Received this one from Roswell Strange.
I initially was having a hard time describing this one. On first look of the dried leaves I was surprised as I there were quite large bits and this is something that I do not associate with Davids Tea. I often find their teas a bit crumbly. On first smell of the dried tea all I got was lemon, like sweet lemon drop candies. Not much bergamot and certainly did not make me think Earl Grey.
On first sip, I am confused. I am not getting much taste. Maybe I underleafed. I am getting a light, sort of sweet lemon flavour. A bit artificial. No bergamot at all.
I am thinking I must be off today. So I took the cheating way out and I read the description of the tea. I really shouldn’t call this cheating. It would have been smart to read this before making the tea, instead of just assuming.
This is a white tea! Totally didn’t expect that at all. The dry leaf did not anywhere near resemble bai mu dan in my opinion. I just assumed it was a black tea and steeped in just under boiling water. I also did not realize there were yogurt pieces in the mix.
So after reading the description and going back to the tea, I am getting some light, sweet lemon flavours. Still a bit artificial. I am definitely getting a creaminess from the yogurt. Still doesn’t taste like bai mu dan to me, but that could be in how I steeped it. Not getting a whole lot of bergamot. The taste is getting stronger as it cools.
Still a decent tasting tea. I think I need to use a bit more leaf and lower water temp next time to bring out more flavour and see if it becomes a bit more of an Earl. Although, the ingredient list does not even list bergamot oil or flavouring or orange rind at all. So I am thinking it is not a real Earl, but they are substituting with lemon (which is not the same but I understand what Davids is trying to achieve with it).
Thanks Ros. I would have probably never picked this one up on my own, so thanks for the sample.
Edit: made this one again, but this time doubled up on the leaf. Overall it tastes the same, the lemon taste is a bit stronger. I am finding the yogurt pieces a bit astringent this time around but that maybe due to the amount that I steeped. I closely inspected the brewed leaf and noted there did seem to be a lot of green tea leaves that must have unfurled during brewing and I didn’t notice in the dry tea.
