25 Tasting Notes
Ah! The familiar taste of a traditional Earl Grey. I can safely say that this is the best Earl Grey I have ever tasted, although I have not had that many. Twinings Earl Grey (loose leaf) and Kusmi Tea Earl Grey comes to mind, and this is better than both of them. The lemony bergamot is perfectly balanced with the tea itself so you can taste both the bergamot and the flavor of the tea, which is a blend of black, oolong and white tea (silver tips). The silver tips and the oolong adds an interesting, sweet, floral element that for some reason reminds me a little of the flavor of chamomile.
The bergamot is fresh and vibrant and I would call it a medium in terms of strength. It does not taste like some kind of cleaner like Lipton EG which contains way too much bergamot for my taste. This is refined and skillfully blended. The tea itself is medium-bodied, I would say. Not as strong as some of Harney & Sons’ plain black teas but more full-bodied than most of their flavored black teas in my opinion.
I don’t know how this tea compares to their regular Earl Grey, as I have never had it, but this Earl Grey Supreme variant is my idea of a perfect Earl Grey.
If you like EG, look no further!
Dry leaves, appearance:
Relatively long, charcoal grey/black tea leaves with long silver tips here and there.
Dry leaves, aroma:
Very strong bergamot aroma. Fresh, citrusy and vibrant.
Liquor:
Medium to dark brown.
Packaging:
4 oz. loose tea tin.
Flavors: Bergamot, Citrus, Citrusy, Floral, Hay, Malt, Tea
Preparation
Nice, fairly strong Keemun black tea. Straight-forward and simple. The brewed tea reveals notes of honey, toast, hay and a subtle maltiness – very aromatic and comforting. There is a slight bitterness and astringency which is to be expected from a breakfast blend. But it is still pretty light for an English Breakfast blend since it is made from Keemun teas instead of the brisker, maltier Assam/Ceylon/Kenya teas which English Breakfast blends usually consists of. This tea is medium to full-bodied and is excellent with a splash of milk. I would not drink it any other way. In the aftertaste mostly, there is a very subtle smoky flavor which is one of the trademarks of Keemuns.
So good. Sometimes, a plain black tea is just what you need – so you can be reminded how tea tastes in its pure, untainted form.
I highly recommend this tea if you like a strong, plain black tea that is excellent with a splash of milk.
Dry leaves, appearance:
Charcoal grey Keemun tea leaves. Compared to most of Harney & Sons’ flavored black China teas, the leaves are grey rather than black and the leaves are also bigger and less curly.
Dry leaves, aroma:
The characteristic smell of plain black tea with notes of honey, hay, toast and malt.
Liquor:
Dark brown
Packaging:
4 oz. loose tea tin.
Flavors: Hay, Honey, Malt, Smoke, Tea, Toast
Preparation
This tea is amazing and very fruity, sweet and decadent. Almost candy-like in its flavor. The black currant is to me the strongest of the flavors followed by the caramel and the vanilla. The bergamot is barely there. I have seen this tea being advertized as an Earl Grey and I have heard other people say that it is a fruity Earl Grey. But to me, Paris has barely anything to do with an EG because the bergamot flavor is too subtle compared to the black currant/caramel/vanilla.
In my opinion, this is a black currant tea with the addition of caramel and vanilla – maybe with a hint of bergamot at best. It is very nice and the flavor is reminiscent of fruit flavored candy.
It actually reminds me a lot of a tea from Kusmi Tea called ‘St Petersburg’ which basically has the exact same flavors but with more of a strawberry/cherry flavor compared to the black currant in Paris.
The flavor of the tea itself is difficult to taste because of the strong fruit and caramel aroma, but you can taste that it is of high quality with no bitterness/astringency.
I would not recommend that you buy this tea if you are expecting to get an Earl Grey variant. It is far from that in my opinion. But it is an incredible tea in its own right and the second most popular tea from Harney & Sons – and for good reason!
Dry leaves, appearance:
Chinese black and oolong tea leaves. No dried fruits in this tea. Just plain tea leaves.
Dry leaves, aroma:
Black currant with caramel and vanilla. A hint of bergamot in the background.
Liquor:
Medium to dark brown.
Packaging:
4 oz. loose tea tin.
Flavors: Bergamot, Berry, Black Currant, Candy, Caramel, Tea, Vanilla
Preparation
This tea is just heavenly. It is the perfect combination of chocolate and mint and it tastes exactly like After Eight thin mints but in tea form. The peppermint flavor in this tea comes from actual peppermint leaves, not peppermint extract, which gives it a herbacious character – like a herbal peppermint tisane. The black tea is actually kind of overpowered by the peppermint leaves, so it ends up tasting more like a herbal tea than a black tea to me. The peppermint flavor is slightly stronger than the chocolate flavor – I would probably say 60/40. I have found that a splash of milk in this tea brings out the chocolate aroma.
There is also a slight note of vanilla in this tea but it blends with the chocolate flavor which makes it hard to separate from the chocolate.
There is absolutely no bitterness or astringency in this tea.
If you like the combination of chocolate and mint, then this tea is a no-brainer!
Dry leaves appearance:
A mix of Chinese black tea leaves and peppermint leaves.
Dry leaves, aroma:
Peppermint and chocolate/vanilla.
Liquor:
Medium to dark brown with a noticeable green hue.
Packaging:
4 oz. loose tea tin.
Flavors: Chocolate, Herbaceous, Peppermint, Tea, Vanilla
Preparation
This is one of the best teas I have had from Harney & Sons so far. The flavor is a wonderful combination of three juicy stone fruits: Cherry, plum and apricot. The two predominating flavors is the cherry and the plum. The apricot is more subdued but it is there and it adds a nutty flavor in the background. There is also a trace of vanilla and a deeper berry flavor that reminds me of a dark berry – maybe blackberry or black currant. But it does not say anything about those flavors on the tin. The fruit flavor in this tea actually reminds me of a Milbona yogurt you can buy in Lidl that is called “Fruits of the Forest”.
The tea flavor itself is hard to detect because of the strong fruit aroma but you can taste that it is a high-quality Chinese black tea with no bitterness or astringency. The tea is medium-bodied.
I highly recommend this tea, especially if you are a fan of fruity black teas.
Dry leaves, aroma:
Cherry and plum with a hint of apricot and vanilla. Berries. Very sweet and fruity smelling.
Dry leaves, appearance:
Black Chinese tea leaves with chunks of dried apricots and dried cherries.
Liquor:
Medium to dark brown.
Packaging:
4 oz. loose tea tin.
Flavors: Apricot, Berry, Cherry, Fruity, Plum, Stonefruit, Tea, Vanilla
This is my favorite of all the Harney Earl Grey blends!
What a wonderful, compelling description! I have not drunk an Earl Grey in decades and this has whetted my appetite.
Nice to hear! What is the difference in terms of flavor profile between all their Earl Grey variants (Earl Grey Supreme, Earl Grey, Earl Grey Imperial, Viennese Earl Grey)?
Thank you very much! This is actually also my first Earl Grey in a very long time.
I highly recommend it. I can’t imagine a better EG than this one.
Andreastt: I find this one more refined. I actually dislike many Earl Grey blends. I find it too sour when they use a Ceylon base that is naturally lemony, like the high elevation ones. I prefer my bergamot on Keemun, and Nina’s of Paris used to be my absolute favorite until they switched to Ceylon tea. The other Harney blends differ in the base and amount of bergamot. They are a little rough around the edges to me, but that is just a matter of personal preference. I have a friend who prefers the rougher cups.
The base is the big difference for me with Harney, and the amount of bergamot added. I don’t want it too strong. Another good blend from Harney to try is Diamond Jubilee which is basically just this tea with a hint of grapefruit flavor added. I also enjoy their Winter White Earl Grey.
If you like lavender with bergamot, Parker’s Blend from Cuppageek is very good and you can resteep each teaspoon twice, for a total of three steeps. I combine these all together for a nicely balanced pot.
Viennese Earl Grey is a darjeeling base and VERY lemony, Imperial is their strongest base with the most bergamot and is just a little too much bergamot for me, and regular Earl Grey is a mix of black and oolong tea for the base.
My picks in order are Ear Grey Supreme, Winter White Earl Grey, and Diamond Jubilee, although on any given day number two and three may switch places!
Oh, their Victorian London Fog is good! It is Earl Grey with cream flavor!
Sorry if this is way too much information!
ashmanra: Thanks for the info. I enjoyed reading that. Diamond Jubilee sounds nice but it is a shame that you can’t get it in a tin. But I don’t think I will buy another Earl Grey blend now that I have one already, but Victorian London Fog is the one I am most intrigued by. Do you know if the black tea in Earl Grey Supreme is Keemun and do you know if the silver tips are Ceylon Vintage Silver Tips? I have 3 new Harney & Sons teas on the way: Apricot, Darjeeling and Black Currant. Have you tried those?
I looked up my old notes, and apparently I had Apricot in sample tea bag form years ago and loved it. I was just eyeing it at the supermarket so I guess this means I need to pick up a tin. I tried Black Currant but at that time I was drinking a lot of Tower of London which I dearly love and preferred over plain Black Currant. I have not tried Harney’s Darjeeling.
ashmanra No such thing as ‘too much information’ when it comes to tea! : )
ashmanra: It’s great to hear that you like their Apricot tea. I look forward to receiving it tomorrow :) I discovered Harney & Sons back in 2011 or 2012, but I first started drinking their teas at the beginning of 2021. I did not buy any teas from them back then (probably because I was 14 or 15 years old and didn’t have a lot of money) but I remember that Apricot was one of the teas I wanted to try back then, so that’s why I have now bought it. It’s going to be interesting to see how it tastes. I bought Black Currant because I wanted a plain Black Currant tea and also because it was their first flavored tea. I love the distinct taste of Darjeeling tea so I hope it’s going to have that characteristic Darjeeling flavor. I have not tried Tower of London and it is not available in loose leaf here in Europe so that’s unfortunate. It sounds very similar to Paris, though – which is also an excellent tea.
White Antlers: I definitely agree :)