Earl Grey

I hate those mornings when you wake up and are craving a tea you know you don’t have in your cupboard anymore lol. This morning, it was Laoshan Village Chai for me, which I haven’t had for ages! The chocolate notes of LB are what I needed, and I couldn’t find my sample of straight LB either (if I still have one even, I might have drank it!). So I got out the next closest – Verdant’s delicious Earl Grey, with LB!! The chocolate notes are present that I was craving, albeit quite muted due to the travel mug I brought this tea in to work haha. But it will do. See previous notes on this tasty tea!

in the contuining saga of shitty weekends…let’s talk about how i dislike early grey. but i bought this on anyway just in case, knowing that i could donate the other .99ounces to a friend of i didn’t like the cup i tried.

well guess what? the universe didn’t want me to have more than a cup because the rest of the entire bag dumped itself all over the floor, counters, dirty sink etc…. sooo yeah. love spending money on things that get wasted sigh

also the tea? meh.

And I guess I’m the second to review this one :) I can understand why it wouldn’t necessarily be someone’s first choice when ordering from Verdant (LB! LBCG! Oolong! Etc.) but given their immense success with genmaichas, I figured it could be an interesting twist on regular EG! Besides, I’m not a bergamot-hater.

The bergamot aroma from the packet is quite powerful, but you can pick out some creaminess as well (which is nice) – once steeped, the bergamot is a bit softer, and the base tea peeks out with some lovely soft chocolatey aromas. And the flavour! Definitely worth trying. Chocolatey, a strong punch of bergamot (yet it’s not overpowering), and a smooth finish to the sip. This is really quite good. It’s certainly not going to replace an EG cream for me (it’s softened by cream, but it’s not a main flavour), and the black tea probably isn’t punchy enough for those who like a strong morning EG, but it’s a really unique twist on it, and I can certainly see myself drinking it again. I suppose it’s kind of a chocolate EG, actually… I wonder if Verdant considered trying to make a Chocolate EG? That could actually be really delicious… Maybe I’ll add some cacao shells to my next infusion, if I remember.

Backlog:

OK, I was astonished that I needed to create a listing for this tea here, how is it that I’m the only steepster-type person to have tried this Earl Grey?

We must remedy that immediately – try this Earl Grey!

It’s rather unique. Two amazing black teas plus a Wuyi Oolong makes up the base. This gives the tea a solid “black tea” background and a softer texture from the Oolong. It also adds a hint of toasty, nutty flavor. These flavors meld beautifully with the chocolate and malt notes of the black teas.

The bergamot notes are strong … but not quite as strong as I’d like them to be. The vanilla notes are strong as well. It’s tangy, citrus-y, sweet, creamy and these two components with just an average black tea would be lovely, but when you combine them with the extraordinary teas from Verdant Tea you get a truly over-the-top, wonderful Earl Grey tea experience.

If I’m to offer any complaint, it would be that I’d like the bergamot notes to be stronger. However, I do like the way the base teas are the highlight of this blend, so I find it difficult to offer a complaint. I really enjoyed this.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/08/26/earl-grey-black-tea-from-verdant-tea/