Divine Cream

misslena made me do it. I’m barely awake…feel asleep at 6ish but she made me try this. so for starters, for those who don’t know my tastes. Bergamot and i are nearly mortal enemies. i dislike 98.9% of all earl greys i’ve had. I bought this tea once, but returned it when i opened the lid (there’s a second seal between the lid and the tea, so i didn’t ruin it) and smelled the bergamot. The tea description indicates NOTHING about bergamot. Instead it talks about vanilla and caramel and a wonderful black base….right up my alley.

and then sloane had a 50% off sale. So i caved, because who can resist getting a bunch of sachets for less than 1$ each. And i pretty much figured it might be interesting swap tea if i hate it since lots of YOU guys like earl grey.

Final verdict? i LOVE the caramel smell. I love the undertones of vanilla. I still hate the bergamot i smell. In terms of a brewed tea? This is a very smooth tea. There’s no bitterness that i can find and the caramel notes are quite nice…until the bergamot messes with it. It’s not an overly bergamot like tea. Those of you who wanna pick that flavour up and roll around in it, would be slightly disapointed by it. BUT i can see how this would appeal to all of the bergamot lovers out there. I’m not going to rate it, since i’m fairly biased…but for me? it’s like sitting in and around 65. So not too shabby. For those of you who love bergamot? it’d probably be up there with heavenly cream so mid 80’s? but that’s just a guess…because i’m tired. and i drank bergamot.willingly.and lived to talk about it. and i feel like i’ve said bergamot a whole lot. more than one person needs to. ever. lol holy batman i’m tired. bed time. misslena…to quote that wonderful movie… here’s lookin’ at you kid.

no, i’m not sure why i felt the need to say that. :)

Sipdown, 143. I have returned from NY, after successfully having defended my dissertation. You may all call me Dr. Dinosara now (kidding/not kidding [LOL])

I drank this one a few days ago but have been super busy after the defense running around and have had no time to log the sipdown. Like my first tasting, I found this to be a pretty decent earl grey cream, but the base had a roughness that was not entirely pleasant. I wouldn’t go for this particular tea again but I like the caramel included in an EGC.

Thanks for this sample Sil
Hmmm…this is a pleasant cup. I’m not getting any bergamot, just some caramel & vanilla flavors & a decent base. There is enough for me to try again, & hopefully pay more attention, as today I’m rather distracted with gardening projects!

This is just one of many that the lovely Sil sent over to me! I really didn’t know what to try first, but thought I’d start with a Sloane tea, any Sloane tea as I’d read so many reviews on them lately.

Much like Sil I’m not a huge bergamot fan, but I think I have a much higher tolerance at least – so long as it doesn’t taste like perfume. I can definitely smell the bergamot, but it’s really orangish too. And I realize that bergamot is related to orange, but I don’t normally smell oranges. Weird.

Could possibly be because my daughter is sitting behind me eating oranges. :P Yeah that’s it. I don’t actually taste orange – just smell it!

Anyway, I do get vanilla and cream in this. And even a touch of caramel! (Or something sweet!) It IS quite divine. I feel fancy-pantsed drinking it, even though I’m sick and working from home in my pj’s. :P At least I can breath through my nose again – the worst is over!

Would I buy this? Yes, but only for a decent price! It’s nice, but not worth breaking the bank over. I’m happy I was able to try it though – I wasn’t expecting Sloane samples!

ETA: To prove to myself that even with the 25 or so new teas Sil sent over, that I am going to ENJOY each one, I resteeped this one. No need to rush and try all the teas. (Although… I really want to drink them all now!)

Sipdown! 852.

So, uh… this smelled like a delicious EG cream when brewing it up, but the flavour was off. Too much bergamot, IMO, and… I was getting a minty note?! I was going to say that this was impossible given that I got it less than a week ago and Sil had it stored in its tin… but it just occurred to me that it was in the box with Butiki’s Peppermint Patty. Which is in a permeable baggie. Oops. My apologies to Divine Cream, as I don’t think I’m doing it justice. I will, however, give it another few sips keeping in mind that the minty note is contamination, and maybe I’ll like it better…. update to follow.

ETA: Let this sit for a while, and while I still got the odd minty note, I really enjoyed it once it was cool! Pretty much a good example of an EG cream – the cream came out a bit more, and the bergamot receded. Tasty; would drink again.

ETA again: Second infusion was a pretty good EG cream (no more mint, yay!), but third infusion, while it smelled great, was pretty flavourless.

Received this as a surprise sample from the amazing Sil. It is in sachet form. The dry tea smells kind of vanilla-nutty.

The brewed tea smell reminded me of bergamot but I don’t actually taste any bergamot. I get undertones of vanilla and caramel. Almost like an Earl Grey Cream but without the Earl Grey. I am finding the black base to be moderately strong and am tasting ceylon more than Assam tea. This is a delicious morning tea. Not too sweet, but not so strong it is knocking my socks off.

I am enjoying this one. Thanks Sil!

Good thing I read the tasting notes before I tried this one- I would have really been thinking it was the wrong tea because who would guess Bergamot from Divine Cream?

This was a sample from Sil – and such a lovely one! It’s been a while since I’ve had a bagged tea. They are quite convenient aren’t they? Shame that you can’t really get good quality teas bagged for the most part, though. Ah, we’ll, just makes me appreciate the ease of it when I do get the chance.

This tea has the buttery caramel vanilla I love, accompanied by the surprise bergamot flavor. It’s a light bergamot, which is how I prefer my Earl Grey anyway, and as an Earl Grey Cream, it is quite good. I am considering getting more if only because it the ease of a good bagged Earl grey cream would be great for travelling.

I found a surprise hidden gem in my cupboard! I’m thinking it’s going to be a good week…

1 satchel for 200 ml

Bergamot present in the aroma. Flavour does not have full cream taste. Black base has a sharp edge of astringency which I find to be too strong. Bergamot and vanilla flavours present.

Thanks to Indigobloom for sharing!

Astringent black tea base. Bergamot/orange notes. Somewhat creamy. Dry aftertaste. Caramel notes are faint, if present at all. Overall, I’ve had worse but I’m not a huge fan.

Thanks for the taste, Sil!

Not bad – I was expecting something with a bit of a stronger caramel flavour though. The fact that the amount of tea in these pyramid sachets is a little bit skimpy might be to blame. Still it has a nice smooth feel in the mouth and I do get a bit of caramel flavour when I added some agave nectar.