Ok, so I’m trying this tea again with my “early” morning study session. I’m trying to get better at trying the same tea several times in a short period to make comparisons between more accurate.
This time I set out to only steep this tea for 4 minutes, less then I would ordinarily do for a black, but with the aim of avoiding the beastly bitterness of the last cup. However after 4 minutes a little sip told me the brew was very weak (hot water with a hint of tea flavour) with already a distinct bite of bitter in there. So I’ve concluded that the “intense bitterness” I was complaining about in my last tasting note was probably, well, just what properly steeped straight Earl Gray is supposed to taste like (rating will have to be adjusted I think).
I let this cup steep for another two whole minutes or so (need. morning. jolt.) and the bitterness increased a bit, but seemed much more bearable today for some reason. A bit of 1% milk, honey and one sweetner package has a nice morning cuppa for me.
Earl Gray has been officially been brought back into my life.
