Earl Grey Cupcake

Adventaggedon Day Sixteen – 4/6

Truthfully a little unexcited to see this blend in the advent when I feel like 52Teas not only has more fun blends that deserve a reblend but also just stronger EGs in general – however I also totally get why this got the votes to come back. It’s very classic feeling with just enough of a fun twist, and it appeals to a large amount of people verse some of the more niche flavours.

I might be wrong, but I think the sprinkles are different this year?? They’re more like the multi coloured and deeper saturated “punched out circles” you would see in a confetti cake or something similar. They’re cute, but caught me off guard because I remembered this initially having more pastel-y white and blue coloured sprinkles.

Steeped this was fine to me. A solid and unoffensive Earl Grey with a sort of medium intensity bergamot and a hint of vanilla. What I do appreciate is that it’s more of an aromatic and authentic vanilla note and not just cream flavouring, which is the easy and expected take on a “Vanilla Earl Grey” (which is essentially what this is).

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CmPqzUnOfl0/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PtYbEAizT0

NEEDED to have this again. So good. Just feeling so poorly. I’m now on a medically reduced work schedule but still need to work 3 days a week, which feels like 1 too many but that’s what I got. This tea is getting me through the day. Like a hug in a cup.

This is divine. And in the perfect world, I would have another huge bag or two of this left, rather than the few crumbs that I have remaining.

Another example of tea and its hard hard lessons in non attachment.

Super fab version of an Earl Grey Cream with a soft vanilla orange slant. Well, my pouch of this will disappear quickly. It’s nice to have the creamy vanilla aspect after a few days of drinking a more heavily bergamot Earl.

It’s really difficult to not sound like a shill for 52teas. Anne’s creations rarely disappoint me.

Trick or Treat! So my Halloween Wheel o’ Tea has selected this for my treat bag today, and I’m pretty happy since Earl Grey is a nice breakfast staple. Mmm… Earl Grey cupcakes! The dry leaf has a lovely bergamot aroma, but I smell a lot of sweet vanilla too, and it does smell a little like cake frosting (particularly the cream cheese cake frosting which is my favorite). I’m also loving all those pretty golden tipped tea leaves I’m seeing in the blend… Yunnan and Vietnam blacks are pretty much my favorites, so I’m expecting the base on this to be downright delightful.

I had a tiny bit of vanilla almond milk left that I wanted to use up before the carton went bad, so I ended up making a large latte, and then emptying my overflow tea into a separate cup, so I had half a cup of plain tea leftover, so I got to try the tea plain and as a latte from the 16 oz. brew I whipped up. The aroma from the spent leaves and brewed cup had a surprisingly somewhat floral note to me; the bergamot wasn’t coming off as strongly in aroma as it was on the dry leaf, and the sweetness somehow just smelled like a fresh-cut bouquet to me. The flavor still had a perky bergamot taste, with that being the promanent note in the cup, with a sweet vanilla and subtle cream note coming out toward the finish. The base tea was indeed quite smooth; I didn’t notice any astringency from this cuppa.

The latte invoked a much stronger “cupcake” element; I had a very small amount of vanilla almond milk in the cup, but it was just enough to bring out more sweetness and creaminess, emphasize the vanilla, and temper the bergamot a bit, and the result did come out feeling creamy and cakey. The smoothness of the base make this an Earl Grey I’d have no problems drinking plain, but I just found the profile a little nicer taken London Fog style.

Latte Sipdown (257)

I was actually planning to make a honeybush tea as a latte but didn’t have enough leaf for it. So, I explored in my focus area and this caught my eye. It is one of the blends from last year’s advent calendar. It is also one of the Earl Greys that makes me think I like Earl Greys because I really like this.

I made it as a latte because that’s what I was feeling. I intended to use a mix of milk and eggnog but there was just enough milk in the bag for a latte and if I left some behind to have eggnog as well, it would have been a dumb amount left behind in the milk. I do miss the eggnog a little since the fat in it certainly gives the lattes more body. As a result, this seems thinner than my recent lattes but not thin in flavour, which is important.

It’s also important that I share I downed this in like 3 gulps because it is that good. Creamy. Cakey. The nicest earl grey flavor which is present but not overpowering or brisk. I just like it so much. Hoping I see it again soon…

I snagged a sample of this when I saw that Anne had brought back the old LiberTEAS Breakfast In Bed blend. Couldn’t just let that go by! But this tea was calling my name, too. Couldn’t resist the combination of two of my favorite things — earl grey and cake. Somehow, after years of orders from 52Teas, this is my first earl grey of theirs ever.

I’m charmed by the cute blue and white star sprinkles mixed in. Same colors as the blue cornflowers that have come to signify an earl grey. However, at first, I wasn’t sold on the bergamot they used. It smelled kind of like sunscreen to me, so I was wary.

But the flavor was much different than expected! It reminds me so much of a creamcicle! The bergamot is so smooth and citrusy. It tastes like a vanilla cupcake with orange marmalade icing. Also, the black tea base they used is hearty and solid. I can actually taste it over the added flavors. I always appreciate that 52Teas doesn’t use lame, low grade Ceylons to make their flavored teas. They use nice black teas and let them lend their notes to the flavor.

Anyway, this is lovely and I’ll be having it again at breakfast.

A nice bergamot black tea with a slight sweetness, some acidity, and a bit of vanilla/cake. I need to make it again as a latte or with a touch of sweetener to see if I can coax out the cupcake flavour. It make an excellent cup and I will be picking this over other EG in the future. This is a great EG blend, and it recommend it to all who enjoy bergamot.

Anne finally put this one in the system so now i can write about it. Everyone likely knows how much i am NOT a fan of the blerg. So 99.99999% of all earl grey type teas are on my list of “don’t go anywhere near…use a 1000 foot pole to serve to others.” I can barely tolerate the smell a lot of the time when other folks in the office drink it.

BUT! I am also always up for trying it at least once because you never know. I’ve actually found a few earl grey type teas that i’ve been ok with in the past. This one i had hopes for because of the vanilla cupcake factor. Turns out, while i am a fan of early grey + vanilla cupcake, it’s not enough for me to actually enjoy drinking this one. The front end of the sips were fantastic, delicious and everything i might want….and then BLERGAMOT! showed up and ruined the party lol

Not rating this one because blergamot and i are not on good terms, but i think that if i did enjoy earl grey’s, this one would be a nice little cup of something slightly different.