Earl Grey

Well I’m stuck here in Las Vegas for the next few days because I’m at a scientific conference. I wasn’t really expecting a lot of tea options in the area so I was pleased to find this coffee shop that also has “the tea leaf” in its name. They have more options for take away than your typical coffee shop but to start I decided to try their Earl Grey. It’s a pretty decent tea; nothing to write home about but definitely drinkable. There’s only one other review for this on Steepster and it’s a pretty bad one that complained about the stong bergamot. Yes, this is a bergamotty tea but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, at least to me. I love bergamot and prefer my Earl Grey with robust bergamot, as long as it’s done well. Here it’s not bitter or astringent, but pleasant and citrusy. The black tea base is smooth and pretty tasty. As it cools the bergamot does get a bit astringent, so this is one of those teas that’s best enjoyed hot.

This tea was alright. I would have liked more Bergamot, though. I was at a Krispy Kreme in Los Angeles on vacation, and a ‘Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf’ shop was connected.

I wanted something to help me relax after a long day of tourism at Huntington Beach. My server put the “loose leaf” tea bag in before I could check the quality of the leaves alone. I suspected to find some stems in there, as I did with their English Breakfast blend a while back.

Enjoying the lovely doughnuts, I decided to stop steeping the tea. The Bergamot scent wasn’t as strong as most other Earl Grey’s I’ve had. However, the mellow scent went very well with the base tea. When it was cool enough to drink, I went for an unsatisfying sip. It was very mellow in Bergamot flavor, and the base tea seemed to take on what little flavor there was.

This tea was pretty relaxing, but it did not yield a satisfying cuppa.

Holy Bergamont Batman! This is labeled a flavored black tea on the tin, and man is it flavored. Usually Earl Grey teas have enough bergamont to cut thte acidity of the black tea, but this one the bergamont is so overused it can be nauseating. I steeped only one bag for caution and I was so overwhelmed with the bergamont. It is a necessity to put some milk with this tea, at least that helps to mellow out the bold bergamont flavor, if bold means insane. The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf usually has good quality teas, this is just overboard.

Went wonderfully with a little milk and sugar. Would drink again!

I’ve been trying to save this tea – save it from the trash can. I think I’m going to fail. The flavoring of this tea is so off that I can’t come up with a good explanation. Think citrus oil and turpentine…something is horribly wrong. I’ve had this tea for several months and knew it was a problem from opening the can the first time. The wave of chemical smell was intense. I tried it anyway and got chemical taste. I have let it sit, open to the air, for two months now, All I can say is “at least my desk area doesn’t smell like solvents any more”. I’ve just shaken the can, moved the satchets around…its still there.
Pass on this one.
Edit: went back in history and found an old review of English Earl Grey (Blue Knight Special) by TeaFountain that I did a few years ago. This one reminded me of the Blue Knight Special.