Victorian Earl Grey

This blend was my choice for my second cup of tea today (we’re getting snow tonight—it’s a hot tea kind of day), and it tasted better than usual. I brewed it slightly less than I normally would, so maybe that’s key. Pleasantly surprised—yay!

We went to a new Korean BBQ place for dinner tonight, which was extremely delicious, and I had a nice green tea there but of course I have no idea what kind or brand of tea it was. It was kind of a plain, grassy green, but I found it really tasty which surprised me a little because I feel like I’m not usually very into grassy greens. It paired nicely with our BBQ, and it kind of made me appreciate a plain, simple tea with a meal.

Anyway, we stopped by a bakery afterward and I decided to get a small cup of tea because I was feeling really wiped out and we were going to see a movie (which didn’t end up happening, because I totally didn’t expect it to be sold out, guess that shows me). Anyway, they had a small selection of Celestial Seasonings teabags and I chose this one. I was honestly expecting very, very little from it, but I was pleasantly surprised. They don’t say anything about other flavorings added besides bergamot, but I got strong lemony notes from this one along with the bergamot. I am shocked to find out that the tea base is partly Assam (and apparently also Kenyan black), because I liked it fine and I tend to not like Assams. Of course, these teas are probably blended to be as inoffensive as possible to your casual tea drinker, so I’m sure the base is toned down from other Assams I’ve tried. It wasn’t bitter or astringent or harsh in any way, and I didn’t feel like I wanted to add milk and/or sugar to tone it down a bit. Anyway, it was perfectly drinkable, and I would pick it again if I was in need of tea.

Thanks Raul for this tea!

For a teabag, I don’t expect much. But then again, I shouldn’t knock them since we’ve all had one at some point. This tea was wonderful!

I didn’t get too much of a scent when I opened the individual packet, but I wasn’t worried. I figured the true test is the taste. And there is plenty of that!

Slightly sweet with a light floral taste. I love it! Good tea. Definitely one to keep on hand for a quick pick me up.

So, what can I say? I expected a lot more. This is what I remembered of “tea” before I started on my loose-leaf journey over a year ago. It’s very one dimensional with little character. It’s almost like a flavored water than a tea brewed with bergamot if that makes sense? Alright in a pinch if you really want an Earl grey, but I’d definitely hunt out something better.

This isn’t a review of the quality or taste of the tea per se, but of its awkward incarnation as a K cup. I’m sure it’s supposed to be greatly convenient, and sometimes (we have these at work), it’s just what I need in the morning. The problem lies with the machinery itself. It’s used to make coffee, which really shows up in the taste of the tea. Today, particularly, it was just plain bizarre. I think I’ll stick to bringing in my own tea and using hot water when I want something that actually tastes like tea.

This was pretty good. I had it at the dinning hall today. My last cup from there this semester because today was my last final. It was not the best cup of tea to celebrate the end of a semester with but it was pretty decent. It wasn’t too weak and it had decent flavor. Pretty much your typical earl grey.

A little anemic, but fine.

A bunch of people gave me tea at Christmas time (yay!) and so I have a whole host of individual sachets and tea bags, perfect for bringing to work, and easy sip downs. This was one such.
Its a basic earl, not even particularly jazzed up with a touch of lavender. But not offensive.
The first sipdown of the year!

An average very light Earl Grey. I wouldn’t seek this out.

Not the best Early Grey I’ve had and far from the worst. It’s above average, IMO. I like it better than Bigelow’s.

They are discontinuing it, though. Their website confirmed it.