Raspberry Earl Grey sounds pretty good to me, and yet I don’t think I’ve ever tried/come across one before. Not that I can remember, anyway. The dry leaf smells pretty good, in a sweet, candy-raspberry sort of way. I can see pieces of dried raspberry, cubes of dried apple, and a scattering of lavender, so it looks pretty good too. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 2.5 minutes in boiling water. The lavender is a lot more prominent in the scent once brewed.
To taste, raspberry is definitely the main flavour. This is a good thing, to my mind. It’s nicely done, with a pleasant sweet/tart balance, and it’s not too candy-like. It’s not exactly dead-on fresh raspberry, either, but it’s close. I’m also enjoying the earl grey aspect, with it’s mild notes of bitter orange, and lightly floral, lavender edge. Neither the bergamot nor the lavender have become overpowering, which is a relief. They’re not my favourite flavours, but I’ll concede that they work well here.
This one made for a pleasant mid-afternoon cup, and it’s made me wonder whether there are other red-fruit flavoured earl grey blends out there that I’ve not come across. This could be the start of a new obsession.
Ooh, raspberry earl grey. That sounds like something I’ll have to try eventually.