Earl Grey Chocolate Berry

I’ve had this floating around in my cupboard for a while, so I thought I’d finish it off.

It’s definitely the smelliest tea I have. Every time I make a cup, everyone around me perks up and leans in questioningly. I occasionally make it at Game for the same reaction. It stops roleplay for a solid five minutes as everyone squints in my direction.

For a bagged (but full-leaf) grocery tea, it’s not too shabby, and though I have no immediate plans to rebuy it, if it’s on sale or something I’ll probably end up picking it up again. Assuming I really have finished it off—I probably have a few more bags of this floating around in various backpacks.

You get berries, chocolate and bergamot in the smell, but only a faint bergamot and (stronger) chocolate in the taste. The chocolate’s a dry cocoa taste, and I’m mostly glad that the berries aren’t supplemented with hibiscus.

Earl Grey is hit or miss for me. I used to love it as a wee tea drinker, and at some point I simply stopped liking it (I’ve never heard anyone else call it a “gateway tea”, but…). The bergamot in this is very subtle, though, more flavouring the chocolate than the tea itself – analogous to dark chocolate with traces of candied orange peel. There’s a sweet raspberry note, and the chocolate is a pleasant “dry” cocoa in the style of Italian biscuits (rooibos, cocoa shells, carob). All in all it’s a very well-balanced blend.

This is from Four O’Clock’s organic line – it’s one of those little silky pyramid bags rather than a paper tea bag.