200 Tasting Notes
This is not your average Ceylon. I’ve got an average Ceylon, and it’s nice, but it doesn’t blow me away with interesting flavours.
This, on the other hand, is so full of flavour that it’s hard to believe it is a Ceylon. As the description says, it’s got a slightly chocolaty hint to it, but it’s more that it just smells warm and inviting and cosy. Sniffing it is like sniffing a fruity red wine, and the colour is deep orange.
The flavour is just as good. The astringency comes through a little more, and it’s probably best with a spot of milk. I thought I was an Assam man for strong black tea, but this might just change my mind.
I’ve had a good sample through the Canton Tea Company’s tea club, and saved the last cupsworth (if that’s not a word yet then it should be) for the right moment. Well, I’m sitting in the conservatory with the rain pattering on the roof, with the cat on my knee, and this is the right moment. Yum
This should have been my perfect tea. A first flush darjeeling with a twist of Earl Grey. But somehow it just doesn’t quite work, and it was a bit of a disappointment. Maybe I was building it up high in my anticipation, to a level where it could not match.
The bergamot has a very suspicious role in this tea. It sits there, dominating in its uncompromising way, as if it’s trying to hide something. Of course, in a first flush darjeeling, there is nothing to hide, but the bergamot is too strong for it, and the special-ness of the darjeeling is not allowed the space to impress the taste buds.
It’s not horrible, but I’d rather just have a Darjeeling and an Earl Grey separately and not on top of each other.
This has pretty much broken the record for being used up in my cupboard. Looking at.other reviews, there is a really mixed bag and some people are quite negative in their thoughts. But I think this is among the Earl Grey purists only. I haven’t come across anyone who dislikes this tea, and I’ve given it to at least half a dozen people.
I am so impressed by this tea. It tastes just like actual dandelion and.burdock, only not fizzy. I’m not saying that it is delicious, because it’s not, but it’s about as good as you could.hope for, from an adaptation of a sweet fizzy drink.
I’ve been experimenting at work by getting people to guess what the smell is. Most people have guessed aniseed but I think that’s just the Burdock coming through. It’s sweet-ish but not sugary, so works ok.
I was in Australia when I came across this tea. It was available to taste in the shop we visited. I really hadn’t intended on bringing any tea back with me, but I couldn’t resist, especially with my girlfriend egging me on!
As many of the other reviewers have said, this is quite a long way from a ‘normal’ Earl Grey. I still think it’s a legitimate Earl Grey, because the Bergamot isn’t lost in the flavour, but it’s less of a case of Bergamot vs tea, and more of an overall balance between a whole range of flavours. In fact, when I drink it, I don’t distinguish the flavours, in the same way as I wouldn’t focus on the individual ingredients when eating a Bolognese or a stew.
I’m not at all a fan of flowery tea, but this really works!! I’m also not used to having more than one Earl Grey in my cupboard at once, but since the other has a really tangy Bergamot flavour and this is more rounded.
You feel very refined drinking this tea, and it wouldn’t be out of place in a posh restaurant.
Highly recommended
This is an excellent tea bag. It’s strong like a Kenyan should be, and a little bitter so it needs milk certainly. Once it has milk in it, it reminds me a bit of good quality chocolate. It still has that bitterness, but that’s a good thing in a smooth, comforting drink like this. If it was a note, it would be a low note, but not a rumble of thunder, more like a tuba.
I’m not convinced that any of these analogies make sense to anyone else, but they work for me!
That sounds like a great right moment!