Earl Grey

I had a tooth for something traditional. So Earl Grey was good choice, although probably quite old. But as it was in foil bag I hoped it won’t be so bad. And it was not! Actually it is full of flavour, mostly bergamot and little of citrus zests, bold black tea base, what more to want?

Decent Earl Grey by my opinion, especially, when it is tea bag.

Picked this up in a boxed collection from T.J.Maxx. While I wouldn’t say it’s amazing, it’s pretty decent for bagged tea, and considering what a hodgepodge T.J.Maxx is, I think I lucked out.

Beautifully balanced, aromatic bergamot. It is my favorite classic earl grey thus far. Smooth, lovely with a splash of milk.

(Note: the tea I tasted for this review is the classic Earl Grey by Whittard of Chelsea. However, it seems they’ve changed the packaging of their teas, and the one I own doesn’t look like the one in the picture on here. I found conflicting info on the web so I’m not sure of anything. Should I find out that this tasting note is in the wrong place, I will remove it.)

My sister brought this tea back from her school trip to England and I hadn’t tasted it before yesterday. My mother brewed it for Sunday brunch, which is why I had no control over the water temperature and steeping time, but I decided I’d write a tasting note anyway.
The tea has a dark brown colour which is very nice to the eye, and a very interesting marine smell when hot. As it cools down, the smell of the black tea becomes more prominent and the mix of the two is pretty nice.
I started sipping it as soon as it got cool enough for me not to burn my tongue and lose my taste for three days. It’s nicely astringent, which is exactly what I wanted from it on this lazy Sunday morning.
It has some kind of herbaceousness to it, as well as the marine feeling I got when I first smelled it – it’s also kinda cold, like stone perhaps. It’s a tea you might drink after a walk along the shores on a windy October day. It’s a tad salty in smell and taste, and the balance between briskness and smoothness is near perfect for my taste.
It doesn’t become bitter and bad once it starts to really cool down, aka the last few sips are still drinkable even when you’ve forgotten your tea on the living room table for a while. Which is something that happens to me quite often, hehe.
I recommend this one!

(The box recommends 100°C and steeping 3-5 minutes. I only steeped it for 2, so I’m gonna steep it for at least 3 next time I sip it, just to see how it unfolds when steeped longer.)

EDIT: I steeped it for 3-ish minutes just now and was amazed by how bergamot-y it smells? I didn’t get that at all the first time I had this tea, so I’m guessing that flavour only ever comes out when you’ve passed the 3 minute mark. Even just the dry leaves smell like one single huge bergamot (I’ve never actually seen one though). Someone on here says it has almost a creamy flavour, which I totally agree with. Interestingly, that whole saltiness is gone now that I’ve steeped it for longer than 2 minutes.
So, if you want a marine tea, steep 2 minutes, if you want the whole Earl Grey deal, steep for 3 minimum!

(I initially gave this Earl Grey an 83, but now that I’ve sipped it again I’m going up to an 87.)

I love Earl Grey tea. It was one of my first teas I began to drink regularly. I am now more of a green tea drinker (and love a nice Jasmine tea) but when I do drink a blacktea, I often turn to Earl Grey.

I have found Whittard’s a solid brand of Earl Grey. I love the look of the tea itself with the violet cornflowers mixed into the Bergamot flavored tea leaves. I usually can get two maybe even three steepings out of must Earl Grey’s. Each good in their own way.

I’ve had this tea a few times in bag form and today has been the most successful. Reason being that I found this Earl grey to be very ‘middle of the road’ in terms of strength and flavour, it didn’t stand out yet neither was it terrible. To it’s fairness it is a smooth Earl Grey even without milk or sugar, and the black base is not over powering the bergamot, also the bergamot is not too strong, bitter or perfumed. Yet for all those things it’s just not jumping out at me. That was until I decided to use 2 bags in my mug this morning with a sprinkle of sweetener, it reached perfection. It was stronger but due to it’s mild nature was not too strong, it did not become astringent/bitter and the bergamot was at a nice personal level. The sweetener added to the bergamot a little which helped to keep the balance smooth and sweet. Much better! As far as Earl Greys go this is a nice one, albeit if you double up on the bags. Meets on par with my favoured Twinings and Clipper Earl Grey.

Not much to say about this tea here. It’s bold, its bergamotty, and I just didn’t want to have to deal with loose-leaf yesterday afternoon, as this is one of the only bagged teas in my cupboard. I was lazy, what can I say?

I probably oversteeped it a bit though.

Water just short of boiling and a long steep time makes for a very strong tea. As always, no sugar and no milk. Just the ticket!

This is the best earl grey I’ve ever had! It’s very tasteful and doesn’t have a strange aftertaste. Definitely recommended!

Just with Darjeeeling teas, I just can’t get on with Earl Grey teas. However, of the ones I’ve tried I find the Whittard version the easiest to drink, perhaps from the relative short steeping time (and so not that strong).