Earl Grey Creme

Special Thanks to Liberteas for this one

Backlogging because I couldn’t add anything yesterday but I did make some notes!

This was a bit more of a gentle EG – not that POW you would expect. There is a quiet creaminess to it too which was nice but certainly not overdone.

This was pretty darn satisfying!

wanna hear something weird. this is one tea where i think i vaguely remember liking the david’s tea version better. that like NEVER happens ya know? Della Terra is far superior to davids always. so idek why. maybe i just find the creme a little lacking in creme-ness?
i still have one cup available left to brew. bear with me. i’m probably wrong. only human.

i bought 4 poetry books for my e-reader yesterday. and online tea today.
that concluded my post-thanksgiving shopping.
i did it all in my room wearing my jammies.
priorities, i haz them.

This is another “Oh noes, I haz eated mah tea!” Della Terra Teas blend, by which I mean that you open the packet and you want to eat the tea. It smells like lemon cookies, maybe even lemon sandwich cookies, with the vanilla notes ‘n’ all. I don’t even know how I didn’t eat this one. Cookie Monster’s sitting in a corner, sulking.

[Edit] I forgot to mention that this tea is really pretty! I didn’t remember the photo, which showcases its beauty quite well, so I was surprised when I opened the packet and got a good look. Black tea with these blue highlights and flecks of gold. I rarely notice how a tea looks, so it basically has to bat its eyelashes at me and be all, hey, look at me, I’m pretty! Such a little tart, this one.

I wasn’t able to coax the flavour I wanted out of the blend, sadly. It was so frustrating, like dropping your keys in the car, between the center console and the bucket seat, and then being able to almost-but-not-quite reach them. The flavour I got out was that of a nice black tea, good but not great. The bergamot was present but really not bold enough, especially given the heady fragrance. I steeped three minutes because I recently got schooled on the dangers of over-steeping black tea, but I think maybe the DT black tea base is more forgiving than the 52T one…? Next time, I’m going to try my usual five minutes for this one and see how it works out, because I really, I really want to taste the taste that the fragrance promises.

[Edit again] Sorry, I also forgot to mention that, like 52t’s Gingerbread Chai (which I also had today), the aftertaste is perfect. Perfect lemon cookie! I would love to get the formula right for getting the taste to be just as perfect. I mean, who wants to sit there, aggressively exhaling, just to get the perfect aftertaste, ya? Even living alone I feel silly doing it.

Tea amount: 1 level tsp/~4.75g
Water amount: 6oz/~175mL
Additives: About ¾ tsp Demerara sugar

The smell of this tea is so intoxicating!
Brewed a pot of this this morning since I woke up early because of daylight savings. I must say, this tea is FANTASTIC! This is the first Earl Grey tea I’ve tried and the creme flavor compliments this tea and adds to its perfection.

Sil sent this one to me awhile back, & lightly sweetened, this is actually pretty tasty. There is bergamot in there, but it takes a back seat to the creamy lemony taste. Thanks Sil :)

This was my morning cuppa.

This is such a good, sturdy staple. It was love at first sip, and I’m particularly particular about my earl grey cremes.

I fell in love with London Fogs during my first year of university. They are a terrible, tasty addiction. So not long after discovering them I bought myself a bag of loose leaf earl grey creme from a now-defunct local tea shop since I figured the flavours were similar, so maybe I could recreate my beloved London Fogs at home. But nope, it tasted like an artificial, over-the-top, in your face attempt at vanilla creme. That experience turned me off of vanilla earls for a long while. It was just SO sickly. And I’ve found that same note in EGCs from other companies too (looking at you, Adagio!)

But once again I took a leap of faith with Della Terra, and surprise surprise, they didn’t let me down! This is so smooth and creamy-sweet like it should be, but it’s also fresh and bright, and almost peppery. None of that sickly business I had come to expect from an earl grey creme. This is perfection. Simple and bold, it feels like an old friend with those familiar London Fog flavours. This is yet another one from Della Terra that I will most definitely be stocking up on.

Also—you guys! You NEED to make this soup. Like seriously, even if you’re not a soup person, even if you’re not a carrot person..just try it. It is a party of roasty sweet goodness in my mouth. Had it for dinner last night and I’m already contemplating when I can make it next. Yum!
http://www.food52.com/recipes/9743_roasted_carrot_soup

Sample package label:
“Earl Grey Creme
Black tea, bergamot orange oil, cream flavor”

Per http://www.dellaterrateas.com/earl-grey-creme/:
“Product Description
If you love Earl Grey you will adore our Earl Grey Creme. It has the classic Earl Grey flavoring matched with a delicious creme.”

“Ingredients: Black tea, bergamot orange oil, cream flavor”

“Allergens: contains dairy. For more allergy info visit our FAQ”

“Suggested brewing tips:
Serving Size: 1 level tsp. /6 to 8oz serving
Water Temp: 210°
Steep Time: 2-3 minutes”

Technique:
6-oz water with total dissolved solids (TDS) of 28 ppm, heated to 212*F and allowed to cool to 210*F – verified with DAVIDsTEA digital thermometer.

1 level Tevanna teaspoon, without sweeteners, milk or cream.

Dry leaf: Dark brown with blue cornflower petals and some straw-colored petals

Fragrance: This tea has an Earl Grey and cream-like fragrance plus an additional unidentified fragrance. It smells similar to anise.

Liquor: Somewhat clear amber-brown hue

3-min Infusion: The mild aroma follows the fragrance. The initial taste follows the unidentified fragrance & aroma. Mid sip one tastes the base tea. The end of the sip reveals the not very creamy crème flavoring. The bergamot orange oil is overshadowed and hard to recognize. There was also an unpleasant aftertaste left in my mouth that persisted quite a while. Neither my wife or I finished our cups of this tea.

Impression: The fragrance, aroma, and flavor make me wonder if some artificial flavorings were included. Perhaps this sample came from a sub-optimal batch of this tea? If I were to rate this EGC on the merits of this one sample, I would say that there are other better tasting Earl Grey Cream teas available. However, the question that remains, is this sample truly representative of Della Terra’s Earl Grey Crème?

Suggestion: A quick review of http://steepster.com/teas/della-terra-teas/29162-earl-grey-creme shows a wide range of Tasting Notes scores from 90 to 60 points even among very experienced Steepster reviewers. These results suggest both near-optimal and sub-optimal batches. Thus, I’d suggest a thorough review of the quality control processes for both ingredient selection and the blending process.

Thanks to David Worgul of Della Terra Tea for providing this free sample.

This is my first Earl Grey Creme, and I just learned an important lesson – don’t add milk to an Earl Grey Creme before you try it! I was in a rush this morning, and just made it the same way I make my usual EG: Into the travel mug with the pinch-open infuser ball 1/2 full for 4-5 min, 1-1/2 tbsp Sugar in the Raw, and a moderate dash of milk.

My first sip was like drinking creamer with milk! I sealed it back up and gave it a really good shake, but the next drinks were the same. It’s difficult to even taste the EG at all. I’m deliberately not rating this yet, and I think another cup tomorrow morning is a must in order to suss out what this tea is really like.

Update: Tried this without adding milk, and it was much better! The cream still overwhelms the EG, but at least now it has more of a presence. I may keep a small amount of this on hand for a change now and again, but I doubt it will ever be a larger order. The fact that I can’t see what causes the cream flavor weirds me out a bit.

This is my pre-class sipdown. I do really like the smell of bergamot. The flavour is really good. I very much enjoy the creaminess of this tea.

I don’t remember who sent me this, but thank you!

A very smooth-tasting Earl Grey. It’s a great wake-me-up tea. The crème makes all the difference as it removes the astringent-like “twang” (can I use that adjective to describe a taste?!) that some Earl Greys leave behind.