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“I received this as part of my Canton Tea Club membership. Apparently it is not yet available in the Canton webshop, but will be soon. So, I am privileged to get to try it early! I’m neck deep in...” Read full tasting note
“Earl Grey is one of my favourites and I was more than thrilled to receive this sample. My husband is also a lover of Earl Grey so tonight we are sitting down and having a large teapot which uses my...” Read full tasting note
Tea from China and India. Oil of Bergamot from Italy.
Bright, citrussy and floral, the perfect example of a classic Earl Grey
Canton Tea Co is a London-based tea company trading in high grade, whole leaf Chinese tea. We have exclusive access to some of the best jasmine, white, green, oolong, black and authentic puerh teas available. In our first year, we scooped Six Golds at the 2009 Guild of Fine Food Great Taste Awards. Our Jasmine Pearls won the top three star gold award, endorsing it as the best available in the UK.
I received this as part of my Canton Tea Club membership. Apparently it is not yet available in the Canton webshop, but will be soon. So, I am privileged to get to try it early! I’m neck deep in work with important deadlines looming even as I type, so naturally I dropped everything to try this. So, how was it?
The dry leaf smells overwhelmingly of bergamot. I cannot actually pick out anything else in that aroma. When steeped, it releases the bergamot aroma but there are floral elements too. Steeping seems to reduce the power of the bergamot, which is a relief. It is still there, but it lets other flavours through too. Overall the description that Canton Tea Co gives is about right for me. You can taste the bergamot and the citrussy flavours it releases. There is a floral overtone to it that is quite pleasant too. It is a relaxing tea to drink that makes for a nice treat when you are in the mood.
Earl Grey is one of my favourites and I was more than thrilled to receive this sample. My husband is also a lover of Earl Grey so tonight we are sitting down and having a large teapot which uses my 10g sample which works out to roughly 3 teabags.
Before I steep I should note the loose tea looks like your average Earl Grey (dark brown small twisted and finely cut leaves) but with it came a tremendously strong whiff of fresh orange. Almost like orange essential oil, waxy yet sweet.
In my teapot goes the water and all I will be adding is a little milk.
The tea has steeped very nicely in my new teapot. With the milk added it smells very sweet and orangey with a slight earthy background.
Sipping a few times has definitely put a smile on my face. It’s naturally sweet, strong and smooth which is exactly what I look for in an Earl Grey. The reason I love Earl Grey so much is mostly because of the bergamot and I think what I look for the most with Earl Grey teas is strong but fresh bergamot/orange. This is strong but not quite to my personal liking, in other words I like this tea but I do not love it. It’s just missing that extra orange oomph that makes me go wow.
Still this does beat most bagged Earl Greys and it is certainly fresh and potent. My husband who drinks Earl Grey every day agree’s that while he can tell this is fresh it would be hard to differentiate between this and another fresh Earl Grey. But considering this was the basic Earl Grey and along with this I receive a sample of organic Darjeeling Earl Grey I would say I have not been off to a bad start.
So yes it’s true, this is a classic Earl Grey and while it’s not as special as it could be it’s still pretty darn tasty.
Methinks you are not that fond of Earl Grey though.
I don’t really do flavoured teas, that’s true, but I found the bergamot a little overwhelming in this one. I need to write up my notes on the Organic Darjeeling Earl Grey, which was much more to my tastes. It reminded me of a better version of Twinings’ Lady Grey tea, with its cornflowers, Darjeeling base and much less bergamot in it. This latter tea had more subtlety and just felt more refined. I have enough of the Classic left to try it with milk. Milk in tea is normally anathema to me, but I am interested to see how it fares.
If all else fails, cook with it. I have some on hand that’s too strong but is a good steeper in milk for pudding. Makes a nice vanilla or lemon pudding enhancer or frosting. Anything where you can steep a syrup or milk and then dilute it into the recipe. (I just hate throwing good tea away!)
Well, there is not a lot of left now. We had friends round and one those likes the classic Earl Grey, so I fed it to her. She thought it was great. I have enough left to try it with either milk or perhaps a slice of lemon. I may experiment with both and do a side-by-side tasting.
Your cats might want some!
Milk or Earl Grey? :-)