Spiced Earl Grey Muffin

I tried this one as a latte today and so far that’s been my favorite way of drinking this. It’s generally tasty but something throws me off. There’s a flavor that I haven’t tasted with any kind of spiced or EG tea before. It’s kind of…peppery? Astringent? I’m not sure, but I also got the flavor a little bit with Lady Grey’s Garden, though not as strong. Between that throwing me off, and not getting as much bergamot/EG flavor as I would like, I have to say that I prefer Lady Grey’s Garden over this one. I’m interested in trying other Deb EGs and seeing if that flavor shows up in those as well!

I still have a little bit of this left and I think I will definitely finish it off as a latte next time!

I think this might be my favorite of the Deb Earls, although they all seem to contain lavender which makes them a bit samey…

This has the same citrusy bergamot and touch of lavender as the others, but there’s also a gentle warming spice from the cinnamon and cardamom. I don’t really get vanilla, which would’ve been a nice addition. The maple sweetness is mild but melds well with the spices. Same strange earthy base though.

I like it! I’m less sure whether it’s something I need in my cupboard when I have a wealth of other EG options…

Latte Sipdown (308)

I do not love lavender and I am picky with earl grey. With that said, why did I buy this and think it would be amazing? I blame the “spiced” or the “muffin”. I genuinely don’t know.

Anyways, its an earl grey and to me that says “latte” so that’s what I did. Unfortunately, all that work and a cute new glitter mug and I don’t like it. It’s the lavender. It’s not for me. I want to like it but somehow the spices and earl grey and lavender combination are coming together to be even more soapy than just lavender. I should have known better haha.

This was my first time trying earl grey! I have tried the Spiced Earl Grey Muffin with both milk and hot.

I think I liked this tea, but it is not one of my favourites from the Dessert by Deb collection. Although I think this might come down to a flavour preference as opposed to the tea itself being bad. Spiced Earl Grey Muffin is still a great tea, and I can see why people rated it so highly.

When you smell it, you definitely get a strong bergamot note. When I tasted this, it tasted like bergamot, lavender, with a hint of spice. I think the bergamot was the most prominent note, and it made it hard to taste the other spices in the blend. However, I think I got a hint of clove from this?

Overall, I enjoyed my first earl grey tea experience! I think I might not have enjoyed this one because I like SUPER spicy chai teas. But I felt like the spice in this element was very mild and just there to accent the other flavours.

I also hope Deb releases a spicy chai with a black tea base soon! :)

Sipdown. This cup was extremely lavendery, and the bergamot was so sharp. Still enjoyed it quite a bit, though.

This tea is… strange. There is something in the scent and taste that I can’t quite put my finger on. Ginseng? Is it older dried ginger? It is hard to pick out the bergamot as EG in this. The berg kind of melds with the ginseng flavor and is reminding me of those fermented orange peel candies I’d get at Asian grocery stores that had a tang that rang to the corners of my jaw. This is almost like I took some of those peels and steeped them with some tea. I’m trying really hard to think muffin, but it’s just a ghost of a taste that I’m not sure is real. Adding a little cream didn’t really change anything. I’m enjoying this cup, but this isn’t once I’d be likely to revisit.
Thanks VariaTEA for the chance to try it!

I am dying in anticipation waiting to try some of the teas I ordered from Deb’s new Asian Patisserie themed launch, but in the meantime I’m trying to keep myself occupied with some of my favourites from past collections – including this sweet and cozy spiced EG blend. I sipped this during a meeting earlier in the week, and it was so nice that I actually found it hard to focus on the content of the meeting because the tea was pulling my attention even more.