Earl Grey

Hiya folks. I’m baaaaackkk! I missed you. Please forgive me if I start where I left off and don’t go back to read two weeks worth of notes. It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that time is still a little scarce and I’d rather spend the time with careful reading going forward than with skimming going backward.

We had lots of fun at Disneyland and No. 1 is now safely ensconced in his first grade routine. I must admit I have been drinking very little tea. It was blisteringly hot in D-land, and it’s been hitting over 100 degrees since we got back, which may have something to do with it. I have noticed, though, that when I do drink tea after not drinking it for a while, I enjoy it that much more. It’s almost as though I’d desensitized myself by drinking 20 or so cups a day, and until I stopped doing that I didn’t realize I had. Anyone else ever had that experience?

I took this tin with me to D-land and made some every morning in the little pot in the room before we went down to breakfast. I tried to use bottled water, but if I didn’t have enough I supplemented with tap water.

Anaheim water is weird. I thought the Pirates of the Caribbean ride smelled funny because the water was recycled, but then I noticed that the water coming out of the shower smelled similar, though hot instead of cold. It’s got a sort of marine/minerally smell to it, so the brewing conditions weren’t great. Since this wasn’t much of a favorite to begin with, I wasn’t too concerned about ruining it with bad water. And I’m glad I took it with me because I can now decupboard! Another to cross of the list and not to repeat, I’m afraid, but at least it contributes to the goal of getting the quantity of tea I have in the house under control. I will say that it grew on me a bit. I just got really used to it. But not enough to give it a point bump.

Hope everyone had a great end of summer!

Sigh I promised I would write a new note, when I had bought a new one.
Now I wish I hadn’t.

Turns out my tea isn’t old. It really taste like that! It’s such a letdown that I feel myself getting sadder and sadder for each sip. Did it really taste like that Sips Yes it did!

Let’s start at the color. Nice decent orange, Very Earl grey-ish.
There a wiff of bergamot, but there so little that I have to stick my nose into my cup. Already disappointed I take a sip … And it taste like Earl Grey. It’s not the taste I am disappointed at, it’s the lack thereof. This tea is so stingy about the bergamot, I can hardly taste it!

I tried to make the steeping time longer, but it dosn’t help.
I twirled the teabag around in the mug, it only left small leaves at the bottom.
I even tried to force some juice out of the leaves with a spoon!
But nothing helps.

I know some people who aren’t fond of bergamot or strong tasting teas, so this will be waiting for them in my cupboard. But I’ll have to find something better than this, to other people.

When you open the tin it smells great, on the cup the story is very different. It doesn’t smell or taste like Earl Grey. A very light and pale Bergamot flavour at the end of a sip (if you are attentive and looking for it). Not an awful tea, but for those who enjoy a strong Earl Grey full of aroma and flavour this is not the tea.

If you look at the ingredients on the side of the cannister of many of the Kusmi flavored black tea blends you may be surprised to note that a large number of them read as “Earl Grey” + some additional ingredients. I’m no expert, but I take this to mean that Kusmi likes to use their Earl Grey as a base for many of their blends. Given that I love Earl Grey and I also love Kusmi teas I ordered this with high expectations. I’m sad to say this was a big letdown. Its not a bad Earl Grey, its just that the bergamot is so mild you can barely taste it. In fact to my palate this tea came across as almost bland! I suppose this is to be expected of Kusmi, because they seldom make tea with overpowering flavors, I just found it disappointing. Because of its mediocrity (but non-badness) I have to rate this one right down the middle.

Earl Grey…light on the bergamot! It’s kind of tasty but not really memorable.

Smell: Bergamot

4 min 30 Sec., 210F, 1.2 spoon of loose leaves put in a tea bag.
Served in a glass vessel, a red brown liquor

I used a different bottle water this time.

Sweet bergamot slightly bitter with a grounded pepper flavour — a slight dryness that increased over time. If brew for around 3 minutes with slightly less tea leaves the bergamot will be weaker and probably without the grounded pepper flavour (see previous tasting note).

Water Used: Naya Natural Spring Water.

I kind of like Earl Grey. I got this included in the Russian sampler set. For being a Kusmi tea, I honestly didn’t think it tasted much different from any other Earl Grey I’ve had. Their other selection which are Earl Greyish stood out. Had no problem drinking it, but won’t rebuy.

I tasted this tea and I like it a lot.

I had really high expectations for this tea. I really enjoy Kusmi’s Decaffeinated Earl Grey, and thought that this would be as good as the non-caffeine one, it’s not. It’s very low on bergamot, some people might prtefer it that way, but I like it a little bit not so subtle.

My last sample teabag from the Kusmi order. Given the indignity of the office breakroom treatment – a packet of splenda and a tub of liquid Coffeemate. It tolerates that with a quiet dignity. There’s not a lot of bergamot, but for this treatment, it’s ok – strong earl greys don’t really taste that good to me when I don’t have actual half & half and real sugar or honey. I think I might have to put this on my shopping list and get a tin when I finally run out of all the other earl greys I have. That might take awhile though. Possibly decades. I have a lot of earl grey.