New Tea Enthusiast needs help
Hi – I just joined this forum. I’m hopeful that years of coffee consumption haven’t permanently damaged my palate to the subtle nuances of a good cup of tea.
I’m open to all suggestions of what to try, but am initially looking for opinions on a great Earl Grey. After searching earlier topic threads, it looks like all the brands I’ve been consuming are not regarded very favorably here. I’m excited to try those that are.
My experience is limited to super-market brands: Twining, Bigelow, Trader Joes, etc. My wife brought home samples from Republic of Tea tonite. Nearby, there are Adagio & Teavana retail locations too.
Its become clear that what I thought was a decent enough cup of tea, was actually being punched in the mouth by bergamot, masking the tea leaves themselves. Oh, I should add that I’m presently using tea bags, and haven’t taken the leap to loose leaves yet.
Ok, I’m rambling. I just wanted to introduce myself, and see if anyone wants to aide in my education. Follow me here on the forum – I’ll follow back. I’ll continue searching older threads for discussions on Earl Grey (no need to remind me to try that first).
Cheers,
Bobby
Welcome, Bobby…I’m new to tea as well and Steepster and the many knowledgeable members are so helpful and informative. There are a multitude of ways you can research and fact find on Steepster. A couple of very easy and useful searches are “search discussions” located on the right. There at some discussion threads on Earl Grey; here is one of them… http://steepster.com/discuss/806-please-help-me-enjoy-earl-grey?post_id=15227#forum_post_15227
You can also search from the “find a tea” search box located on the top right. I can spend hours searching teas, ratings, reviews, discussions…………Good luck!
Hi Bobby, welcome, and good luck on your quest to find your perfect earl grey. For me it would be hard to define just one because some days I crave in your face bergamot and on others I prefer a little more subtlety. As for coffee killing your taste buds, I wouldn’t worry about it. I used to practically live off of it and I still love a good bitterweet espresso black, no sugar and I think I still have a pretty good ability to detect subtlety and variation in flavours. Enjoy exploring and once again welcome.
Welcome!
I haven’t found the perfect Earl Grey for me, but just a word of caution… I ordered a few samples from Upton Tea recently including an Earl Grey. But, I was pretty shocked when I saw on the envelope that it had “artificial flavor”. So, just a note to let you know that just because something is being sold loose-leaf, doesn’t automatically mean it’s a fine tea. I am planning to look for some Earl Greys flavored with the traditional bergamot oil. Seems if you want to drink good quality tea, it doesn’t make sense to drink something flavored artificially. But, maybe that’s just me!
Anyhow, good luck! Keep us posted on what you try!
Many teas use artificial flavours in addition to (and rather than) natural. While I generally argue in favour of everything natural please keep in mind that natural flavours are not necessarily all you think you are. Natural raspberry oil is very unlikely to have come from anything remotely similar to a raspberry. I argue that many good quality teas may contain artificial flavours – the quality of the leaves is really the important point. But that’s just me.
Frank at 52Teas addresses this about midway down the page in this thread: http://steepster.com/discuss/1437-artificial-and-natural-flavoring-what-chemicals-are-you-drinking
I often still use tea bags for my beloved Earl Grey. No need to apologize for it if you are enjoying it. Bigelow claims to use oil of bergamot in their blend. Twinings is labeled flavored I believe.
Ahmad is also labeled flavored – I wrote them about it once, and was told they use freeze dried bergamont because they said its flavor lasted longer and it brewed better. Anyway, food and drug rules said they had to call it flavored since it was not in oil form. My point is flavored is not necessarily a bad thing.
I am curious what your reaction to the Republic of Tea version is. I just tried it for the first time and found the bergamot too light and the tea too bitter, but that’s just me.
I like Twinings but wish the black tea had more guts. I used to love Bigelow. Haven’t had it in a while. As you may have guessed I use Ahmad – generally loose leaf when I can find it. The black tea has more punch than Twinings.
I had some loose leaf from Utopia that was lightly smoked. It was extremely good. Others have mention Lupicia as a favorite, though I have never tried it.
Harney and Sons is another favorite around here although I personally find it too weak in the bergamot department, the tea base is very good.
Good luck in your quest and welcome!
Republic of Tea Earl Greyer smelled great, but the steeped end result was very faint in the perceptible bergamot, something I’ve read here on the forum as well. I tried various steeping times. The canister says natural bergamot oil.
hi and welcome. I used to drink liters of coffee before turning to the world of tea instead.
I love premium loose leaves, but must admit, Earl Grey (and Lady grey) have been my all time fave tea since I was a kid, and when it comes to Earl Grey/Lady Grey, I still love to enjoy a cuppa now and then. (Twinnings bagged tea) psshst. lol:
Welcome! You’ll love it here. :) I’m actually trying to fulfill my New Year’s resolution to be more tolerant of white teas and Earl Greys. I find I enjoy an EG with another flavor – vanilla or lavender. But I’m easing into them.
Anyway, welcome & glad to meet you! :)
I am also a lover of Earl Grey. Just a question- what do you like about earl great?
That might help in finding the perfect blend. I personally love bergamot so most of my suggestions would be heavy on the bergamot. If there is something else you like about it, let us know and that would make suggestions easier.Recently I have tried, and love, harney and sons earl grey supreme (super bergamot) and also harney and sons ambessa earl of Harlem (which has a smokey tea base).
Lala, I went through your notes to get a feel for your tastes. Agree Twinings is very good – its kind of the standard. I had Tazo a half dozen times before I got a fresh bag that had not been exposed to sunlight by the coffee shop. Fresh it actually wasn’t bad. Now I am wondering if my one experience with H&S was less than it should have been. To me it was very light on the bergamot. Given your comments on the other teas I may need to give it another try – I did like the black tea in this one. The Earl of Harlem sounds awesome.
EG has such a relaxing effect on me. It’s hard to pinpoint. I have 3 diff brands in the house & am comparing the taste profile of each. The Twinings is my fav of what’s currently on-hand. Seems like the best balance of tea & bergamot.
There are plenty of us here who drink bagged tea-don’t let anybody tell you that it’s wrong. If you enjoy it that is what counts. Generally I do prefer loose leaf, but sometimes it’s just less complicated to locate one of my strainers or baskets,or my TEA teaspoon (Yes I do actually have a teaspoon that is strictly for tea;)) and plus there are certain flavors I havn’t been able to find (Like Bigelow’s Perfect Peach. Found some other peach flavors that are very lovely but not the same taste.)
So just have fun with it! Oh and Harney and Sons EG Supreme is pretty good, (Great as a Latte.) as well as their Tower of London, which is not an EG but it does have Bergamot in it.
This is only my second day in the forum, and it’s easy to feel a bit intimidated. I’m loving the ease in which you can research teas, vendors, etc.
I added the Harney EG earlier tonite, while browsing. I’m having tons if fun, but must pace myself. It’s tempting to load a cart with every blend I come across!
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