Earl Grey

A solid Earl Grey. When I think of what an Earl Grey should taste like, this tea comes to mind.

I also have Earl Grey Supreme from H & S in my cupboard and compared the two, and I prefer this one. Bewildering, as other Earl Grey Supremes I’ve had were superior to their Earl Grey counterparts (EG Supreme being higher quality, as the name suggests).
The tea is smooth and round, and the bergamot is a relaxed note instead of the brighter zip in the Supreme. A perfect tea for reading a book or enjoying a quiet evening- if you don’t mind the caffeine, that is!

Note to self: Don’t eat a spicy snack like, for example, Spicy Vegan Buffalo Ranch sweet potato puffs, just before your first sip of a new tea. The flavor notes end up all over the place.

This is another wedding favor tea bag. Unlike the Twinings, this is a very subtle earl grey. I can actually taste the tea! It’s balanced nicely with the bergamot oil. Actually I taste the tea just slightly more than the bergamot. I like it a lot! I definitely want to explore more Harney & Sons teas. I think the other one I’ve had was a cinnamon tea at a festival.

Well-balanced, smooth Earl Grey with noticeable bergamot oil. Good mellow cup.

This is a solid flavorful Earl Grey tea. I’ve actually used it to bake and make Earl Grey ice cream. It’s nice because I often get two infusions out of it without any issues and it’s strong enough to get the flavors without being overwhelming.

I received a sample tea bag in my order of Harney tea. I had ordered the supreme so I was excited to compare the two. Of course this is a tea bag and I prefer loose leaf tea so that may impact my assessment. This is a step up from Stash E.G. The tea base is smooth and has more body and flavor. Of course, since this is a tea bag I am inclined to think the tea is not strong enough but I think that is due to the bag. Any way, I actually like this tea base a wee but better than the supreme. I have found the supreme to be odd tasting to me. But I wish there was more bergamot in this blend. What is there is quite nice and not too subtle for even my jaded smokers tongue. But the flavor is light and the aroma subtle.
Because I wanted more punch out of this tea I stuck the bag in after tasting it at 5 minutes. By the time I hit the bottom of the cup the tea had developed obvious bitterness but the bitterness came off as a black pepper flavor that was not disagreeable. If there was just a little more bergamot I would think this was a solid choice for a daily drinker for me.

I am so confident that so much has happened since my last note that I’m not even going to look at it to see how long ago that was. I do know it was long enough for me to move into an apartment with my fiance and completely lose track of all of my teas. Which caused me to go and get at least two or three of these in teabags. I think I am on my third one.

This has become my plain Earl Grey that I drink with just a bit of milk. Sometimes I put honey in it if I want to be really fancy, but mostly it is just Earl Grey with milk. Nothing fancy. Just a nice solid base that isn’t too bitter or too overwhelming. An everyday tea.

I’ve been terrible for months about logging my teas, work distracts me, not just from logging in but from being adventurous in my tea drinking. This is an old stand by that I keep coming back to, easy to steep and hard to mess up. I hope everyone in the community is well and, trite as this may sound under the circumstances, that we can all keep getting our favorite teas. A comforting beverage helps a lot in stressful times.

I can’t believe I didn’t try this one sooner. I love Earl Grey, and I love Harney’s Earl Grey Supreme, but their standard Earl Grey just fell through the cracks with me. I was always aware of it, but for some reason, I never made a point to try it. Obviously, that has changed. I ordered a sample of this tea with a recent order and worked my way through it during on-call duty. I found it to be a very respectable traditional Earl Grey.

I prepared this tea using the one step Western infusion process I tend to favor for non-Chinese black teas and many black tea blends. I steeped 1 teaspoon of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 212 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves gave off a wonderfully clear aroma of bergamot. After infusion, I continued to note a pronounced bergamot presence that was joined by traces of malt and toast. In the mouth, the bergamot was very clear from the start. Around mid-palate, I noted subtle notes of malt, toast, leather, and wood coupled with what may have been a touch of caramel. The finish was tart and zesty, continuing to emphasize the bergamot flavor underscored by subtle malt and toast.

I’m a little perplexed by some of the other reviews of this tea. It seems that a number of other reviewers found this Earl Grey lacking in a distinct bergamot presence, but I did not find that to be the case at all. In my experience, the black tea base was mild enough to clearly highlight the bergamot while simultaneously being just strong enough to provide some balance. As far as standard Earl Grey blends go, I found this one to be very solid and to skew toward the fruitier, tarter end of the spectrum. To be clear, it does not pack the bergamot punch of Harney & Sons’ Earl Grey Supreme. I do not, however, think it is all that much of a step down from that blend. I think that fans of traditional Earl Grey and/or flavored black tea blends may find quite a bit to like with this one.

The best Earl Grey I’ve ever had. Granted, I have not tried many Earl Greys, but this one is so good, I’m finding it hard to try anything else. Has the perfect balance of bergamot. Never fails to satisfy. I would order this tea again.

One of my favorite earl grey’s.