The Earl's Garden

0.5 tablespoons for 375 ml of water

A little thin tasting with berry flavour in the background. Slight creaminess near the end of the sip. Good balance of bergamot and black tea. Slight astringency near the end of the sip.

Mmmm. The tea that started it all. This was one of the first, if not the first loose-leaf tea I had, after a lifetime of oversteeped Red Rose. It sparked this whole addiction for me. But I haven’t touched it in almost a year. Well, nine months, according to Steepster and in this case I think it might be accurate.

I don’t know what else I can say about it. Delicious and fruity and full-bodied. Still an amazing cup.

JustJames kindly sent this my way during our epic swap. I decided to pull it out this morning to start off my massive Earl Grey sip-down that I have planned for this week.

I really wanted to like this one, I love EG so the twist of adding strawberries, raspberries and black currant essence sounded interesting. What disappointed me was how weak the actual EG flavor was since I prefer a very strong flavor from my EG. There was also something hiding in the background giving it an odd flavor and the black currant made it a bit bitter.

I’ve decided to take the rest of my sample and make a pitcher of iced tea, since the high tomorrow is suppose to be 80°F and I won’t see many more days this warm. I’ll adjust my rating a little if the bitterness isn’t as present as it was when this was prepared hot.

Just restocked on a favourite! I love getting a new pouch of this tea, and drinking it while it’s still fresh and vibrant and full-flavoured. It’s always delicious, but nothing beats a fresh pouch!

This is a staple tea for the girlfriend and I. It’s our favourite to brew up a big pot of on a lazy morning and just take our time enjoying it. I love that it’s a totally different animal sweetened vs. unsweetened. With sugar it is light and fruity and candy like, but plain the floral bergamot and darker cassis-like notes really come out. I love it both ways!

Although I’m really into a variety of teas and always have something new I want to try, this is one of the few that my girlfriend really, truly enjoys. And for that, I love it even more! Tea is always better when shared with someone you love :D

Another sample of Thank You tea from DaisyChubb.

I think this one tastes more like a berry tea than an Earl Grey, but the bergamot is in there. Usually, if I am craving Earl Grey, I don’t want to have to search for it. While this is good, it is not likely one that I will purchase. Thank you so much for the sample! I think I will be filling the cart with Chocolate Rocket, Buttered Rum (yes, I am now stocking this one for the Zombie Apocolypse), and Pumpkin Chai. Yayyyy! It will be my first order at David’s!

I LOVE this tea!! (I will admit I’m a sucker for anything Earl Grey-related) The berries compliment the bergamot perfectly, and it’s a great tea to have at any time of the day. I’ve found that I prefer it with both milk and a sugar cube, but it is sweet enough on its own (depending on my mood). I would recommend this for anyone who likes Earl Grey, breakfast tea, or anything fruity!

Yes. This is the tea for me.
I didn’t get a lot, if any, of fruity chunks like in the photo up there, but frankly I don’t care.
because dry, I smell BLACKCURRANT. Ever had Fruitips? Best candy ever. Smells just like that. I oversteeped a bit, but I also don’t care. Because DANG it’s good tea!

The bergamot is not overpowering at all, in fact it’s barely there, dancing with the black currant essence. I suggest a first steep closer to the 4 min side than the 6 minute side.

It’s sweet in the smell like candy but not too sweet in the taste. It’s perfect! (for me, disclaimer. haha)

This would be a totally different experience with a splash of cream and agave. Like berries and cream. yes. Next cup!

Mmmmmmm!

If I stick to using the DAVIDs"perfect scoop" this tea comes out perfect every time!

I think that I do, truly appreciate burgamont and strawberries!

Mmmmmm!

side note: I blew through 50g in no time at all!!

Well, this won’t replace Adagio’s TARDIS or Shanti Teas’ Raspberry Earl Grey. I want that fancy fruity mouthfeel those other teas gave me.

Right now I’m getting fruit and earl grey and a bit of vanilla but so much bergamot! So much! So, I’ll just rate this later.

This was a surprise in a tea swap I did with ladykittykat (btw, I totally think I came out ahead in that. If you want more of those tea flowers, please let me know). And it was a wonderful surprise.

The smell of of the unbrewed tea was equally sweet and floral, and it reminded me of the taste of honey suckle nectar when the dew was still on the ground, and we would pick the flowers on the way to school to get at the nectar before the heat of the day.

So imagine my surprise when in the first infusion (1.5 tsp), the bergamot is LOUD and really BITTER. Sorry to shout, but the floral notes really got drowned out there. Usually, I like bergamot’s bitterness, but I think I’m just not used to the concentration that they suggest for brewing. However, adding a tsp of honey smoothed and mellowed the flavor of the tea. It was still on the strong side, but the honey smoothed the floral notes in with the bergamot and I got more of the honeysuckle back in the smell.

The second infusion was on the weak side as far as the tea was concerned. The floral taste came through with a tsp of honey.

I really like this, and I think if I can find the best brewing times for my taste, I might have to order some.