Yesterday I was trying to sip down one of the coconut Earl Greys I had in my collection that I had grabbed looking for a “dup” for my beloved “Foggy Coconut” by 52Teas, since I can’t just reorder that whenever I need a restock. My Hawaiian Earl Grey from Tealyra had already gone the way of bad coconut, and then I discovered that my Earl Grey Bella Luna from Adagio had also gone bad. I had a harder time telling with that one because the bergamot was so strong in it, but it had a sour note that kept making me suspicious, so I carefully pulled several slivers out, ate them separately, and… yup. As soon as I realized I removed my review yesterday and trashed the bag. I would never judge a tea based on a soured ingredient. And then I hastily made a cup of this to take to work at the last second after dumping the other cup.
I remember I bought this because my local grocery had it and Roswell liked it so much; they’ve stopped carrying it since and now they only carry Lemon Loaf (and I’m okay with that, since Lemon Loaf is my favorite, I’m sure it was selling way more than the others and they made a decision based on shelf space). This certainly isn’t a bad black tea, it just doesn’t taste particularly strong in butterscotch notes to me; I get a bit of a vanilla note, and a hint of caramel, but it doesn’t read as butterscotch per say, and I think that’s because the strongest flavor is a warm, roasty chicory, with a touch of a cinnamon undertone; it’s pleasant, but rounds it out in a way that doesn’t exactly make me think of a Blondie dessert in any sort of way. So it’s a pleasant bagged black tea, and I like the flavor I’m getting from it, I just don’t particularly think it is emulating what is listed on the box, at least not to my palate.
I only have a few teabags left and am going to finish this one off soon, and admit I’m going to miss this one. I don’t have many bagged black teas I can just pick up at the store that I really enjoy, at least not as much as this one.
Flavors: Caramel, Cinnamon, Nutty, Roasted, Smooth, Sweet, Vanilla
I like chicory fine but also felt it came across a bit too strong/out of place in this particular blend. I still keep my cupboards stocked with Tazo’s Glazed Lemon Loaf.