Earl Grey Provence

Sipdown, 147. Time for round two of MF Earl Greys that I don’t expect to like all that much. But I’m still glad to try them, so thanks wheezybee!

I love most florals, and for a while I thought I loved lavender Earl Greys, but then lavender turned against me and I haven’t been a fan of it in teas. But you know what? This is pretty decent. I am enjoying this tea. The lavender is light and not too soapy or herby, and the base is smooth. Kind of boring, but smooth. I wouldn’t necessary go for it again, but I will happily drink the rest of this cup.

This was the last of the three samples provided by Mariage Frères for my blog project, and it has been so much fun to try these out!

My favorite part of this tea was definitely its aroma: a wonderful combination of fresh-smelling lavender and citrus. It translated into the cup beautifully, with those two notes continuing to dominate. It was a little more difficult for me to pick out the flavor of the black tea base, but while that kept it from tasting like a true Earl Grey it did make for a tasty flavored black… especially when I added a dash of milk!

You can read my full review here:
http://wordsabouttea.blogspot.com/2013/07/earl-grey-provence-by-mariage-freres.html

The tea looks really nice in the bag, with all the little lavender petals sprinkled – not as blue as I would have liked though.
It smells extremely strong, as just opening the bag wafts tea and lavender smell all around the room.
The color of the brew is a bright orangey.
And the taste, just what I expected: very strong on lavender, though the underlying tanginess of citrus can never be forgotten. The lavender tastes really natural, which makes me feel like walking a garden bordered by blooming lavender bushes – a very pleasant and relaxing feeling.
The tea base is a tad stronger than usual for MF black blends, which is good considering the intensity of the flavoring. I managed to resteep it twice (the third cup was quite light and remained fragrant but felt much more like herbal than black tea). I am sure I could have brewed a whole very fragrant tea pot with the content of one tea-bag.
I’ll have to compare it directly with Gryphon Earl Grey Lavender that I haven’t had in the past weeks to see what are the differences, which one I like best. However I’ll also definitely take into account the fact that even though this tea is an expensive one by MF standards (9.50 Eur per 100g), it sells for less than 40% of the Gryphon price for the same quantity (not available loose, only bagged).

Let us be honest, I am usually more of a green tea man, but this earl grey is just the best remedy against the grey of winter! The lavender flavour complement bergamot beautifully.
Very energetic and I simply felt drawn back to South of France: a pleasing moment indeed!