Gianfranco's Earl Grey

I don’t know if I did something wrong, but I tried this Western-style multiple times at different temperatures and kept getting a tongue-cuttingly astringent brew – super strong black tea and scented oils in the worst way where I couldn’t finish the cup. I got the bag fresh in 2020 as a gift from a friend a few weeks after he received it from the UK. Ended up putting it aside for a year and when I next opened it unfortunately it had gone mouldy. And I actually felt relieved that I could throw it away.

Yahoo!
Celebration
Yahoo!
This is your celebration

Celebrate good times, come on!
(Let’s celebrate)
Celebrate good times, come on!
(Let’s celebrate)

Yes that was Kool & The Gang and we are celebrating my 1000th Steeping note! Boy this has come around very quickly, 1000 notes of me mumbling about tea and life stories. Thank you to those who have made it possible. Damn the Oscar music has come on so I am being shown off stage.
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And now we are back into the land of tea and Earl Grey. This was surprisingly strong when I opened the tin, the bergamot is absolutely gorgeous. Then I realised it was still sealed in the foil packet, this is one of if not the strongest Earl Grey teas I have had the pleasure of sniffing. What do we want? Strong Earl Grey. When do we want it? Now!

Not only was the scent divine but looking at the leaves and seeing the beautiful autumn tones of a Darjeeling pushed this tea over the edge. So far I am astonished I have not tried this before.

Sampling without sugar but with a splash of milk for my first taste. Plus I have some left over wedding cake on the side that my cousin was kind enough to drop off for my aunty to distribute. Earl grey and wedding cake…sounds like bliss already.

Fragrant, perfumed, strong, clean, waxy, sweet. Some of the words that came to mind as I took my first sip. It is a very strong Earl Grey but it’s not heavy, and the bergamot is somewhat perfumed amongst the floral-esque Darjeeling but at the same time it is waxy, sweet and pure. ie non chemical or artificial. The balance is nice, though both elements are strong you can taste them both, though the bergamot lingers longer in the after taste.

I love Earl Grey and have tried many over the years, including especially imported and expensive blends. Compared to my Earl Grey index this particular one has to be my favourite. I’m not sure if I will be disappointed in the next month or two as the tea is now out of it’s foil packet and though tinned may loose it’s strength (as has happened many times over with various teas) but honestly this Earl Grey is so good I would offer it to Captain Picard.