Earl Grey

(Part 2 of my Ritz-Carlton Story. For Part 1, see English Breakfast by Taylors of Harrogate)

I had a lot of time to kill, so I really took my time to savor that breakfast, dipping my asparagus in the hollandaise. The food was quite tasty, although the steak could have been a little more rare, but it was tender, none the less.

For dessert, I had a pot of this Earl Grey with stevia added. It is nothing remarkable, but at the moment it felt like a sweet after breakfast treat, and satisfied the desire for something sweet to contrast with the savory meal I had eaten.

Oh sweet morning, made all the sweeter by enjoying Mr. Grey! A beautifully caffeinated china black leaf tea with a nice heafty shot of bergamot. I could’ve had a malty assam, or a light ceylon. This morning I wanted some astrigency. I wanted to enjoy a delicious statement of flavor. I think some would be shocked at the amount of sugar I use with my half and half. Oh well, to each his/her own. I give this tea a full five minute steeping. I want the color to show a deeply abyssful dark copper.

Tonight I facilitate another spirit circle. I organize a group of folks in Los Angeles who enjoy working on their psychic mediumship abilities. We look forward to communicating with the deceased, and all of the other lovely heartfelt energies that come through. So I guess I could say I have four favorite loves: Music, Paranormal, Tea, and Cooking. Almost done with the Earl now. I highly recommend this tea if you are a fan of caffeine, serious amounts of Bergamot, and enjoy China black tea. This morning bold is better!

Early this morning I made some of this to put on ice in the refrigerator. It worked out well. The result is a nice clear iced tea. If I do this again, I will steep for one minute less or add a pinch less tea. I added two brown sugar ice cubes to the hot tea (it was in a 24 ounce pitcher so it won’t be too sweet). Trumpets did not blare; fireworks did not ignite, but this will make a perfectly serviceable iced tea for frequent summer consumption (for me the year has but two seasons: winter and summer).

This morning’s tea experience was a little bit of a comedy of errors. Except it really wasn’t all that funny. I had to make a larger-than-normal quantity of tea so I pulled out my big tea pot – and forgot it had no in-spout strainer about half way through the pouring. Oops. Between pouring the mugs out into the nearest receptacle, finding something to strain the tea with, straining said receptacle and remaining tea, dripping everywhere, using the wrong receptacle and, oh yeah, forgetting to start the timer in the first place, I have no idea how long this tea ended up steeping for. More than 3 minutes. Less than 10. But even with all that going on, this tea wasn’t ruined so I consider that a win.

As for the tea itself… meh. It’s apparently decently forgiving (I did use a little bit of sugar and half & half but less than a tsp for my 12oz) but my unenthusiastic response is really in relation to the flavor. It’s a ‘typical’ Earl Grey. And by that, I mean it is kind of floral and perfumy. I guess I have been a bit spoiled by my recent experiences with Andrews & Dunham’s EG which tastes so fresh and juicy. There was no fresh or juicy with this one.

That’s not to say this is horrible. But it’s nothing special. At least it is pretty forgiving, though.

Where to begin? I have read so many good things about this tea and could not wait to sample it… plus finding it locally was very convenient. On opening the box doubt began to set in. There was no aroma of bergamot whatsoever, which lead me to think they might’ve made a mistake at the packing plant and put straight black tea in my box! As it started to brew I realized it was indeed Earl Grey because a faint hint of bergamot could be detected wafting out of the cup.

Added my usual splash of milk with two sugars and prepared to be amazed. I was not. It was indeed an Earl Grey, but more lemony and not as strong as I thought it would be. The tea color was a bit redder than Twinings brand (which has a stronger and better flavor) and the underlying taste of the tea was smokier than I anticipated…which isn’t a bad thing.

All and all, not a poor Earl Grey but not a great one either.

N.B. This review is for the bagged version.

Cold brewed because American hotels and hostels suck for the most part at providing hot water for tea. And even when they do at times it tastes like coffee water cause they use the same carafe for coffee! Argh. Anyway, this is quite enjoyable cold. Light and fragrant just like its label says. Perfect black of black tea and bergamot flavor.

I have had this tea for a while but I wasn’t impressed at first. I think my tastebuds were baked by too much strong coffee and nicotine. Since I’ve given up those vices I am enjoying my tea much more. I am not in love with Taylor’s and Harrogate Earl Grey but I do like it very much. The tea base has always seemed a little light to me but the bergamot has a good amount of intensity. Over all the tea has a wonderful floral nose and a light citrus after taste. This tea also holds up well to a second steeping. The second steeping is lighter on the citrus of course but hints of vanilla and actual tea taste come through. Both the first and second steeping are good hot or cold but room temp might be the best of all.

Still my favourite Earl Grey, made even better by a splash of oat milk – and a digestive biscuit.

So, this is the last of the bagged Taylors of Harrogate teas I subsisted on in Lexington. Of the bunch, this was far and away my favorite. As a matter of fact, I plan on trying the loose leaf version just to compare the two.

I prepared this tea using the one step Western infusion process I tend to favor for non-Chinese black teas and many black tea blends. I steeped the tea bag in approximately 8 ounces of adequately hot water for 5 minutes. Again, I have no clue what the water temperature was, and I did not attempt additional infusions as I never reinfuse bagged teas.

After infusion, the dark mahogany tea liquor produced integrated aromas of bergamot, cream, honey, toast, caramel, and wood. In the mouth, I picked up on smoothly integrated notes of bergamot, wood, brown toast, honey, cream, malt, caramel, butterscotch, and cocoa. The finish was mild and slightly citrusy. The bergamot presence continued to shine, underscored by fleeting impressions of wood, caramel, cream, malt, and butterscotch.

I found this to be significantly better and more sophisticated than many of the bagged teas I have tried in the past. Unlike at least one previous reviewer, I did not note anything that seemed overtly artificial about this tea. For a bagged Earl Grey, it certainly was not bad. I could see myself reaching for this again in similar circumstances in the future. I am definitely planning on trying the loose leaf version soon.

FYI…This tasting note refers to the loose leaf version of this tea.

This is the third and last of the Taylors teas that I picked up last weekend. I hope it will be the best. So far, I haven’t been thrilled by their offerings. The first two I reviewed here weren’t very exciting. Oh well, I’m putting on my open-minded pants now.

Let’s cut right to the chase. This tea was packaged like the two Taylors teas I already tried: metal container, inner foil wrapper. The unbrewed tea leaves were short and dark brown. However, they didn’t have the through-the-grinder appearance of the others. This might be attributed to the fact that this is black China tea versus orange pekoe.

I’ve imbibed a lot of black Earl Grey teas lately so the smell of bergamot is acutely registered in my nostrils. The unbrewed leaves of this blend, though, had a bergamot-like aroma that my nose hadn’t encountered before. The smell was definitely bergamot but it had additional flowery attributes. At first, I wondered if there were chemical or other additives, but the container label clearly stated that, other than black China tea, the only other ingredient was NATURAL oil of bergamot.

As usual, I followed the company’s brewing instructions for the initial trial. I set the Breville tea maker on 212 degrees for five minutes. The brewed blend was dark amber in color. The aroma was faintly syrupy.

The taste of this tea was fruity and sweet. I don’t know if I could pick this flavor out of a lineup as bergamot, but I did like it. It was mellow, smooth, and slightly honeyed. What’s not to like?

There was no astringency (unlike the other two Taylors teas) and the entire cup (minus the vessel) went down very smoothly and easily. The aftertaste was affable with only a brief hang time.

My hopes were realized this morning. This is definitely my favorite of the three Taylors teas. I will drink all of the contents of the other two Taylors containers, but I will be smiling while I finish this one.