I realised I was getting low on my DavidsTea Cream of Earl Grey. If I want to compare it to Murchie’s Earl Grey Cream, I’d better do it soon!
Dry: Visually the DT Earl Grey looks nicer as there are a lot of pretty blue cornflowers sprinkled throughout. It smells really pleasant with the bergamot and vanilla. Alternatively, M’s Earl Grey has yellowish cornflowers mixed with the tea leaves. It smells really good as well – perhaps it has a bit more bergamot? DT’s smells “creamier” but judging by smell alone I don’t know that I could pick one over the other.
Steeped for 3 ½ minutes: I… really shouldn’t have done this the day AFTER I really burned my tongue. But, here we go!
The M’s has a nice cream flavour with lots of bergamot, but it still tastes bitter. I really like Murchie’s black/green blends, but for some reason I keep finding their blacks too strong for my taste – it just gives me a bitter aftertaste. Did I get a bad batch? It’s too strong to drink without cream at least. The DT’s blend doesn’t have that problem. It tastes creamier and milder. If the Murchie’s blend didn’t have that bitter aftertaste, it might even have more flavour than DT’s, but as it is I have to go with DT’s.
With Cream: Murchie’s taste far less bitter without the cream in it. I even notice a bit of sweetness. No complaints here! With DT’s, it’s almost like the cream has washed out some of the flavours – it’s not nearly as good with the cream. I’ve had it with milk before and that was very good though.
Verdict: If I’m drinking it black, or with 2% milk, DavidsTea wins. If I’m adding cream, or making a latte, then Murchies all the way!
