Tippy Earl Grey

Inspired by a Steepsterite who recently posted about Earl Grey Lemonade (but I don’t remember who!), I made a mug of this and mixed it into the last cup of or so that was left in my jug of “Santa Cruz Organic” Lemonade. It is chilling now, I’ll probably try it tomorrow. :-)

Golden Moon Sampler Tea #16
So, when I was reading the description on the sample packet, they referred to the “tips” in this tea as “buds” but, for some reason, at first I read it as “suds.” Obviously, I immediately did a double-take and corrected myself, but I think the whole soap idea stayed with me, because that is what I smelled when I opened this tea. Seriously. Soap. What is wrong with me?

The tea brewed up just fine, a darker red. On tasting it, however, I got…paper. Paper, water, and soap. What. As I drank further, I eventually isolated the paper down to the kind of peppery taste of the lavender. I got nothing about the soap though, I think it’s just imprinted on this tea now, which is a shame because…Earl Grey!

All while drinking this, I was unable to convince my brain that I was drinking tea and not papery dishwater. Oh Tippy Earl Grey, I want to love you, as I love most of your kind! But I don’t think it’s meant to be. Lavender is, apparently, just not my thing, and I have no idea what the hell kind of brain fart has made me unable to let go of the soap thing, but I think I’m not gonna be able to rid myself of it.

Golden Moon sample No. 25 of 31.

I was hoping this would blow me away with it’s “claming aroma” (typo on the sample bag label), and that I would have found another staple Earl Grey.

This isn’t terrible, but it’s not among the better Earl Greys I have tried. The leaves are nice looking with their light colored tips, and there is a strong bergamot scent that, while it isn’t oily, is definitely heavy. I couldn’t identify lavender in the scent of the dry leaves. And I wonder why I’m supposed to, since it isn’t listed among the ingredients.

After steeping, the bergamot fragrance becomes milder. I’m still not smelling lavender, mostly what I get underneath the bergamot is a malty, black tea scent. The liquor is fairly dark orange/brown.

There is a hint of bergamot in the taste, which is what I prefer. I don’t love very strong bergamot in the taste, as when it is too strong it can do a number on my stomach. But this was perhaps too subtle even for me. I still can’t find lavender anywhere. But the other taste I do find is something odd. It’s a sort of a flat taste that hints of bread, but not in a delicious way. I’m wondering if it is what the tea tasting books refer to as “bakey” or over fired? If it is, it would make sense as there is a baked feeling to it but not in a tasty way. Like the stuff that sticks to the bottom of the cake pan and is heavy on the baking powder.

In any case, not a success in my further attempts to populate my Earl Grey stable.

Oof. Adagio needs a social media makeover….whoever’s on their Facebook page thought it’d be great to call Teavana the “Enron of tea” and this is so beyond tacky it amazes me someone tried to defend the comparison. Swindling billions out of your employees via fraud is so like people choosing to work in a high pressure sales position, right.

Anyway. This tea relates to neither companies obviously but that is seriously bothering me right now.

Typically I am not a big fan of Earl Grey because I think it smells like cleaning solutions, but this smelled a bit different from the lavender, so I figured I might like it.

Without milk, no, it’s too much bergamot for my liking. With some coconut milk added, it’s much, much better. (And seriously I love using this stuff, no coconut flavor detected!) I do like the floral note added by the lavender, it makes it a bit different, but I still don’t care too much for Earl Grey.

Another sample De-cupboarded this morning:) Finally went back to some of my Golden Moon samples from the sampler I purchased 8 months ago. Have 8 or 10 different samples to knock off my list.

I really like this Earl. It is a lightly sweet Earl, with a upstanding Bergamot flavor. The flavoring isn’t perfumey, it’s nice and citrusy floraly sweet. Not as sweet as the vanilla and cream earls, but lightly sweet, not bitter or tannic. This may be my favorite Earl as of today. I’m so happy I tried this tea today!

Wowsa. Orange Pledge dusting spray. That’s all I could smell when I cut open the sample bag and the bag was nowhere near my face. I just couldn’t believe that smell was coming from that tiny bag. So I did a tentative sniff and it was confirmed: Orange Pledge dusting spray. ::shudders::

I really hadn’t thought much of this sample until I read Ewa’s review and my curiosity was piqued. I mean, perhaps I could balance out that review since I’ve only smelled Earl Grey whilst preparing its bagged version for others. I am now trusting Ewa’s tastes in all things Earl Grey.

I woke up a little stuffy, but that smell did assault my sinuses into waking up a bit more. But I think that my stuffiness adds to the difficulty of my reviewing this one. It’s black tea-ish with fake orange smell, and something else that I couldn’t identify until I reread Ewa’s note: papery lavendar. Bizarre, but true. I’m on my second steep (yes, I’m sadistic) and I’m getting a teeny-tiny bit of sweetness – but lordy, my throat is starting to feel really rough. It’s like the astringency is going from the back of my mouth all the way down my neck. You know that unpleasant tingly feeling the underneath of your tongue gets that happens right before you blow chunks? Well, I’m actually getting that specific sensation, but without the fear of the usual followthrough. I’m not going to finish this second steep. Ick. GA

Wow, quite an aroma when you open up the packet! Pungent – it’s the bergamot without a doubt, but the lavender is really prominent, making the whole thing much more aromatic. The leaves look nice; it’s gratifying that they seem to be using good quality tea as their black base.

After five minutes, the liquor is medium-dark brown, and is just about as fragrant as the dry leaf. Lavender is still muscling its way to the front of the room, with bergamot trying to get a word in edgewise. Taste, I’m getting the same dynamic – I’d probably call it lavender tea with the addition of bergamot rather than the other way around. Not sure if I’m a huge fant of lavender tea however – it’s an aroma I associate with perfumes and potpourris rather than consumable items, so this one is probably a bit too much for my taste. Interesting to try, though.

Well this was definitely better than the bagged Earl Grey I had at a conference this morning. Not as good as my Damn Fine Tea Earl Grey, although that could be because I was distracted and made it with a little too much water. So yeah, it seemed weak but could have been “brewer error” :)

I’m not thrilled by this one. I really , really like Earl Grey, but I’m not liking the lavender in this blend. I would drink this if it was served to me, but I wouldn’t seek it out. The bergomot gets kind of lost. It’s as if you planted a citrus tree and a field of lavender grew up around it. IMO, the lavender just doesn’t belong there.

Other people liked it a lot. I just don’t “get it.”

I find this to be a very flavorful tea. You can equally taste the bergamot and lavender but I will say they both appear to be fighting for first place. This is not a tea I could drink everyday but if I did have the urge to raise my pinky I would reach for this cuppa.