Earl Grey de la Creme

My mom got a pouch of this in a mixed basket of various home business products and forwarded it to me. I sniffed it, thought it smelt tasty enough, but was pretty disappointed. I’m surprised by comments that say this was heavy with vanilla because I’m barely getting any, it just turned out like a general Earl Grey, perhaps a bit bitter, but I’m a chronic oversteeper so I won’t fault the tea for my tendency to get distracted and forget about it. Not bad, not great, but drinkable. I’ll finish the baggy but it won’t be replacing my staple cream Earl Grey.

I forgot all about this during yesterday’s epic Earl Grey face-off. :) I just have a small bag of it, got it from one of those community fundraising things a couple years back. Anyway, I was in the mood for a tea I could add milk to, and this was near the front of my cupboard (how did I miss it yesterday) so here we are.

It smells really good, like there’s a definite creamy vanilla scent that blends in well with the bergamot. When I first tasted it, I was suprised to find it quite bitter! Like, enough so that I couldn’t really pay attention to the other flavours at all. It tasted like I had oversteeped it, though the package says steep for 3-7min and I went with 4min, so I didn’t think that was particularly excessive. Anyway, I guess it’s a good thing that I was planning to add milk to this anyway! I added more than my usual splash of milk, and that made it entirely drinkable. It still smells a lot better than it tastes, though.

I love Earl Greys, so I was all YAY when I received this as a sample. It’s pretty good, but perhaps a bit too vanilla-tasting for my liking. I like to be able to taste my bergamot, and I’m not really getting any of that here. That said, it’s still quite drinkable as a Monday morning beverage.

Earl Grey de la Créme from Steeped tea is very heavy on the vanilla, giving it a pleasantly sweet flavor (perfect for those of you like me who have a sweet tooth!) There is only a hint of citrusy bergamot that shines through. If I had one complaint about this blend it would be that it really needs a stronger base to balance everything out and tone down the sweetness. Without more of a contrast from the bergamot and base I think this blend is actually too sweet.

You can read the rest of the review on my blog:
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2014/9/30/tuesday-tea-dark-chocolate-chai-and-earl-grey-de-la-creme-st.html