Okay, okay, I know I’m doing The Final Sipdown to try to clean out my tea pantry. So it goes a bit against that goal that I picked up a new tea while out grocery shopping yesterday (me and half the world – Central Market and William-Sonoma = pre-Thanksgiving PLACE TO BE). But it’s just a sample with about three mornings’ worth of tea and it’s part of the EG hunt, so I figured it was okay. Yes, I’m justifying my tea addiction. Let’s move on. I was a little concerned when I got home and saw the Steepster reviews of it. Not too much love. But what the heck, I have to drink it sometime, right? So this morning it is.
I actually quite enjoyed it. Now, I did give it a good dose of sugar and half & half (I’ll have to try it straight some other time to see how it competes with Arbor Tea’s Earl) but this is really pretty tasty. The citrus is bold but doesn’t have a perfumy or soapy note to it at all. It’s not quite a juicy, fresh fruit style bergamot but it definitely hits on more that end of the spectrum. And if the slight tremor in my hands right now is any indication, looks like it has a fair caffeine content.
I’ll admit, I didn’t really do a lot of study of the tea to find any nuances. First, the half & half probably smoothed over any nuances that were there in the first place and second, it was just a tasty tea so I sipped on it while checking my email and somehow the cup was empty before I knew it. But that’s always a sign of at least an enjoyable tea so thumbs up there.
Right now I’m going to rate this a little under Arbor Tea’s version and tied with Upton’s EG Supreme. This is as good as the Upton’s with additives so the real deciding factor of where this ranks in the EG showdown will be to see how this tastes straight. After all, Jean Luc Picard didn’t get his tea. Earl Grey. Hot. With milk and sugar.
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Say, have you considered expanding this Sipdown idea? It can’t really be a contest as not everybody has the same amount of samples and low tins, but maybe a themed week or something. Maybe something like people could tell their goal of decupboarding at the beginning of the week and then we’ll see at the end how many people made it? Or perhaps, who can decupbard (and post about!) ten teas first? I’m not really sure how it could work as an event, but I’m sure there’s a good idea in there somewhere.
Well, anyone is welcome to join so it can be self-expanded if folks wish. So if you want to jump in (or even adapt it to be themed or contest-y) feel free to! Everyone can clear out pantry space! :)
Say, have you considered expanding this Sipdown idea? It can’t really be a contest as not everybody has the same amount of samples and low tins, but maybe a themed week or something. Maybe something like people could tell their goal of decupboarding at the beginning of the week and then we’ll see at the end how many people made it? Or perhaps, who can decupbard (and post about!) ten teas first? I’m not really sure how it could work as an event, but I’m sure there’s a good idea in there somewhere.
Well, anyone is welcome to join so it can be self-expanded if folks wish. So if you want to jump in (or even adapt it to be themed or contest-y) feel free to! Everyone can clear out pantry space! :)