I have mixed feelings about earl grey, on the whole. Some I love, some I hate. To my surprise, this one definitely falls into the former camp. On opening the tin, the main scent is bergamot. It’s very strong and quite harsh, and that alone made me worry a little, because I don’t like very strong, harsh or bitter earl greys. Fortunately, this loses some of its potency once brewed.
After about three minutes the liquor was a pretty dark brown, so I added a splash of milk. There’s a slight astringency here, but it’s nothing terrible. Enough to make me glad I added milk, but that’s all. The bergamot is lovely — beautifully balanced — adding a cirtussy top note to the relatively sweet, slightly malty black base. There’s a very faint floral edge, too, which almost reminds me of jasmine. I can only imagine it’s contributed by the cornflowers, which are copiously scattered throughout the dry mix.
Overall, I’m really pleased with this one. My dad tried it first and really liked it, but then he’s usually happy with a decent quality earl grey. Our tastes differ a bit, but this is definitely one we can agree on. I’ll enjoy drinking the rest of this tin over the coming months. It’s one of the nicer EGs I’ve had in a while. Great stuff!
