No. 55 Lord Bergamot

Question: When is an Earl Grey, not an Earl Grey?
A Tale of Two Different Cups of Tea

Per: http://www.smithtea.com/shop/black/bergamot:
“About this Tea
A flavor somewhat superior to traditional Earl Grey. Fragrant Ceylon Dimbulla and Uva are artfully combined with select teas from India’s Assam valley, then scented with the flavor of bergamot from the realm of Reggio Calabria, Italy.

Ingredients
Ceylon Dimbulla, Uva and Indian Assam full leaf teas and natural bergamot flavor.

Preparation
For best flavor, bring freshly drawn filtered water to a boil. Steep five minutes. If possible, play a little opera softly in the background.”

(Note: Neither the package or the SST website stated how many ounces of water to use with a sachet.)

Introduction: My wife and I have been drinking loose Earl Grey for over 30 years.

The typical Earl Grey tea has a 100% Ceylon base. Some Ceylon teas used in E.G. can be quite astringent. This Lord Bergamot is different in that it’s a blend of two Ceylon teas as well as an Assam tea.

Most E.G. teas are also light- to medium-bodied. While my wife loves the aroma and flavor of a well-balanced EG, she typically does not find them to be strong enough. To compensate, she will increase the amount of tea leaves and/or the brewing time. However, you can only increase those two parameters so much.

Cup #1:
Technique: Previously, my wife prepared a sachet: 8 oz. filtered water with TDS of 26 ppm / 212*F / 5 min. as she prefers a truly full-bodied Earl Grey. She’s also used to brewing an 8-oz. cup of tea. No sweeteners, milk or cream were added.

First impressions: This tea provided a very smooth full-bodied Earl Grey without any hint of bitterness. She also noted a vegetal flavor that’s typically not found in a classic Earl Grey.

Per: Alex Pieroni of SST: “I would say 1 sachet for every 12 oz. of water.”

Cup #2 (several days later):
Technique: I prepared a sachet: (2.5 g – My Weigh Durascale D2 660), 12-oz filtered water with TDS of 26 ppm / 212*F / 5 min. Brewed in a covered mug. No sweeteners, milk or cream were added.

Fragrance: “Fruity” – different than a classic bergamot EG.
Dry leaf: Medium-long dark brown full leaf – http://www.smithtea.com/shop/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/286x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/l/o/lord_b_teabag.jpg
Liquor: Clear & coppery

5-min.: This medium-bodied black tea is expertly balanced. The fruity aroma does not overshadow the base black teas. There was no hint of tartness. The addition of Assam provided a very smooth sip. There was no bitterness or hint of a vegetal flavor. This black tea has an understated bergamot flavor.

I then presented this cup to my wife without telling her what type of tea it was or of my impression:
“I don’t know what it is. It’s not a regular black tea is it? It has a fruity aroma. An earthy flavor – Assam? Not bad – smooth! It’s not EG. It’s a little astringent toward the bottom of the (12-oz.) cup.” (I suspect this may be due to the high-altitude grown Ceylon Uva.)

Second Impressions:
This is a very smooth, expertly well-balanced, medium-bodied black tea with a pleasing fruity fragrance that does not overshadow the Ceylon/Assam base teas.

My wife enjoyed this very special medium-bodied black tea enough to want to purchase some as a change of pace from her regular Earl Grey. This is the first Earl Grey (not including EG cream) out of 14 EG teas, that she’s been interested in buying. Quite an accomplishment!!

Question: When is an Earl Grey, not an Earl Grey?
Answer: When it’s a Lord Bergamot!

Thanks to Alex Pieroni of Steven Smith Teamaker for providing this free sample.

I hadn’t drank this for a while and decided to have it with breakfast this morning.

I’m still putting this at a 78. I really want it to have more bergamot. It remains inoffensive and not a bad choice for a chilly morning. Still…it really needs more bergamot.

This is the last day of summer for me, sad! I know this is so cliche, but it really went by so fast. Back in May I was so excited to start nursing school that I wanted the summer to fly by. Now that it has, I’m sitting here saying “Just one more week of summer, please!”

This is the first Steven Smith tea that I’ve tried, and I found it at the local Sur La Table store. The flavor of the tea is very nice, but very light on the bergamot. I can taste more maltiness than bergamot in this blend. It does take milk and sugar fantasically, though, so I am happy with this cup.

-Large square silk sachet with a tag.
-Sachet smells of rich black tea and bergamot. Tea liquor aroma is malty with a very faint hint of bergamot.
-Tea liquor is a thick medium brown color.
-Bold and sweetly malty flavor and finish. Very light citrusy aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. A smooth and sweet cup with a very faint hint of bergamot. More maltiness than bergamot flavor.

Back from my Pacific Northwest adventure! Had a wonderful time, especially adored Portland (the vibe of the city, all the lively varied neighborhoods, tea shops!, used book stores!, kitchen pantry dream shops like The Meadow!, naked bike night!, first Thursday art walk!, food truck areas full of people having fun late into the night!, so much craft beer!, Ground Kontrol!, Lan Su Chinese Garden, Washington Park’s Rose Garden and Japanese Garden and Hoyt Arboretum, taking the old historic highway through the Columbia River Gorge, Sauvie Island, driving down the Oregon coastline from Astoria to Arcadia Beach to Manzanita, the Tabor Park cinder cone at dusk, Mount Hood, all the yummy well sourced food…), though everything (Olympic National Park, particularly the rainforests and coastline beaches like Rialto and Ruby, the lavender farms in Sequim, Pike Market!, the ferry ride to Bainbridge Island, flying into Seattle right by Mount Rainier, on and on) was great.

Wasn’t expecting so much tea (there’s virtually none anymore in Memphis, alas), so that was a great surprise (husband dug how the bubble tea around town has more choices than tapioca pearls, stuff like coconut bits and fruit/plant jellies). Steven Smith and Stash seem the default in restaurants yay, and we just stumbled upon places like the Tea Zone and Camellia Lounge, multiple Townshend’s locations, and the Tao of Tea as we wandered places. So great.

I have a minor cold now (not too surprising, ugh air travel) so I’ll refrain from rating this while my sinuses and throat are impaired but I must say it’s really hitting the spot. Strong and bold without being harsh, and with a more citrusy bergamot than usual that somehow I dig (normally I prefer my bergamot flowery and complex, not fruity at all). Yum.

Tea #4 from Traveling Tea Box C

I wasn’t able to get my hands on any of this for the Battle of the Earl Greys, so I took the opportunity the box presented to give it a try. It is a tasty one, but the low bergamot makes it taste a little more like an English Breakfast to me than an Earl Grey. I’m still going to enjoy the rest of the cup, though!

AmazonV was kind enough to send me a sample of this one (Thanks AmazonV). While I don’t normally care for Earl Grey’s, this one is light on the Bergamot compared to the others I have tried and nice very easy to sip and enjoy without having to add cream and sugar.

It is a beautiful orangy brown in color and tastes of black tea a very smooth and enjoyable cup. I am not sure if my palate is refined enough to give a good description of it’s flavor but it’s good (lol).

I had a very bad experience with Teavana’s Earl Grey Creme and decided to give up on Earl Grey’s and along came this one and I quite enjoy it. Hmmm this may need to go on my to order list for when I am off my tea freeze! Thanks AmazonV!!!

So… I gave in and picked up a box of the sachets on sale at Green Acres on Saturday. I immediately gave away 3 of them to my mother so my stash didn’t expand as much as it could have. :)

It smells more strongly of bergamot than it tastes. This is one that would probably better meet my desires with 2 bags instead of one per cup. It’s a nice, tame Earl Grey. Smooth and mild base, it gets more perfumey as it cools. Nothing spectacular, but nothing bad either.

backlogging

Another thanks goes out to Sandy Stith for this (I’ll be thanking her in many posts!)

First off, I’d like to say that I LOVE the individually wrapped sachets. Perfect for a busy day- just toss it in your bag and go! :)

The aroma when I opened the little wrapper was very strongly citrusy, but that aroma mellowed out once the tea had steeped. Still quite fragrant though. I tasted more than just bergamot… maybe some orange in there? I added a little bit of orange infused sugar to accentuate the citrusy qualities and it was definitely not a mistake to do so! MMM! Overall a pleasing Earl Grey

I’m going to have to order some of this specifically for those days when we’re out and about!

Lord Bergamot is exactly what you’d think in the bag–it’s all about the bergamot, baby. There’s barely any underlying tea smell, for all the cool-toned flowery-citrusy-ness blanketing everything. Luckily, once steeped, the Assam knows what it’s doing and takes a firm hand with its floral companion: “Calm the hell down, Sparky.”

As a result, you think you’re safe from a botanical invasion until you take that first sip. Bergamot goes, “Hey, didja miss me? Huh? Didja?” and by now, once your drink has cooled to bearabili-tea, there’s no room to reply, “No.” (That is, of course, unless you love bergamot. Earl Grey fana-tea-cs, with this tea you may well die happy. It makes for a brilliant cup of serious getting down to business that will take you through deadlines and exams with fortitude to spare.)… Full review here: http://snooteablog.com/2013/07/16/snooty-tea-review-steven-smith-tea-round-1/

Had a pot of this with my mother this morning at Smith HQ. I remembered sampling it, but didn’t remember exactly what I thought about it. This gave me an opportunity to reacquaint myself with it. It was an interesting blend of Assam and two regional Ceylons. The forefront was notably astringent (likely the Assam), but settled into the Ceylon floral tone soon after. Bergamot scenting seemed a bit understated this time ’round. Not necessarily a deal-breaker, just a surprise given the moniker. Still liked it quite a bit, though.