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Sweet, rich and complex. This is dessert in a cup without over-the-top ingredients or flavors. Caramel, maple syrup and brown sugar with a smoky tobacco note along for the ride. More maple syrup forward than caramel, but still awesome. This decadence is a treat worth having.

There’s coconut, which is delicious. Then there’s toasted coconut, which is out of this world. This tea is all about toasted coconut. Amazing aroma — there’s no doubt you’re about to be hit with coconut. Sweet, perfect toasted coconut flavor. It’s balanced really well with the oolong. Bold, but doesn’t overpower the oolong. I like to sweeten this with agave nectar. This is my favorite coconut oolong.

Smells like toasted coconut before you steep it. Delicious fresh coconut flavor when you sip it. Not my favorite coconut oolong, but still tasty. Theres a note that I can’t place. I called it vegetal, but that may not be right.

Undrinkable. I bought 4 oz of this tea because I love Earl Grey and it smelled so yummy in the store. I have tried twice and I simply can’t drink this tea. I cannot even tell you what I don’t like about it except all those flavors don’t seem to go together.

If you want an Earl Grey with amazing bergamot flavor, this is your tea! The bergamot (with the orange) is round, warm and bold, so much so that the black tea takes a back seat to the bergamot. You could almost mistake this as an herbal tea. I don’t taste any malty or floral notes, so I’m a happy camper. I’ll wake up with Teavana’s Earl Grey because it’s more full-bodied, but this is my second cup or my afternoon Earl Grey.

It’s not Earl Grey. It’s black tea with lemon peel. Tea Beyond wanted a natural Earl Grey. When a suitable one couldn’t be found, the company opted to use lemon. The lemon is very subtle. The malty note is less so. This is a medium-bodied black tea and very smooth. The quality is amazing. I’ve never seen a black tea with such long, full leaves. The large chunks of lemon peel are unmistakable.

The steeping time makes all the difference! At the suggested four minutes, I hate this tea. It is very malty and has a floral finish. That’s just not what I want in my morning Earl Grey. Steep for three minutes and the balance shifts! The bergamot stays at the forefront with a malty undertone. The bergamot isn’t as bright (maybe acidic is a better word) as it is in Teavana’s Earl Grey, which is my gold standard. The citrus here is smoother and deeper. A three-minute strep also keeps the cornflower at bay. Three minutes took this from the donate pile back to the cabinet.

This is my favorite tea! I have played around, trying to see if others will top it. Nothing comes close. It’s funny because trying other brands helped me realize what I love so much about Teavana’s Earl Grey Black: over-the-top bergamot. I would be hard-pressed to tell you what other notes are there. Perhaps it’s a little smokey, but most importantly, it’s not malty or floral. Perfection!