Grand Earl Grey

After drinking my cup of Raspberry Lychee tea at Pickwick, I chose a pot of this Grand Earl Grey to have with our meal. They had a delicious array of sandwiches, and the girls and I decided to split three sandwiches three ways. My favorite was a Turkey and Provolone on Marbled Rye with Raspberry Honey Mustard. Wow was it a great sandwich.

The grand earl grey was a nice pot to sip on while enjoying our meal. It had quite a smoky aftertaste, which was not something I expected. I haven’t had a smoky earl before.

We ordered chocolate cherry scones for dessert, served with raspberry jam and clotted cream. OMG….this was the perfect tea with such a sweet dessert. I love how Earl seems to go with just about everything. I may have to pick up some of this, it is so different from other teas I have in my cupboard!

Another fantastic sample from Octavia Tea! Thanks again! I’m very picky about my Earls but this one passes the test. The base tea is robust and strong. But the bergamot is also strong, doesn’t waver in the face of this strong base! I like the strong citrusy aromatic bergamot here. My favorite Earls need to have the distinct base tea battling a tough bergamot and this Earl definitely does that. My absolute favorite Earls need to have a cream flavor, but I will admit this isn’t supposed to be creamy anyway. The photo of the tea looks like a Yunnan with occasional golden leaves, but my sample had no gold at all and was a pure black tea. The description does mention the base tea being Yunnan. I’m not sure if my sample still is… if I had to guess I’d say it was Assam. I’d probably like bergamot better with Assam rather than Yunnan anyway. Both steeps were delicious and full of flavor. Not my favorite Earl ever, but that is an impossible bar to reach anyway.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 19 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep

This sample was in my package from Roswell Strange. I was curious as to what the “Grand” part of the title was referring to, as the ingredients list only black tea and bergamot oil. Turns out, they think their Yunnan base tea is “exceptional”. Hmm, not sure I would agree there, the leaves are small and dark. So basically it’s a plain Earl Grey, got it. The bergamot smells pretty strong in the dry leaf, which isn’t a good sign for me as I like my Earl Grey teas milder.

The steeped tea smells like bergamot, but it’s not terribly strong. Ugh, yeah this one is not for me. For some reason it came out a little bit bitter, even though I only steeped for 3 minutes. And the bergamot is very perfumey and floral, and it’s quite strong. I find that I generally don’t enjoy plain Earl Grey teas, it needs something like vanilla, cream, or other citrus/fruit flavors. So I won’t rate this since it’s not my jam. :)

Sipdown (128)!

- Timolino with milk
- Bonus sample in my Octavia Tea order
- Very strong bergamot flavouring; ALMOST a bit too strong for my tastes
- Also got a lot of lavender in the dry smell of it
- But not quite so much in the taste (still present though)
- Milk made for a thick mouthfeel and extra richness
- Hardly masked the bergamot at all though
- good overall, maybe better for bergamot lovers but not exceptional

So, I had this one on Christmas and, like they did last year, my Aunt and Uncle (the ONLY family I have in the city) had me over for Christmas supper again this year. I’m honestly getting the impression that my family thinks I’m depressed or something. Every Christmas card I’ve got from them this year has said something along the lines of “We know it’s lonely up there but stay positive” or “Remember to be happy”. What makes them think I’m not?

Seriously; I’m FAR from depressed right now. Tired and overworked, yes – but not even close to depressed. I have a very full life right now between both jobs, and have made an awesome best friend (Bobbi) and still hang out with my best friend from before I moved (Robyn), a pretty good roommate (despite what I sometimes write), and am now working with some awesome coworkers who really brighten my day too. Plus you Steepster people. So seriously, just because I’m “not in school” and work at a grocery store and don’t see you constantly does not mean I’m “not ok”.

Ugh.

Don’t interpret that to mean I’m not grateful to be asked to go to my Aunt’s for Christmas though. Just because we aren’t close doesn’t mean I don’t like her or recognize the hospitality there and free food is always welcome.

This was the first earl grey I’ve ever tried so I’m not exactly sure how earl grey is supposed to taste but this was very enjoyable. As with every Octavia tea I’ve had it never went bitter even when oversteeped. I tried another earl grey from adagio later on but I didn’t enjoy it as much since it seemed perfume-y and went bitter very easily. Maybe Octavia set my standards too high.

Try as I may, I never seem to be able to taste that citrus-y flavor I was promised. Also, to me at least, the bergamot makes this tea smell like soap or cleaning product. That being said, the tea itself tastes okay and it doesn’t smell as soapy as it cools. I probably won’t buy this again, though. No offense to people who like Earl Grey.