Myrtle's Tea House

(52teas (Anne) 2022: 107)

Could have sworn I’d rated this one before, but I guess not. Unfortunately, it’s not quite what I’d hoped for when I bought a couple extra pouches. There’s a flavour present that reminds me of chapstick, and I really don’t care for it. I don’t know exactly what the flavour is – it’s possible that it’s bergamot, but I like bergamot in other teas, so that doesn’t make much sense. Anyhow, it’s drinkable, and the base is pleasant, but the flavouring is just not to my liking.

I have a large bag of this from 2018, and haven’t opened it yet. But I’m in an Earl Grey mood so decided to break it open.

It smells amazing! A strong but not overbearing bergamot and sweet strawberry waft off the cup. The flavor is similar to strawberry lemonade, only a bit bitier and floral-leaning from the bergamot. There is a tiny hint of cinnamon sweetness at the end of the sip. The base is super smooth, too.

Excellent! Tastes like a mix of medium-bodied Earl Grey with Lady Londonderry. I’ll definitely enjoy working through this bag.

Topped this with strawberry white chocolate cold foam. It was good but next time I’ll try a strawberry vanilla cold foam to better reflect the flavours of the tea.

This is my favourite bergamot tea! As it turns out, strawberries, bergamot, and a bold black tea go well together. I drank every cup with a touch of vanilla soy milk and 1/2 tsp sugar and it was perfect. I think the milk and sugar bring out the strawberry a bit more and make it super smooth.

And now it is done. I quite enjoyed this masterful blending of flavours. My foolish device will not let me slide to an 85 rating. Hopefully, I will remember to update it when I am on my laptop.

And it’s a sipdown.

(Sipdown 49)

I picked some teas to sip on this afternoon using a randomizer (AKA *VariaTEA) and this was one of them! I’m not going to admit to how long it took to find this sample because I feel like that’s admitting the full scale of how much of a tea hoarding problem I have – but lets just say that it was a while…

I mostly got bright strawberry and woody/spicy cinnamon bark notes in this cup with a full bodied, brisk black tea base as a little astringency (especially as the tea cooled). It’s been a while since I had this tea last, and it was better than I remembered it being. Still not a favourite, but refreshingly different from a lot of other teas I’ve had as of late! Ironically, as I’m saying that, the combination of the strawberry and cinnamon DID remind me of something that I think I’ve tasted recently – I’m not even sure if it was tea though! I couldn’t nail down what it was, in the end, that was making me feel that flavour deja vu.

I just reblended about 4 pounds of this tea for the actual Myrtle’s Tea House – http://myrtlesteahouse.com – because they have ordered some. They not only sell it in their tea shop, but they also grind it to a fine consistency and add it to their shortbread cookies that they serve to their afternoon tea customers.

And since I reblended it – I have to test it before I start packaging it up. My inspiration behind this blend is some of my favorite things at Myrtle’s. There is, of course, the tea which is a creamy Earl Grey and their exceptionally good strawberry soup which is made of pureed strawberries, cream and a touch of cloves and cinnamon. Seriously – that soup! You guys … that soup!!!

We’ll be going to Myrtle’s on Thursday to deliver the tea – and they probably won’t have that soup on Thursday since it’s not exactly strawberry season at the moment. But they do have a really good tomato and basil soup too and that might be a bit more satisfying on a cold and what I think may turn out to be a snowy day since we’re getting quite a bit of snow at the moment.

Anyway – back to this tea. This is every bit as good as I remember. Sweet strawberry – a touch of vanilla – notes of cinnamon and clove and of course, that lovely bergamot. After I finish packaging up the tea for the tea house, I just might have a few pouches left over to add to the website!

A very quick note on this one after the fact -

This reminded me more of a really nice chai than a strawberry bergamot tea. The spices were warming and pushed everyone else off the stage. No strawberry for me at all. I’m drinking through some older teas lately, so again this could be the age.