to try my favorite EGC method, cold brewing! Thanks to The Persimmon Tree for this sample, it’s divine!