Devonshire Earl Grey TE19

Oooh, great aroma. The dry leaves smell very sweet – like candied citrus. Once brewed, the smell citrus comes through stronger but it’s still very sweet smelling.

And wow at the taste. Very citrusy. But not harsh. Again, I’m going to go with candied citrus, possibly because it is and possibly because I’ve been up for only 15 minutes and my brain is merely limping along so I can’t think of anything else. I can’t really say, “Oh, this is the bergamot, this is the lemon”, it’s just all citrusy-fresh and sweet in a way that makes me think of my favorite heirloom navel oranges – they are very sweet with just a slight tang of citrusy sharpness, and so is this tea. The citrus isn’t refreshingly tangy or anything. It’s just sweet. (That’s okay, I like sweet.)

There is a hint of astringency on the end of some sips. Also, the flavoring starts to feel a little strong/perfume-y as it floats up the back of my throat into my sinuses, but it’s a wet, sweet perfume-y instead of a dry, floral perfume-y so I’m okay with it. I do feel the flavoring almost needs a little taming, but I think sugar would make it too sweet and milk might kill the flavors too much.

The aftertaste is a little tart as it builds in my mouth and there isn’t a whole lot of the tea base flavor coming through. But it’s not a rough nor harsh tea so I suppose I will forgive it these little quirks.

The ratings are somewhat low on this one but I didn’t find anything wrong with it.

It’s not overly powerful. It’s not overly EG. The lemon is nice, tho. Maybe it’s because it’s not too intense or because it’s an EG with additional flavor(s) in it…not sure.

But it’s really not bad!

Getting into the home stretch of this sample packet. I still find it too perfumy. Definitely prefer the Earl Grey Special.

Backlog:

thank you TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this tea. You know how I adore Earl Grey!

This a very citrus-y Earl Grey, beautifully aromatic, it seems to have a stronger note of lemon than of bergamot.

Overall, this is not my favorite Earl Grey, I feel that the Ceylon base was somewhat overpowered by the strong citrus tones, and while it was a good citrus-y tea … I found myself wanting more distinct bergamot (and not just generic citrus) notes.

Good, but not great.

Smooth. Fabulous. Delicious. Comforting.

Really good for no doctoring, definitely no additives needed. I enjoy it – it might be close to perfect. Doesn’t zing with bergamot as much as I would expect, but very good. I will give this tea an 80 rating with room for growth.

I just got some more in a tea swap. Oooh it is sooooooooooo good.

The tea of my Star Trek re-watch. There is a nice citrus scent. Mostly bergamot, with some lemon notes. It has a sweet citrus flavour. A good tea for winter mornings.

So much bergamot in this tea…The scent is almost overpowering and makes me sneeze! It isn’t as bad once it’s brewed, but it is just too much for my tastes.