So, Sil is safely on the other side of the country, so what better time to do the Great Earl Grey Tea-Off Competition!
I have A&D’s Mount Gray, Hugo’s Grey Line and Justea’s Kathyrne Earl Grey… who will win as the best EG? Will I even notice any differences? Let’s find out!
I started by pouring ½ a perfect DavidsTea’s spoon into 3 different color coded cups. The I poured in roughly 6oz of 205F water, and I steeped them for 4 minutes.
Initial impressions:
I had to re-pour them into different cups because I realized they needed to have the same color inside for comparison. Whoops! So now that they are all in white cups I can tell that the Hugo tea is a much darker colour than the other two. It’s a reddish orange, while the other two are yellow-orange. Justea’s is probably a bit more orange than the A&D.
I sniffed them and they all smelled pretty much the same, except for Justea which was a bit earthier.
First sips:
A&D’s – smooth EG. Nothing to complain about. Bergamot lingers but doesn’t quite cross that too perfumy line.
Hugo’s – not quite so smooth – feels like there’s a little more going on in this cup, although it’s hard to put my finger on it. Bergamot is not quite as present as the A&D cup. I almost get peach or something with it.
Justea’s – this is quite a different animal! It’s musky and dark and the bergamot is fairly strong. Not a subtle cup!
Finishing the cups:
A&D’s seems to be the least complicated of the three. It’s an EG and it knows that and it’s not going to mess around. The base makes me think of a Yunnan black with the subtlest of honey notes, but maybe that’s because I’ve had the other two to compare it with. Overall? A solid EG that I’m guaranteed to enjoy! I know that this one re-steeps well but I’ve only re-used the leaves once.
Hugo’s almost has woody notes to it. At least after trying it after the A&D, that was the most obvious thing I noticed. It smells like lemon too! Along with the woody notes, I still feel like there’s a peach or some kind of fruit note in there. It’s a complex cup. Apparently it’s good for 3 re-steeps too!
Justea’s tea is better once it cools. It loses some of the musk (or whatever it is?) and mellow just a bit. I also can really smell the lemon and it makes me think of lemon cake because of the richness. I definitely enjoy this cup the more I drink of it, but the base tea is one that I’m still not completely used to and it distract me a little bit until I’m at least 1/3 done the cup.
OVERALL: Hugo’s Grey Line seems to be my favourite, although A&D’s Mt Gray is nothing to dismiss. Justea’s Kathryne Grey is enjoyable but one I crave less often due to the base.
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I love how scientific you made your study :-)
(part of me feels obligated to say “ewwww blergamont” on Sil’s behalf)
Nice comparison though. It’s interesting when you try similar teas together, because the differences suddenly really stand out. :))
Haha, Cavo, Sil might be away, but Dexter is around!!!
Great review!
I’m still watching you….I almost picked up the EG you wanted from out here today too but then I couldn’t remember what else we wanted if anything….
I definitely want the Grapefruit EG because it was surprisngly good. I’m not sure what else is available becasue their menu isn’t up to doate, but basically any of the chocolate blends I am interested in. The fruit blends were not as good as other tea companies, but Divine Temptation and Creme Brulee are good. I think those are the two that OMGSrsly blends together as a custom mix.
And thanks guys. :D It was fun to do a for-serious tea review for once!
Grapefruit EG? Where can I get that?
@Marzipan – I got it from Bayswater in Vancouver: http://www.bayswatertea.com
There website is really out of date but they will ship if you email them. Maybe they can send you a current menu as well?
I asked them today. Their website is only missing about 20 of he their teas, the prices are wrong (though not by much supposedly) I tried to get a new menus to take home and the woman seemed offended I would ask…. “Well just go to our website” me: oh is it up to date now? “Well no.” Me……..
Sil, does your real name happen to be Karen and were you friends with my friend, also Karen, who lived in Minneapolis?
Haha nope, sorry to disappoint..,in real life I go by sarah ;)
Sil – Um. Wow. Omg.
Y’know, I wouldn’t be that put out if you never went back there. That’s just awful.
Great comparison review!
Cavo…naw I liked the walk. It was all good. Plus I’ll likely pick up divine and creme….maybe one other. Then it’ll be off to steam :)
Do you know what you want from Steam? I didn’t see anything, but I don’t think I’ve had anything from there before. When I went into their store I wasn’t super impressed because all the prices were hidden/hard to find and I wanted to stealth browse without talking to anoyone.
If you see any great chocolate ones, grab me 50g of that from Bayswater!
Heh. Awesome! I find JusTea’s really, really easy to oversteep and overleaf… when I brew it “correctly”, I really love it (and blergamot is so not my thing).
Sil, just checking! I knew a Karen who went by Sil who was into tea, so I had to make sure!
NP mj
Cavo – after dark is the one I must get. Omg sent me some and I really enjoyed it….I think there was at least one other but I can’t recall yet…just woke up after a 12 hour nap
Sil, Chocolate Macchiato from Bayswater was pretty good. And Cavo, Steam makes a yummy maple tea :)
Oh, that one does sound really good! I’d split it, unless you’d rather keep 100g of it to yourself! The Hazelberry Puerh sounds good too!
Is the grapefruit one that isn’t on the site or is it called something else?
Yeah, it’s not on the site. It’s a new one they brought out last year – I assume it’s still there?
It is. I made sure to check for it
I love how scientific you made your study :-)
(part of me feels obligated to say “ewwww blergamont” on Sil’s behalf)
Nice comparison though. It’s interesting when you try similar teas together, because the differences suddenly really stand out. :))
Haha, Cavo, Sil might be away, but Dexter is around!!!
Great review!
I’m still watching you….I almost picked up the EG you wanted from out here today too but then I couldn’t remember what else we wanted if anything….
I definitely want the Grapefruit EG because it was surprisngly good. I’m not sure what else is available becasue their menu isn’t up to doate, but basically any of the chocolate blends I am interested in. The fruit blends were not as good as other tea companies, but Divine Temptation and Creme Brulee are good. I think those are the two that OMGSrsly blends together as a custom mix.
And thanks guys. :D It was fun to do a for-serious tea review for once!
Grapefruit EG? Where can I get that?
@Marzipan – I got it from Bayswater in Vancouver: http://www.bayswatertea.com
There website is really out of date but they will ship if you email them. Maybe they can send you a current menu as well?
I asked them today. Their website is only missing about 20 of he their teas, the prices are wrong (though not by much supposedly) I tried to get a new menus to take home and the woman seemed offended I would ask…. “Well just go to our website” me: oh is it up to date now? “Well no.” Me……..
Sil, does your real name happen to be Karen and were you friends with my friend, also Karen, who lived in Minneapolis?
Haha nope, sorry to disappoint..,in real life I go by sarah ;)
Sil – Um. Wow. Omg.
Y’know, I wouldn’t be that put out if you never went back there. That’s just awful.
Great comparison review!
Cavo…naw I liked the walk. It was all good. Plus I’ll likely pick up divine and creme….maybe one other. Then it’ll be off to steam :)
Do you know what you want from Steam? I didn’t see anything, but I don’t think I’ve had anything from there before. When I went into their store I wasn’t super impressed because all the prices were hidden/hard to find and I wanted to stealth browse without talking to anoyone.
If you see any great chocolate ones, grab me 50g of that from Bayswater!
Heh. Awesome! I find JusTea’s really, really easy to oversteep and overleaf… when I brew it “correctly”, I really love it (and blergamot is so not my thing).
Sil, just checking! I knew a Karen who went by Sil who was into tea, so I had to make sure!
NP mj
Cavo – after dark is the one I must get. Omg sent me some and I really enjoyed it….I think there was at least one other but I can’t recall yet…just woke up after a 12 hour nap
Sil, Chocolate Macchiato from Bayswater was pretty good. And Cavo, Steam makes a yummy maple tea :)
Oh, that one does sound really good! I’d split it, unless you’d rather keep 100g of it to yourself! The Hazelberry Puerh sounds good too!
Is the grapefruit one that isn’t on the site or is it called something else?
Yeah, it’s not on the site. It’s a new one they brought out last year – I assume it’s still there?
It is. I made sure to check for it