Decaf Earl Grey

What a day. Today was my first day in Vancouver, and I started it off with breakfast by the quay with a cup of this. They really didn’t have much else to choose from, and when I picked it from the basket, I didn’t notice that it was decaf.

What can I say, it was underwhelming and ultra bland. The bergamot in this was a sad attempt. Not even distinctly bergamot, but rather a dull, vague citrus. I had to resort to adding milk and sugar to make this more interesting, and even then, it tasted watery. I let it steep for around four minutes too.

But that’s ok. To all the Canadians out there, I ran into Rex Murphy today so that was cool. I felt bad talking to him but at least I made him laugh. Unlike this tea, the experience definitely wasn’t decaffeinated or banal.

1 bag for 250mL water, bare.

It’s a bagged tea. And a decaf bagged tea. So it has limits. I have found this one at once harsh and dull, and a bit thin in body.

But, the other night, quite by accident, I made it with water just off the boil, at much the same temp I’d make green tea with. I didn’t get to the kettle in time, and then got distracted, hence the cooler water. Guess what? It greatly improved this tea. Steeped in slightly cooler water, it comes out sweet rather than bitter, gentler, and almost creamy, with a touch of Keemunish smoke in the aftertaste. The bergamot balances quite nicely without smelling like either perfume or furniture polish. I really enjoyed it.

ehh, not so good. I had regular stash earl grey yesterday but ran out. The decaf version really can’t compare. The difference in flavor is obvious and I think I’ll only resort to this when I absolutely have to.

Now that I’ve drunk enough earl greys to have something to compare this tea to, I realize just how weak and watery it really is. I heard somewhere that the de-caffination process can leach the flavour from the tea aswell as the antioxidants. Does anyone know if this is true?

Anyway, so in summary this is a pretty pathetic specimen of an earl grey tea. Boo, hiss.

I wish I could find a strong DECAF earl grey (any suggestions anyone? I seem to even have a hard time at loose tea stores here) so in the meantime I drink this version. Its not bad, not my favourite. Occasionally has a bit of a soapy quality.

I added a little bit of silk soy milk today and it doesn’t seem to bad. At least it was enough to get me out of bed.

I’m such a black-tea addict that I like to have a good cuppa before bed, but for obvious reasons the caffeinated versions are no good.

For years I just gave up on finding a good, strong and tasty decaf and simply didn’t have any tea late at night.

Then I found the Stash decaf Earl Grey. Obviously you’re going to loose flavour with 1. Decaffeinated tea and 2. Bagged tea. So you really have to keep that in mind when drinking a tea like this. You can’t expect diamonds from quartz, you know?

With that in mind, brew this with a full rolling boil and let it steep for a good 4 minutes and you’re good. I like mine with a splash of skim milk and about 1/4 teaspoon of white sugar for a good comfort drink. Perfect after a long hard day when I still need to sleep at night!

Still can’t get enough of The Earl. Stash doesn’t quite compare to Twinings though. It’s harsher, not nearly as smooth. Just drinking it to drink it at this point.

Part of my Stash Assortment. I tasted back to back with regular Stash Earl Grey for comparison. A bit lighter but a nice substitute for a second cup for me since I am sensitive to too much caffeine.

This simply doesn’t taste like most Earl Grey tea. Best I can figure is that the tea is too weak for the bergamot.

So I was always under the impression that I didn’t really like earl grey tea, but while I still don’t think it will ever be my favorite, I am starting to enjoy it with milk and sugar (one of the few teas I will only drink that way). I had this today with french vanilla creamer and milk, and it was SO good. Granted, french vanilla creamer can make almost anything taste heavenly, but I really liked the combination with the bergamot. I’ve tried a couple of mediocre cream earl grey’s but I don’t think I’ve tried a vanilla earl grey. I’ll have to look for one. A vanilla-cream version would be even better. Any recommendations?