Wonderful Earl Grey

This is a strange one.

Whenever I rate Earl Grey teas, I’m always torn because I have a very clear idea of what an Earl Grey tea should be, and if a tea deviates from that too much, I have a difficult time rating it high because it isn’t what I asked for.

If I ask you to draw me a damn circle, draw a circle! I don’t care if you draw me the best triangle in the world—it isn’t a circle!

When I opened the bag, I was impressed! It certainly smelled like bergamot, so I was expecting a pretty traditional Earl Grey flavour which is exactly what I needed to make getting up in the morning a little easier…

…but this tea tastes like…flowers? I’m not sure what flowers, because it doesn’t have a distinct rose taste or anything, it just tastes like flowers! It’s…sort of nice…It’s a light, fresh tea that really is kind of wonderful…

BUT NOT WHAT I WANTED!

To this tea, I added a splash of lemon and a spoonful of sugar.

So, I went back to Dliche Bakery last night to try my first ever cronut – and of course I had to also grab a small pot of tea while I was there too since tea and pastries is just always a winning combo. Earl Grey seemed like a good pairing with the maple flavoured cronut I had selected…

Firstly VariaTEA was right to hype up the cronut; it was AMAZING. Very rich/decadent of course, but the quality of the pastry itself was incredible with these awesome flaky, buttery & deliicous flavour notes. The maple filling? Decadent, creamy and delicious! Plus, just the right amount of chocolate.

The tea, on the other hand, was underwhelming. I didn’t find the bergamot all that strong flavour wise – and the black tea itself didn’t seem to be super nice/high quality. It was a little bitter, and somewhat metallic tasting. So, not my jam.

Still a lovely experience though!