This tea is quite common in a few cafes so I have tried it a few times and quite liked it, ended up buying a bag.
The smell of the tea leaves in the bag is very off-putting, pungent bergamont and an overly floral aroma are battling it out, overall quite sickly.
However once the tea is made, and tamed with milk and sugar, the aroma is near non-existent and is quite pleasantly floral. The taste is that of a strong bergamont with some floral notes.
I can see why others would not like this tea, the taste is quite sharp and almost pungent even with milk and sugar, I have found this to be a good breakfast tea which I enjoy pairing with cheese scones.
Why would you bake w/ something you don’t like?
The flowers give it a rounder taste, which helps the flavour come through the batter far better than my preferred earl grey. In baked goods the taste ends up as just “earl grey” not “horrid perfume with a bit of bergamot”. Using a plain earl grey just gives a faint citrus taste. I’ve had much trial and error in the kitchen!
What kind of sweets do you like to bake with Earl Grey? I’m always looking for new baking ideas :)
Cupcakes and biscotti are my absolute FAVOURITES to make with earl grey! For the cupcakes I infuse the tea in the butter for both the batter and icing. And with the biscotti I infuse into the butter and add some ground up tea leaves to make it look pretty. Chocolate truffles (with the tea infused into the cream) is another yummy one to do. I find it hard to experiment with other teas in baking because the earl grey ones are so good!
These all sound fantastic!! I have to try one of these the next time I make some sweets for work – they are all tea fans :)