612 Tasting Notes
The dry leaves look beautiful and smell wonderfully sweet, like light caramel or good sugar. Brewing, it smells so good and so fresh (EDIT: another Steepster said bark and yes, that’s a really great way to describe it). A little like light honey. In the cup it’s an unusual, pretty, relatively pale gold-green hue. The aroma evokes lightness and freshness along with that ever present sweetness and some gentle vanilla. I think I’m in love based on look and smell alone!
It tastes like it smells, sweet in a gentle, enveloping, pervasive way, and reminds me a little of Golden Moon’s Honey Orchid. That said, I think I prefer this one—there’s a vibrant freshness here that Honey Orchid is too delicate to evoke (granted, they’re both lovely!). The mouthfeel on this one’s exquisite, very silky without being rich.
I didn’t realize until just now this is a dian hong (still brushing up on my tea terms, particularly Chinese teas whose different types I’m less familiar with than Indian etc.). I think I ordered one from Teavivre that should be here sometime later this week, so now I’m even more excited about that!
Wow. Verdant knocks it out of the park once again, and amazingly in almost a completely opposite, complementary way to Laoshan Black. The fact they’re both black teas is one of those things that make you scratch your head and then smile in delight, that tea and the world in general are so diverse.
EDIT: After a couple resteeps a soil element comes in, guess that’s the morels thing mentioned on the Verdant site. Cool!
Preparation
The orange zest is immediate and strong both dry and in the cup. This is the first NM tea that smells “off” to me—like it could include something artificial as it’s so cloyingly sweet, almost like a kids’ orange drink flavor a bit. I’m not saying it actually is artificial, just that that’s the impression I get from the aroma.
Oh, I’m bummed! Upon first sip I get that immediate “oh no it’s Celestial Seasonings from my childhood all over again” repulsion I had with Joy’s Teaspoon Almond Cookie. I guess I’ve figured out the main culprit—apparently I really don’t like apple bits in my hot tea (which is strange considering really tart, crisp apples are one of my very favorite fruits)! Sad. This isn’t a strike against the tea and how it’s blended per se, and now I’m wondering if I can give this a good home anywhere…I might try icing it first; maybe then I won’t mind that fruit-tartness so much.
Preparation
Like everything I’ve had from NMTC, I’m impressed with the quality of the ingredients here—I find it’s hard to do coconut in any form without it being really heavy and artificial seeming, overly sweet, or kind of oily. The coconut presence is absolutely there but it’s not fake seeming in the slightest, and even though it’s quite strong and sweet in a genuine way somehow it never feels overpowering (I can still appreciate the taste of the black tea, and by the way it seems rather good for a flavored blend). I dig how it seems to get creamier and richer the more you sip. Bet this would do well with the latte treatment. Have yet to be disappointed with anything from them.
Preparation
Yummy! Malty, smooth, and satisfying with a sweet aroma and aftertaste, and a gentle toastiness. I’m getting baked bread, honey, and chocolate. Reminds me a bit of Laoshan Black but less complicated and distracting—like Sinharaja, you can enjoy this and appreciate its depth without having to put aside everything else and concentrating on it.
Preparation
Wow, dry the grapefruit is very upfront, along with some sort of…feminine floral scent. Very unlike other bergamot-y blends I’ve had, and quite welcome.
I knew when I began my EG-a-thon I’d have a hard time picking tops or dismissing many because it’s pretty much my go-to, favorite blend and always has been (bergamot is probably my favorite fragrance; I used to use it in all of my toiletries and whatnot). And well, it’s true. I’ve enjoyed all the variations I’ve tried, and this is no exception. I love grapefruit, so this is kind of a no brainer despite my usual unease around astringent teas. This is lovely, and would make a good springtime EG. That said, like a few stragglers around Steepster I’m one of those weirdos who isn’t nuts for the H&S tea base they seem to use for the EG and EGish blends. It’s not a dealbreaker here, because there’s other good stuff going on, but I wouldn’t opt for a standard version EG with this base. Also, Tower of London is still my favorite Harney daytime blend. But this is nice, especially the fragrance.
Preparation
Very perfume-y without some of the elements that typically are part of that package that I can’t stand (jasmine, tons and tons of rose). I could see getting this as a novelty/change of pace once in a while for my EG tin. It smells lovely but it’s not overpoweringly floral in flavor, just right.
Preparation
Oh, I like this one very much! I could see it rotating with Upton Imports Baker Street Blend for my occasional afternoon “smoke break” tea. I love the way it smells. The tannins and astringency build by the end, but it’s hard for me to tell if that’s just because this is the third earl grey I’ve tested this afternoon. :b
Preparation
Beginning to feel like I need to do an earl grey plot map or something, with creaminess as one axis and bergamot/floral character as another maybe. If I could do it in 3D that’d be even better, ‘cause there’s so many other possible dimensions…smokiness, briskness, fruitiness. My goodness.
But anyway, if I were to do that, Della Terra’s would be much further to the creamy side than this one. This has more of the classic earl grey character—the taste of smooth black tea and floral notes. There is some vanilla, but it’s with a much lighter hand. It’s not as like-eating-ice-cream dessert-rich as Della Terra’s. And it’s not as harsh as Harney and Sons’. It smells fantastic both dry and in the cup. It’s very…smack dab in the middle of everything, relative to all of the others I’ve tried. No one element is way far out there with everything else receding. Balanced, I guess. The floral aroma is particularly vivid and lovely, I must say. There’s some tannin and astringency build-up as I finish the cup (but I think I might’ve used slightly too much tea leaf, granted). I could definitely drink this again with pleasure. It’s a good afternoon earl grey.
