So, I have started a new and exciting project! I have decided to make my own tea tray for my various Gongfu brewing sessions. Let’s just say I am tired of spilling water everywhere on my desk, and since I am not so much having the monies I decided to be all crafty. Using a frame, some paint stirrers, some caulk, varnish, a small cake pan, and paint, I will create my new toy. Pictures will show up when I finish it…or tears will flow if I ruin it!
Today’s tea is an English tea time classic! Considered to be one of the most famous Western teas, I certainly know I have been drinking it since I was a tiny child. Earl Grey Premium by Ocean of Tea is a blend of premium black tea and bergamot oil, as expected from a tea named Earl Grey Premium. The aroma is a very potent bergamot, bright and lemony! It is certainly a tea to sniff when you want to wake up and be alert. There is also a tiny bit of sweetness and a nice finish of malt.
Brewing the leaves brings out a much stronger malty tone to the very citrus heavy tea. I am amazed at how fresh the bergamot aroma’s is, it smells more like sniffing a fresh fruit than the oil. The liquid once the leaves have been removed is creamy and malty with a hint of cocoa and strong bergamot. It smells quite zingy!
Tasting time! The mouthfeel is dry, not rasping and puckering, but a nice brisk dryness. The tea is a little astringent, but not unpleasantly so, it has that brisk bite to it that really wakes you up. I know some people really object to teas having any bitterness to it at all, I personally like it when certain black teas have a bit of a bite…not enough to be nasty of course, just that hint, kinda like eating fresh kale or bitter greens, I just find it tasty. Of course there is more to this tea, there is a nice bergamot kick that leaves a bit of sourness causing a salivary response, goodbye dryness! After that there is smooth malt and a subtle sweetness that lingers to the finish. Usually when I describe an optimal Earl, I am lauding the tea’s tendency to not kick me with bergamot, this Earl certainly kicks with bergamot, but it is such a fresh and clean citrus taste that I really like it.
For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/05/ocean-of-tea-earl-grey-premium-tea.html
Good luck on your project, can’t wait to see the finish product!
Thanks! I hope it works, if it does maybe I should make a tutorial ;)