Tea Sparrow

This is the first of many teas I’m rating that I brought back from the Tea Festival in Vancouver last weekend.

Slight tangent here from the tea review to say the festival was awesome! I went to a couple of tea workshops (Tea 101 and Tea for Health) which were quite interesting and sampled lots and lots of tea. I also managed to buy a lot of tea despite walking in the doors not really needing any. No regrets though! It was nice to see new vendors (new to me anyways) and fall in love with new teas. Speaking of which …

This tea was the very first I sampled when I walked into the hall. I tried several other Earl Grey Creams but this one was by far my favourite. After buying one packet of it, I came back later that afternoon to sample it a second time and purchase another packet. Michael at Tea Sparrow was so kind to give me an additional pack for free too when I mentioned how much I liked it and he shared how much the tea resonated for him too.

There’s a really nice purity of flavour that comes out in this tea. The bergamot and vanilla cream have a perfect synthesis. The flavour and aromas are exactly what I’d like an Earl Grey Cream tea to be. Perfectly satisfying without any need to add further cream or sugar. I love the description of it too: “Buttery cream & bourbon vanilla float under a satin sheet of citrus bergamot, while the rich estate black tea covers all like a fleece blanket.” It’s bang on too. There’s a cozy feeling that comes from just the right balancing of the flavours.

I should mention that the Tea Sparrow packaging directs you to order more from The Teaguy website which suggests this is the same tea packaged as Cream Earl Grey from The Teaguy. I’ll verify this when I run out and need to order more.

The orange and the apple really shine through, with a hint of the pumpkin. Very nice fruity tea with a lovely aroma. We drank it hot, but I see how it could be very good on ice. A very nice change. I may buy more of this.

I’m always a bit concerned when a tea says one tablespoon per 8 0z since that rarely seems to be the case,. In a compromise I put in 1.5 tsp for 8 oz.

The dry leaf has an almost orange scent but I don’t really taste it when brewed.

The chai element is a bit weak so maybe it should have been a whole tablespoon. It is good and I will gladly drink it. It makes a nice evening drink with it being a rooibos. The spices make it an interesting drink.