Rosie Earl Grey

I’ve been pretty much drinking the same few teas in rotation the past few days. I haven’t been to my apartment in a week and a half, I just know there are at least 3 boxes of tea there and it’s torture not being able to open them ;~; To make myself feel better, I just ordered some tea to come to my parents’ house, which of course is not the best solution but hey, I want new tea! I maaaay have a problem.

I’ve had this a few times before, but always the same way—hot, with milk & sugar. I’ve found that I really like floral teas cold, so I iced this one with a pinch of sugar and it’s fabulous! Light, sweet, the bergamot seems to come through more this way as it’s bright and citrusy with a floral undercurrent. Iced Earl Greys are quite nice, more so than I expected. Sadly this tea isn’t mine, it’s my mom’s, and I think she’d get annoyed if I burned through her whole stash while I am here!

I don’t want to jinx it, but Steepster is finally loading a bit faster for me today after two days of painful slowness. Crossing my fingers it keeps it up.

Yet another sample from the lovely SimplyJenW! I am excited to try this because two of my favorite flavors are bergamot and rose, and I love Teas Etc.‘s Rosy Earl Grey sooo much. I am currently out of that one, so I hope this one helps fill that gap (since I know it takes me forever to get through samples). In the bag I didn’t get a much rose aroma from the dry leaf and it smelled like a fairly standard Earl. Steeped, there’s definitely something going on here in the aroma but I can’t tell what. I don’t get a distinct rose smell, but maybe it’s hiding behind the bergamot? There is an almost floral note, I just don’t really identify it as rose.

At first while still hot this tea didn’t seem to offer a lot to me. The flavors were surprisingly weak, and mostly an decent but not great bergamot. As it cools, definitely more is coming out. I do get a burst of rose right at the beginning of the sip, which is joined and replaced by a bright, bright, fairly citrusy bergamot, though it lacks those sweetish lower notes you can get sometimes. The Keemun base is in there rounding things out and it tastes pretty good, but I don’t think it’s quite as nice as the Keemun base on the Lupicia Earl.

Overall I get kind of a general decent-but-not-great vibe from thsi tea. I didn’t actually get much rose flavor in my cup despite other tasting notes saying they did get a lot of rose, so I don’t know what’s going on there. It’s tasty enough but I vastly prefer Teas Etc.’s Rosy Earl Grey, which actually also includes jasmine as well. Glad I got to try this one though.

Tea of the afternoon….(SRP #24)

I added this one to my order because it is an Earl Grey with a Keemun base and one of my favorite Earl Greys is similar. I also love rose teas, so I figured it was worth a shot. I am definitely not disappointed! This is super yummy. The notes of rose and bergamot are a little on the strong side, but it really works with the slightly chocolatey and subtly smokey tea base. Such a perfect afternoon tea! It is a little heavier of a tea than the Rosy Earl Grey from Teas Etc. and I really like them both. If I had to pick one of the two…..well, I don’t, so I won’t go there! I may have to order more of this one and the Earl Grey Jasmine Monkey King…… Not sure how soon that will be, but it is looking like it might be May 31st-ish….. If I still like it by then, I will probably cave.

Usual mug method.

Edit to add…..after a few cups, I decided that I like my other Earl Grey rose blend better. There is not enough cupboard space for two versions!

Strong but not overly sweet floral scent. Taste is standard Earl Grey with a floral aftertaste that tones down the bergamot. Would be a good choice if you find the regular Earl Grey too strong but like the flavors.

I’ve been drinking almost entirely herbals this month (trying to reduce caffeine), but was really in the mood for a black tea today.