chris hall Send Message

This tea is quite common in a few cafes so I have tried it a few times and quite liked it, ended up buying a bag.

The smell of the tea leaves in the bag is very off-putting, pungent bergamont and an overly floral aroma are battling it out, overall quite sickly.

However once the tea is made, and tamed with milk and sugar, the aroma is near non-existent and is quite pleasantly floral. The taste is that of a strong bergamont with some floral notes.

I can see why others would not like this tea, the taste is quite sharp and almost pungent even with milk and sugar, I have found this to be a good breakfast tea which I enjoy pairing with cheese scones.

I tried Twinings earl grey without milk and loved it, seeing all the reviews of excelsior on here I bought a bag and tried it without milk, I was not a fan, so this tea sat in my cupboard unloved for a months until I had a guest over who liked earl grey and couldn’t resist any tea with excelsior in the name (this was his logic, and in hindsight it was flawless).

I made a cup for each of us, with milk and sugar, it blew my mind.
I have been drinking this tea twice daily since, having gone through nearly 2 bags (100 grams each) and just bought a new tin today.

This is now my daily stock tea, I have a supply at work and home, and have dedicated tea ware for this lovely brew.

I use boiling water and let it steep for at least 5 minutes, although I sometimes let it get closer to 6 and never have problems with bitterness thanks to the power of milk, the only problem I have is a bad habit of adding far too much milk.

I tried this tea with and without milk.

Without milk the aroma was caramel, vanilla, and lots of fruity tones (misc. berries, strawberry and apricot).
The taste was fruity but a little sickly, bit of bitterness and quite astringent.

I think the aroma of the tea is giving me a headache, and for some reason it reminds me of the colour pink.

After adding milk the tea rounds out quite a bit, the aroma becomes much more about the vanilla and caramel with the fruity tones just hanging in there. The taste is all about creamy fruit, still rather astringent.

An interesting tea, was a lot nicer once milk was added.
The astringency was so much that I couldn’t finish the cup, now time to go take some paracetamol.

Colour is very pale. Aroma is gentle and reminiscent of the leaves of a rose.
Taste is primarily floral with buttery notes.

A very summery tea, refreshing and non-astringent.
A perfect tea for when I don’t want to be overpowered by smell and taste.

Tea gives off a gentle lemony/bergamont aroma, the black base is shining through. The taste has notes of lemon, a good black base, and possibly some peppery notes.

Notes from first tasting:
No milk or sugar, was a little bit too bitter so I will have to play around with steeping time and milk/sugar.

Notes from second tasting:
I added milk and half a teaspoon of sugar, delicious. The milk covers up the lovely aroma, but the bergamont is still there in the taste and there isn’t even a hint of bitterness. Superb.

The bergamont is not as strong as I was expecting, quite a delight. I find the bergamont used is a lot more palatable than most.

Had this tea while eating an Indian curry, the strong cinnamon aroma put me off a little bit, but the taste was excellent. Sweet, no over powering cinnamon, took the edge off the spice of the curry. A match made in heaven.

A strong black base with slight floral or fruity notes, leaves quite a dry feeling in the mouth, had with milk and 1 sugar.

My partner who is much more of a black tea drinker than I said it was her new favourite breakfast tea.

I would happily drink it with a meal, I don’t find it quite tasty enough to have on its own, my partner loved it so much she finished both of our cups.

First steeping was for 3:45 with boiling water, added milk. Smell is lovely consisting of vanilla notes and some fruity spice, taste was rather bland consisting mostly of a weak black base.

Second steeping was for 5 with boiling water, added milk. Less notes, no improvement in taste.

A lovely and fragrant tea, rather subtle and gentle taste, I was expecting a stronger black base.
Reminiscent of an earl grey with a bit of pungency and bitterness removed.

Had without milk, very keen to try again.

I have removed my old tasting notes as I think I spoiled the tea by using too hot water for the first steeping.

I am now enjoying the 3rd steeping today of this lovely jasmine tea, each steep at about 75 Celsius for 5 minutes.

A lovely jasmine aroma, a very non-astringent tea (compares favorably to the Sencha), mild taste.
I wish the jasmine aroma on the tea was a stronger, but I could happily drink this tea ‘forever’.