Earl Grey

I would just like to point out that I’m not actually around at this point. Well, I’ll probably pop in for a bit here and there, but not properly. I likely won’t be again until in a couple of weeks time when we have returned from our honeymoon.

Only two sleeps now! Best man and his girlfriend have arrived safely from the UK and we have fed them dinner this evening. We had also bought them dessert, but as it had to thaw out and we forgot, they didn’t get any. So we’ve shown them where we live and how to get here so they can get here bright and early on Saturday morning. He will be going with the boyfriend into town while I’m at the hairdressers (we think) and she will be helping me into my dress and then going into town with me.

They brought us two pouches of Whittard of Chelsea as a present, this one and a first flush Darjeeling (which annoyingly doesn’t state the estate on it, so I just put it under a generic Darjeeling already in the system). sigh Well, they weren’t to know that both of these are pretty much non-hits with me. Particularly the Darj, which I’ll try, but it will probably be one mostly for the boyfriend.

Anyway, they just went back to their hotel about twenty-ish minutes ago, so I put the kettle on so we could try one of these new ones before going to bed. The EG was requested, so that’s where we’ll start.

As I was spooning out the leaf I noticed a fair bit of aroma. At that distance from my nose, it was suprisingly sweet and it reminded me rather of that Girlie Grey I had from Jeeves and Jericho some time ago. TeaEqualsBliss, you might remember that one, I believe I shared some of it with you.

This of course made me curious, so I put my nose closer to the bag to get a better idea of it, but then it was just all sharpness and sort of dusty turqoise bergamot. From a distance though, it smells a bit like a citrus-y pudding.

This makes me hopeful.

After steeping, it’s more or less the same thing, although the bergamot is softer and retains that dessert-y touch to it, even when my nose is closer to the cup.

This makes me even more hopeful.

I did oversteep it a bit, but only by a few minutes, so no real harm was done, and it doesn’t seem to be showing up in the flavour. It tastes very creamy and smooth. If I didn’t know better I would think it had a smidge of cream-y flavouring added or perhaps a touch of vanilla. It says nothing of the sort on the box, though.

I actually like the EG! I think it’s because it’s not just like being pelted with bergamots. It’s not so sharp and dusty like they can sometimes get. It has that extra dimension of creamyness which makes it slightly pudding-y. Not very, just ever so slightly.

I’m suspectly, actually, that this may have more to do with the base blend (unfortunately not elaborated on) rather than the flavouring process, because it is indeed very very flavoured. For once it’s just not completely offensive. I feel certain we’ll get through this tin with little trouble.

I found this in the clearance section of my grocery store and just couldn’t leave it there, even though my tea cabinet is delightfully stocked. I’m always curious about an Earl Grey I’ve never tried, and this one was 50% off!

This is my first tea from Whittard of Chelsea, and from the taste of it, it is a good first impression. The black tea base tastes more like Chinese black tea, though it’s a blend of Indian tea as well. It’s robust but not too bitter, and a tad astringent. A good morning tea.

The bergamot is nicely balanced. Not blaringly lemony, and not too strong to be the only flavor noticeable. It’s actually pretty smooth, and despite the strength of the tea, it’s soothing in a way. I should mention that I made this iced, but I’ve also had it hot and the experience was also very pleasant. Though I prefer the Greys I’ve had from Harney & Son’s, this will probably be my go-to if I just can’t wait for shipping!

Greetings fellow Steepsterites! Yes, I have been woefully MIA for the past while, due to a couple of main reasons. One, I have a new obsession with knitting (anyone here on Ravelry?) and two, my tea pantry is rather full. These two factors have combined in such a way that it means that I am adding very little new tea to my pantry (currently I am in sip down mode – I’m down to 75 teas!) and spending most of my money on yarn (though I did finally cave and get A&D’s Double Knit, Tiger Assam and Mount Gray. More on those in future.) Just in case my love of tea and half a dozen cats didn’t cement my status as a nerd, I think adding knitting to the mix does.

Anyway, even when focused on drinking through some teas, I still can’t say no to trying new things. Which is how I ended up with this little tea (and a couple others). So yes, keep in mind during this review that this is a tea provided by Whittard, not purchased with my yarn money.

As some of you may remember, I am on the hunt for the perfect Earl Grey. WWJLPD. (What Would Jean Luc Picard Drink…. what was I saying about my nerd status?) So far, I have come close but haven’t hit THE tea. Will this be it? No clue!

It does start off strong. The smell of the dry leaf is really neat. It’s so easy for EGs to go perfumey but this one doesn’t. Instead it smells spicy and earthy and really nice. I sniffed the bag the entire time my tea was brewing. I suppose the earthy could be the tea, but given the strong scent of the bergamot, I kind of think the tea isn’t going to play much of a role here.

Post-steeping the liquor is really dark. Seriously, when I made the husband’s tea, it looked like coffee before I added the creamer. Not a good or bad thing, but an interesting one, I think. Smell-wise, it’s a bit sweeter and lighter than the dry leaf which edges it a bit into perfume territory, but not in a bad way. In a ‘yum, I’d wear that everyday’ way instead of that ‘OMG, what is that old lady wearing? You can smell her half a mile off’ kind of way (the latter of which tends to be the perfumey way most EGs smell).

I feel I must interject for a moment before I continue. While I am on the hunt for the proper EG (WWJLPD), I tend to be massively disappointed with EGs more often than not. I’ll admit, I was expecting this one to go the same way. Especially since my first sampling of this was with no sugar or milk (though a rather short steep time). So it is with rather a lot of surprise that I must report:

Crap people, this is good. The initial note is bergamot. Like, bergamot. As in the fruit. Maybe a bit of bergamot peel, even. It’s obvious and noticeable yet not overwhelming. The tea is definitely the backup singer to the bergamot. It’s a bit indistinct and bit muddy but it’s solid and full-bodied and feels silky. I definitely like how it feels. (I’ve been subjected to a lot of Twinings English Breakfast in the past week which must be drunk with milk to make it tolerable but even then, it has a bit of a starchy, cardboard-ish mouthfeel. This is positively decadent compared to that so I very much appreciate it.) There’s a touch of bitterness at the end of the sip, but it’s not from the tea. It’s kind of a peel/pith tingly note from the bergamot. Tea-wise, the end is very clean with no astringency or bitterness. As the tea cools a bit, I get a slight touch of tacky feeling in my mouth after a sip which tells me that, with some encouragement, this tea could go astringent, but I’m okay with that because I think that quality helps make a tea good with milk and sugar (a necessity in the perfect EG since the husband takes his morning tea doctored).

While I’m not ready to marry an EG based on one tasting, I’ll admit, this one has me rather excited. I could totally see this as answering the question of WWJLPD.

Sigh, it looks like my Steepster absence has not changed my inability to write a short review! I have two more Whittard teas (both EGs!) to review and a few A&D teas so I shall try to be a better tea reviewer in the future. If I can tear myself away from my knitting. (I’m currently making socks.)

Someone brought us a caddy of this to work, having been to London and knowing that me and my cubicle colleague love tea, he thought that this would be a nice gift. It is, although I wish he’d asked before buying – there are better and more interesting teas to be had in London than this one. Even Whittard has better blends. BTW, this is the second Earl Grey tea caddy that people have brought us as gifts (the first one being a tiny Ahmad Tea earl grey shaped like a red telephone booth).
First thing’s first- this tea came in a dark blue caddy that is both beautiful and practical.
Once you open the caddy you are assaulted by an overpowering scent of BERGAMOT. If there’s a kind of demon that finds bergamot as offensive as vampires supposedly find garlic, then he would run for his life once the caddy was opened. This is an in your face, “I’m an Earl Grey TEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAH!” kind of tea. I was a little bit scared of brewing it, but the guys really wanted a taste, so I reluctantly brewed a cup.
This tea has a definite Ceylon base, and if there was a Chinese tea in the mix, it didn’t come through. It’s a strong, hearty tea, with a strong but thankfully not overpowering bergamot flavour. It still ranks last among the Earl Greys that I’ve tried, but at least it’s drinkable. If you like strong flavours, this is for you. I’d rather have Twinnings Earl Grey for about half the price than this tea.

I don’t often have Earl Grey but it’s very tasty and this has almost run out. I have it black, but my housemate put some milk in it

After having been through a variety of other companies’ teas, Whittard of Chelsea’s remains still one of the more well-rounded, delicate ones. Somehow I’d thought due to kickstarting my tea obsession with Twinings that I could only tolerate Earl Grey very, very strong— but even brewed strongly this tea tastes delicate, even flowery, and takes milk pretty well! Lightly with a little lemon is delightful, too, but there’s more to this tea than just its ‘light’ taste. It’s a distinctive bergamot flavour that accompanies the black base rather than becoming overpowering alongside it.

Well-balanced,classic and pleasant, a nice choice for any time of the day

Dull.

My favorite of the ‘Earl Greys’…love the citrus note.
The base that is used for this blend does not seem as rough as most of the other Earls that are out there.

No milk, no sugar…the real deal.

Third day of the Whittard tea advent. I know for sure that I’ve drank this literally loads of times before, and yet there’s no record on here of it ever having happened. Hmm…

It’s a pretty decent Earl Grey, and I’ve really developed a soft spot for it over the years. I’m one of those perverse people that will sometimes put milk in an EG (but only sometimes, I promise…) I didn’t today, but I know from experience that it holds up reasonably well.

This one has just a touch too much bergamot for me to be absolutely over the moon with it, but it’s nowhere near as blergh as some. It was nice to revisit this one today. It’s definitely been a while.