Golden Earl

Golden Earl Reblend is up next (#26)! Super delicious. It kind of irritates me that this blend (and Gardens of Anxi, which is after this one) is archived, thus never coming back, and instead we just get tons of blends with too many ingredients (e.g., the Intelligent Nutrients blends, and tons of herbals). I see they do have an Earl Grey in their blends now, which is new I guess, but it has Wuyi Rock Oolong in the blend. Oh well, guess I will just continue to hoard this forever.

I’ve had this for quite some time now … I bought it way back when! It is a case of having a lot of tea to taste and not enough time to taste it all when I’d like to!

I think that I may have gone a little light on the leaf, because the flavor is a bit lighter than I’d like it to be … it is still quite enjoyable, just not as strong as I want it. I will hold off on rating it and writing my full-length review of it until I’ve had more time to spend with this tea.

I love this. The brewed tea has a heavy sort of honey smell, it’s very pleasant. Earls are my favourite kind of tea and this one is perfectly satisfying for a Sunday night in. It has a softer edge than a typical earl grey and a slight creaminess in the texture and finish. The bready taste from the Yunnan Golden Buds adds depth. No unpleasant bitterness but maybe a little sugar or honey would be nice to bring out the natural sweetness.

Yesterday I was out observing the TIFF elite and walked right by Bono in front of the Royal York hotel! He was literally about a foot away from me. He tried to get into a taxi but the door wouldn’t open.

Awesome, awesome, awesome. I was always very into Earl Greys. Actually, until my tea obsession blew up big-time about a year and a half ago, it was my go-to. These days, though, I rarely drink any form of Earl as so many seem to be made with sub-par bases and sub-par bergamot flavouring. I love bergamot but prefer it to be pretty subtle (read: not strong enough to cover up a boring base). Yunnan golden buds have become my go-to black in the interim, actually. It’s become apparent that it’s my ideal morning tea, with their velvety smoothness and re-steepability.

So, this is brilliant. What a combination! I had to order it up during the Black Friday sale (can I also compliment Verdant’s not only free but actually fast shipping to Canada?). I was saving it to give it proper attention, and that’s what it got today. It’s lovely! I am drinking a cup of Verdant’s excellent Yunnan golden buds, which I already drink and love. But on the second half of the sip, a lovely citrusy flavour blossoms. The bergamot is just right, and I can just feel the lemongrass on my tongue. It’s there, supporting the tea, but not bossing it around. So far I think the Alchemy teas do exactly what they set out to do; the added flavours complement the teas beautifully without overwhelming them in the slightest.

I’m on my second steep of this (first at four minutes, second at five in the Breville) and the Yunnan has been tamed slightly while not dissipating at all. It’s still rich and creamy, but the sweetness has come out more.

Well I was on the fence about buying this. I have not had earl grey in a long time without the word crème following it. So I did not know if I should get the Golden Earl or the Lavender Earl Green. So here it is the Golden won. The bag smelled amazing. Orange and honey with light Bergamot scent in the back.
I am writing this note after drinking it twice. The first time was not the best experience. After brewing it and tasting it something was a little off. Sadly I can not explain what it was. The dry and wet leaf smelled great, just when I drank it it did not come together.
I decided to try it again this morning. Much better for sure. The orange and golden buds was right there in front. For the first cup I did not add anything, which I usually don’t. The second steep I wanted to add a little honey.The bergamot was there in the back. Not overpowering the tea.
I used more tea the second time I drank it…I guess that was the problem the first time.

I think I have done the impossible and actually drunk too much tea.

Anyway.

Dry, this tea smells amazing. I want to just keep a bowl of it everywhere in the house, like delicious Earl Grey potpurri. I want to stuff my pillow with it at night. Guh. It’s a beautiful golden fuzzy tea.

Brewed . . . I don’t know. Rita made the pot and she claims that she messed up the brewing, so I’m going to make another cup in the morning and see how I feel when my eyeballs are not floating in a sea of pu’erh. Going to leave it unrated for the moment.

Ooooh. This (the smell and the taste) are reminding of something (possibly TWO somethings) and I can’t quite figure out what…! But the tea is really, really good. Not very Earl Grey but man, so interesting! …adding to shopping list…

I have this back from when it was in the tea of the month blends. So… it’s old…. I taste bergamot. I’m not sure what else I’m tasting but I’m enjoying this tea.

Additional notes: I wanted some Golden Fleece but I’m not sure where my sample is at the moment. So I thought of this one. I thought it had a Golden Fleece base. But the leaves are completely dark like Laoshan. Then I thought the tea was so old that it aged into a black leaf. But no. My original tasting note says the leaf looked completely black back then. So was this SUPPOSED to be golden? And the blend was mixed wrong? The picture of the tea looks golden. I don’t know what happened. This is still a tasty bergamot, even if I’d rather see it on a Golden tea than a Laoshan.

When I went to make this, my first thought was that it smells like a Yunnan tea. There is certainly a baked bread scent, along with the citrus. The flavour is like if I was fresh baked wheat bread with orange zest. Very good, wish I had more.