557 Tasting Notes
I am using an actual tea cup, so it is no wonder that one glass of the Earl just wasn’t enough for me. And I have six different Earl Greys to compare to each other. So why not make this an Earl Grey day?
I still haven’t gotten rid of these tea bags, so I thought I would try it again. The liquor is very dark and the tea smells soapy. I only brewed it for four minutes and the tea is harsh. It also tastes slightly soapy.
But this is also the tea that the Earl Grey lattes are made out of, so let’s try a splash of milk with it and see how that goes. gets milk Now it kinda looks like iced coffee. The milk made it drinkable, but it isn’t really mind-boggling. I taste the bergamot now, but it still has a very harsh flavor to it. It tastes rather flat.
I could see this being a good tea to make a milk tea with. Or even to put some sugar and boba in it and make an Earl Grey bubble tea. But I still wouldn’t reach for it on my own. I might keep it around and use it to experiment with some Earl Grey baking that I want to do. I’ll have to see how it compares to Biglow Earl Grey.
My friend gave me this tea to try because she knows that I love Earl Grey. I decided to look up the steeping guide for this tea and was surprised by the low temperature to brew it with. I usually use boiling or near boiling water for my Earl Greys, but I was willing to try the lower temperature. I steeped it for four minutes.
The liquor was a nice light amber and smelled lightly of bergamot. The taste was light. Very light. I was getting a hint of spice at the end too. I think if I ever have this again I think I might try a slightly hotter temperature.
This has been a “share the last of my tea with my fiance” day apparently. He wants to try all of my teas that he hasn’t tried yet, so I have been saving this until I was able to drink it with him. It is nice to be able to share a tea with somebody you love. Especially a romantic rose tea.
The only thing that I don’t like about this tea is that there wasn’t a consistent amount of rose petals in the tea. This last cup is light on the rose, but it is still there. I need to get more rosy teas because I adored this one.
Going off of the Earl Grey Lemonade, I decided to try a different flavor of tea. I decided to try Constant Comment for the tea because of the orange and I thought the spices would give it an interesting kick. If you choose something with orange, you would want an extra teaspoon of sugar to go in it or else it is a little too tart (for my liking at least). The spices give a very interesting flavor that is like a little kick in the mouth.
The lemonade paired with the tea makes it a little mouth-drying, but I think that would go really well with a summer meal. Refreshing and cleansing. And my fiance loves it too. I had him taste it and almost lost my glass.
I found a recipe for Earl Grey lemonade and it made me curious. It has been very hot here recently and I have been drinking a fair amount of half-tea, half-lemonade that my fiance’s mother has started to buy. The recipe was basically the half-tea and half-lemonade with the tea part being Earl Grey.
I made a strong cup (1 bag steeped for 10 minutes) and poured in some lemonade I made yesterday for Memorial Day. It was about 3/4 Earl Grey and 1/4 lemonade. At first it was a yummy mix with a splash of bergamot mixing with the lemons. Then it kept getting tarter and tarter.
So I drank it down and put in enough lemonade to bring the mix to 1/2 Earl Grey and 1/2 lemonade. Then I put in a spoonful of sugar and mixed it well. The color now looks closer to the half-and-half store-bought mix. Now it is yummy with a splash of that bergamot at the end. The sugar made it sweeter, but I think it toned down the tartness too much. But I think that you would want an equal 1/2 and 1/2 mix for this Earl Grey Lemonade.
I might have to make a bigger bottle of this the next time we make lemonade. I really like it, but I don’t think my family will enjoy it as much. So I will have to make two bottles of lemonade. I think this is a very nice way to enjoy Earl Grey on a hot summer day.
I wonder if it would work well with different tea blends? It is a good thing that I might have to experiment because it is supposed to be very hot this summer. I just have to make sure that we have a fresh supply of lemons to keep the house stocked with lemonade because I don’t like using the lemon juice in the bottle. That makes the lemonade taste chemically and fake.
Edit: I think I was jumping to conclusions about the sugar. It has been sitting for a while and now the bergamot is jumping up and down again playing with that sugar. Balance has never tasted so yummy!
I saved the last of this sample so that my fiance could try it too. I learned the importance of eventually getting a “fair pitcher” so that we get even flavors out of my press. My first cup was a little bitter while his was light and sweet. The flavors went back to normal for the second cup.
I am sad that this sample is gone, but I am happy that I was introduced to such a yummy type of tea. I will have to try some more Fujian blacks in the future.
After reading some more tips on steeping oolong, I tried brewing it western style to see if I could get the right flavor. This time I got the right water temperature and it tastes awesome! Delicate and fruity! It also tastes sweet. I can’t wait to steep it again for supper. I am pretty sure I have at least two more good steeps like this. Maybe more. I’ll be drinking it all night long!
Another morning that began with some earl grey with milk. I found a lot of recipies for cooking with the Earl and I might try them out. It feels like a cookie or a cupcake day today.
I gave some Lady Grey bags to our resident cookie lady at work. She made cookies and the results were less than spectacular. If you have worthwhile success pm a recipe.
I will. I will probably be expiramenting this week. But from the recipies I have read, I would have more success if I had loose leaf tea too.
