Earl Grey

Azzrian sent me a good sized pouch of this…thanks a bunch! I’ve had 4 cups this morning. It’s ok…fairly standard but it was handy as I was checking my 400+ emails as I return from a few days off. BOY OH BOY did I miss my tea while I was away!!!!

Phenomenal. Go-to black tea, as it’s really the only kind I have. Strong bergamot aroma; smooth. Fantastic flavor profile when you let it sit on the warmer about a half-hour after making

I love this tea! The bergamot could even be stronger, but I realise that I am a bergamot freak and most folks prefer more gentle touches of this Queen of oils. My only reservation for this tea is that for me, it could be even stronger in the black – maybe a bit of Assam. I steep it longer than the normal 4-5 min. and use a good round teaspoon per cup – a couple of them for my mug!

4tsp for 3 cups of water. The leaves were dark with some lavender petals. There was a nice strong bergamont scent. The liquor was a nice amber color. The flavor was so strong. I think a little astringent but I am new to this so that might not be the right word.

I definitely need to sweeten this tea and possibly to add milk. I will try it that way next time.

I love Earl Grey, but I found the bergamot in this one to be quite overpowering. I added a bit of milk and sugar, which I wasn’t planning to, and it was much better. It just balanced out the super floral-y, super bergamot-y flavor. It was more drinkable then, and I was semi-pleased. But this is definitely not my favorite Earl Grey.

This tea is very, very good for a mass produced tea. The sachets are also compostable and made from plant fibre, so no microplastics.

The intensity of the black tea base really comes through. It tastes very fresh and potent with strong notes of tannin and malt. The bergamot is lovely and not bitter. Paired with a splash of vanilla soy milk this makes a really nice London Fog. By itself, it is quite smooth for a high intensity black.

This is probably as close as you’re going to get to the original recipe for Earl Grey. There’s a very distinguished Bergamot flavor against this wall of woody, almost oak, Sri Lankan tea. It’s properly masculine, something you’d imagine Sean Connery drinking. What I would say is this isn’t for the faint of hearts; it’s correctly firm in it’s tea and bergamot delivery. Blue collar then; so if you’re looking for something a bit more regal, with a more gentle zest of bergamot, I would go to the Palais Des Thes ‘Blue of London’.

Steeped for my after-dinner tea using my newly bought French press . The bergamot aroma was strong yet pleasant, so is the taste!

So I met up with Robyn yesterday after going to the mall, to exchange Christmas presents since on Saturday she’s going back to Regina for the rest of Christmas, and this was the only day during the week she wasn’t crazy busy with finals preparation.

We went to a coffee house called the Broadway Roastery, as per Robyn’s suggestion because her roommates are always raving about how they serve the best London Fogs. So that’s what we got! Turns out this particular coffee house sources all of their tea from MTC, so I get to actually write a tasting note for a specific tea instead of just using the all inclusive “Various Teas” thinger.

Firstly, it was a pretty good London Fog! I was impressed because, first and foremost, they used loose leaf and not tea bags, but it was also very thick and rich with such a strong vanilla flavour. Mmm! Robyn and I each, at one point or another, ended up with milk froth mustaches, too.

As for the gift exchange; I gave her Neil Patrick Harris’s Choose Your Own Autobiography (her own copy; I didn’t re-purpose mine), a cool Owl bookmark for it, a whole bunch of owl stickers, Troy Bolton dividers for her class duo tang/binder, and “Royal Flush” Poo Pourri. I’m very impressed with myself, since she was super happy and I know she hasn’t been able to afford books as frequently since starting Uni – and she loves to read, so that’s a shame.

For me, I got a whole butt load of fancy chocolates and then she got me one of the DT packs/tins with one half cookies and the other half a stackable tin of tea. Sadly, she picked Cocomint Cream which some of you will remember I kinda hated. But there was no way I was going to let her know that (so keep it a secret Steepster!) so I faked as best as I possibly could it being a tea I’d never actually tried before which made her really excited. Not sure what I’m going to do with the tea now, but I’ll figure something out. I am actually super excited about the cookies, though.

I wish people would stop getting me DT stuff as present though – my Mom accidentally let slip last night that my little sister went Christmas shopping for me at DAVIDsTEA this year (which is very thoughtful of her, but odds are she’ll get something I don’t like or be talked into the Holiday Sampler by a staff member just like my Dad did last year – despite me telling him not to go shopping for me at DAVIDsTEA). I mean, if there’s something I want to try from DT, I’ll try it myself…

This year my Dad got it right; he’s just taking me to a tea store and setting me loose to shop for myself…

Brought water to a boil and steeped the loose leaf tea in a tea sack for 5 minutes…drank it just as it is…no additives needed with the Earl