Review #33 - Harney & Sons Viennese Earl Grey (loose)

It has been a while since my last post so 2 quick updates are in order. The first being things got a bit crazy around here and I needed to take care of things. Thankfully everyone is back to being happy so I can get back to reviewing Earl Grey tea. The second little update is this, today's review will see me review my last sample from Harney & Sons. If you are a big fan of their teas, and I know you are out there, you should now be able to see reviews on all of their "pure" Earl Grey teas. Unless of course they added one since I purchased my current samples... then it's all just a moot point. So lets get right to it.

Aroma

The packaging for this sample came in the same "bag" as all the others. I won't bore you with the details but suggest you read my past H & S reviews if you are curious. When I opened up the bag I was met with a wonderfully full yet balanced tea. I could pick up both the tea and the bergamot which is always a great sign of things to come. While enjoying the aroma I thought there was something different about it. So I decided to check their site early into this review and found this:

his blend is perhaps the most famous tea in the world, it was inspired by the British Prime Minister, Earl Grey. There are as many different versions of this as there are tea companies. Viennese Earl Grey inspired by our friend's tea shop in Vienna. It has a Darjeeling tea base, so it is lighter than others.

As someone who very much enjoys a good afternoon Darjeeling I was very surprised and happy to see this blend contain it. Having reviewed some Darjeeling Earl Grey's before I wondered where this variety would go. So far, it was headed in the balanced direction.

 Steeping Method

Directly from the H & S site:

Brewing Time	4 to 5 minutes
Brewing Temperature	212° F

 Which means I also tried 3 minutes just to see how it would turn out.

The Results

I started with the 3 minutes just as a point of reference knowing it was not part of the suggested range. As expected it was on the lite side but still quite balanced. The color was also a bit lighter then I'm use to seeing but H & S cannot be held responsible for this test. Like I said, I tried this steeping time just because.

This tea really woke up at the 4 minute mark and provided much to enjoy. The color was much darker and the flavors became more pronounced. Again all the tea and the bergamot were balanced allowing me to enjoy both aspects of this blend. For me this is critical to a good Earl Grey. I then allowed the tea to cool a bit and only gained a bit of extra flavor. Then it was off to try the 5 minute steeping time.

At 5 minutes I was expecting a more intense flavor but will admit, there really wasn't much difference compared to the 4 minute steep time. Yes there was more flavor but it was clearly not linear in its increase. As to the color, again very little difference. I actually had to employ my wife to help pick out and difference in shade which she informed me, "Not much". To be honest I would just stick with the 4 minutes because as we'll see in the Re-Steep section, it matters what your choice in steeping time is.

Re-Steeping

"So you wanna re-steep? Well it's gonna cost ya."

So here is the deal, if you want to re-steep, go with the 4 minute steep time and then go 4 minutes again. The second steep will be even lighter but, it will be a good lite. If you go 5 minutes on the first steep there won't be much left for the second steep. So if you want a slightly bolder flavor, go 5 and forget the re-steep. If you want the re-steep, go 4 twice. Got it? Good.

Final thoughts

To put it in simple terms, out of all the Harney & Sons Earl Grey I tried, this is by far my favorite. It may not be the most intense flavor of the lot, but it has the best balance and scope of flavor. The Darjeeling really adds a nice touch to this variety without taking over. Conversely, the bergamot is used just enough to allow the subtle differences in the Darjeeling to be enjoyed. Like I said before, this tea is nicely balanced. Is it perfect? No, personally I like a bit more flavor but for a Darjeeling based Earl Grey this is my new current favorite. With that said I strongly suggest you give this variety of Earl Grey tea a try.

Review #32 - Monkey Char Earl Grey Royal Blue (loose)

Ah the internet and all it's cool tea people. So I'm talking about teas and Earl Grey's and such on Twitter, when the good folks at Monkey Char jump into the open discussion with an offer of tea. Needless to say I jumped at the chance to try/sample/review another Earl Grey. A few more messages were exchanged and before I knew it there was tea, coming from the UK, addressed to me. Like I said, the internet and it's tea people are pretty darn cool.

Aroma

Here is what arrived at my house. A padded jiffy bag with all the mailing information showing how the Royal Mail was used. Contained within was a card with Daniel Craig drinking tea on it and a nice note inside with all their contact info. There was two plastic bags each holding 10g of tea. Except for the official Monkey Char sticker, everything was hand written. The ingredients listed on the sticker:

Keemun, Ceylon, Darjeeling, Assam, Bergamot Oil, Blue Cornflower Petals. 

The plastic bags were used to allow me a sample, so no testing was done. Needless to say any company that is willing to put together a special order just for me automatically gets a pass.

I did perform an aroma test on the actual tea after opening one of the plastic baggies and got a very lite response but one that really had a nice black tea smell. Very little bergamot but nice with black tea.


Steeping Method

Referring back to the plastic baggies, this is what was written on them:

Boiling water (100deg c) Brew for 3-5 mins or according to taste.

...And that is exactly what I tried, 3, 4, and 5 minute brewing times.

The Results

At three minutes the Earl Grey was very lite and the cornflower seem to overwhelm it. The tea came through nicely but this was still a lite brew. The color was on the lighter side but that's to be expected at this steeping time. At the four minute mark the cornflower came to the fore front but now it had the bergamot to mix with it. I'm normally a 4 minute Earl Grey guy and this tea seemed to favor that, at least for my tastes. I then let the cup cool a bit and it did allow more of the bergamot to present itself but the cornflower was still there, adding it's unique flavor.

I then moved onto the 5 minute mark and found the cornflower started to fade but I also think I may have burnt the tea a bit. It was a touch bitter so I tried again and this time stopped short of the 5 minute mark and that seemed to eliminate the bitterness. The color was obviously the darkest out of the three and when allowed to cool in the cup the tea really came through.

Re-Steeping

Once again Earl Grey with cornflower petals was for me, more enjoyable once the flower influence was removed. After a bit of testing and trying, I found that 4 minutes on the first steep followed by the exact same 4 minutes on the second steep gave me what I was looking for. Try some different combos to see where your tastes land you.

Final thoughts

To be perfectly honest I feel really bad because I feel like I have let Monkey Char down. But at the same time, I need to clear the air and be completely honest and upfront. This is the third Earl Grey with cornflower I have reviewed and I think it's safe to say, I'm not a fan of cornflower in my Earl Grey. Meaning Lady Grey is not for me. In all three cases I like the re-steep better then the first because the cornflower taste has "burned off" leaving only the black tea and bergamot. Since I'm not a fan of Lady Grey it will be better for all parties involved that I no longer review this version. I understand people are trying to create new and better formula's but I think I'm just going to stick with the original when it comes to my reviews.

To end a big Thank You to Monkey Char and the huge effort they put into getting me the tea to try. If you are a fan of Lady Grey, by all means please give them a try.  

Review #31 - Paisley Tea Co. Organic Double Earl Grey (bagged)

With 2 birthday parties, a Baptism, the start of school and my yearly bike century, things have been quite busy. Thankfully things have calmed a bit and we have a review this week. This weeks tea was found in an out of state shopping mart with an interesting name more associated with a clothing pattern then tea. But enough of this chatter, on to the review.

Aroma

Before opening anything you are greeted with a box filled with information except for one very important piece. I'll hold off on that one piece and focus on the given info. To begin, this tea is Organic and it's Fair Trade. They dedicate an entire side to how they support the farmers who produce their tea and consider it their social responsibility to do so.  They then encourage you to visit their website to learn more which I did which turned out to be (as of Sat Sept 21, 2013) nothing but a welcome page. What made it strange was not the welcome page but rather the "coming soon" part. Upon further investigation you'll see that Paisley Tea is actually a sort of off shoot from Two Leafs Tea Co. Or as they put it...

"Meet two leaves’ “slightly hipper, younger sister.” Paisley Brand Tea is hotter than the average teabag!"

To help understand where and how this new brand fits in I did a quick price comparison. Two Leaves Earl Grey: 15 Tea Sachets @ $7.95.... Paisley Earl Grey 20 Tea bags @ $5.95. Make of that what you will but it appears that Paisley was created to "appeal" to a broader market??

With that out of the way I opened the box and found a white bag inside that contained all the tea bags. My initial reaction was to ask a question....how do you keep the bags fresh once you open the white bag? I guess you could tape it shut or twist tie it but it didn't seem the best way to handle that. Which brings us to the actual aroma and there wasn't any. Even with 20 tea bags filling the white plastic bag I still couldn't pick up any bergamot aroma. And when I mean there was nothing I mean nothing. I twisted the bag to make a small opening and pushed all the air out toward my face and still, there was no bergamot aroma. That made me wonder about the ingredients:

High-quality, organic black tea gets the royal treatment with citrusy bergamot oil in this classic tea.  

It's not like I've never experienced a low aroma tea bag before just not so many at one time providing no aroma. Which brings us to our last and final piece and in this case the missing piece. I could not find any steeping instructions. Seriously, there were no instructions on the box nor could I find any on the Two Leaves site. The only thing I could find was to use boiling water but no mention as to steeping times. Needless to say that makes my next section rather empty.

Steeping Method

Since none were given I did 4, 5 and 6 minutes.


The Results

Starting with my typical default steeping time of 4 minutes, I was met with a very thin tasting tea. Yes it tasted like Earl Grey and yes it has some citrus flavor to it but, it was very thin. By comparison, this tea was as strong at this steep time as other teas are for their second steep. If you let the tea cool a bit you really don't gain much in the flavor department. The color was quite good and alot more aroma came out once the brewing process began but like I said, flavor wise this is a very light tea.

At the 5 minute mark the color got a touch darker and the tea did gain some flavor. Instead of this being a

very light tea it took a step up the flavor chart. Not a big step but one that could be tasted. The aroma stayed pretty much the same and letting this tea cool at after 5 minutes of steeping allowed the flavors to blend a bit more but nothing that really grabbed my attention.

At the 6 minute mark I was honestly expecting this tea to taste totally burnt but it didn't. To be honest I think the tea starts to burn at this point because the tea flavor came forward flavor wise while the bergamot faded into the background almost to the point of this just being a black tea.

To conclude this section, all three steeping times produced a very light Earl Grey, some were just lighter then others.

Re-Steep

When a tea starts out as light as this one did, guessing this tea would be even thinner the second time around was not exactly sticking my neck out. Unfortunately, I was correct. I tried re-steeping after each of the above times and was treated to Earl Grey water each time. To end, I don't suggest re-steeping this tea at all.

 Final Thoughts

If you picked up on the overall tone of this review then you can probably guess this is not my kind of Earl Grey tea. I like a more balanced, and yes bolder tea in the flavor category. If you like a lighter tea then by all means give this one a try but as for me, this one is not for me.

Review #30 - Teapigs Darjeeling Earl Grey (bagged)

We returned from our family vacation and are ready to jump back into reviewing more tea. This weeks tea was found at an out of state Mom & Pop mini mart. This place was definitely going for the "we only carry items that no one else does" because once again I had never heard of this Earl Grey blend. So lets just right in.

Aroma

LtoR Box, then plastic bag

The Teapigs packaging is an interesting mix of materials. The outer box appears to be recycled hard paper (thin cardboard??) and the tea bags themselves, referred to "Tea Temples", are biodegradable. But the temples themselves come in a sealed plastic bag which needs to be opened to get to all the bags. Like I said, interesting mix. This means when you open the plastic bag all the aroma is ready and waiting for you. Strangely, and much to my surprise, there wasn't much. In fact this tea smelled like a completely different tea altogether. So I checked their ingredients.

Black Tea, Flavoring, Cornflower Petals.

A quick trip to their website provided plenty of additional details:

Most of the Earl Greys you find use a poor quality tea black base from China, which is like palming yourself off as landed gentry when all you own is a Barbour jacket. In this blend we use a Darjeeling tea – the best of the best from the foothills of the Himalayas.  These whole Darjeeling leaves are blended with the finest bergamot citrus from the south of Italy and pretty little cornflowers to create something altogether more gentrified. 

Before we go any further I'd like to remind our audience Lady Grey is a Twinnings blend that contains black tea, oranges, lemon, bergamot and cornflower. That's when I noticed their tagline: "The new grey" and wondered if this was a whole new blend I had never tried before. I would soon find out.

Steeping Method

According to their box:

One tea temple per person, infused in boiling water for least 3 minutes.

This means I was going to do 3,4,5 minutes and on, for steeping times.


The Results


Before I present my opinion let me first state a few things.

1. I really enjoy Darjeeling. Currently drinking Makaibari Estate 2nd Flush Darjeeling so I'm not someone who's never had it.

2. I'm starting to see that my journey to taste every Earl Grey may have exposed me as a "traditionalist" when it comes to Earl Grey. Meaning, Black tea, Bergamot and nothing else.

Now that I've fessed up, the results in the most honest way I can do this. I kinda liked the flavor of this tea.... but it's not Earl Grey as I envision/look for/like.

At 3min there is barely any bergamot flavor coming through. I got black tea and the cornflower.
I let it cool but no additional flavors came forward.

At 4mins things improved but again, the bergamot got lost in the mix. When I let the tea cool a bit the bergamot came through a bit more but just like 3 minutes, all the other flavors just ran over it.

At 5 mins the tea gained a bit of citrus which gave me hope that maybe the 6 minute mark would really bring out the bergamot. Instead I started to pick up on the tea being burnt. As before, cooling helped alittle but not enough.

Because the flavor was so different I brewed up some Earl Grey from another vendor to make sure I wasn't missing anything. Sure enough the second blend let the citrus flavors come through while letting you enjoy the black tea. With the tea I'm reviewing the flavor is just so different from any Earl Grey I've ever had (good and bad) I find myself questioning if this is really an Earl Grey or another variant like Lady Grey.

Re-Steeping

As you might has expected, when you start with a tea that has such a different flavor from your "typical" Earl Grey, your re-steeping efforts will be impacted. So for me, I wouldn't re-steep this tea because the initial flavor is not what I'm looking for. But if you like it, then I would go just under 4 minutes on your 1st steep and 5+ minutes on your second to extract the most from it. 

Final Thoughts

On one hand I love when people are constantly looking to improve things. That mentality really speaks to my Engineering side. But then my traditional side kicks in and wants to enjoy an Earl Grey as most people understand it. So I'm going to say for me personally, I enjoyed this tea as it's own thing but I didn't enjoy it as an Earl Grey. If you are looking to try something different then by all means go for it but understand, "this may not be the tea you are looking for." 

Review #29 - Harney & Sons Organic Earl Grey (loose)

Our last two reviews have covered bagged tea so it's time to return to loose and that means we are giving Harney & Sons another go. I will say up front that during this review I will be leaving out as much of the redundant information as possible. We know about their bags, labels and steeping times so I will briefly mentioned them but will not dwell on them since they have been covered in previous reviews. With that bit of info out of the way lets begin.

Aroma



The Organic sample came in the same bag as the previous two. As for the aroma once you open the bag it came across as rather subdued. If you stick with it, you end up saying the tea comes through more then the bergamot. But as we have seen before initial aroma testing sometimes doesn't tell the whole story.

The ingredients from their site:

A traditional blend of hand-picked black teas from India and natural Oil of Bergamot. The Assam is mellowed a bit with a smooth south Indian Tea. 

Steeping Method

Just like before, and again from their site:

4 to 5 minutes 

The Results

Starting with 4 minutes the color was good but not as dark as others. The aroma definitely improved releasing a lot more citrus which is what I look for in a good Earl Grey.  On the flavor side the tea came across as light. We've touched on this topic many times so I won't bore you with a repeat explanation. As the tea cooled it improved a little but still very light.

I then moved onto the 5 minutes steep time and things improved a bit. The color got a touch darker and the flavor improved because the tea became better balanced. At the 4 minute mark the tea was still overpowering the bergamot while at 5 things were a bit more even. Again I would still call this tea light and it appears that Harney and & Sons intended that.

Since these are organic teas, the aroma is light and subtle. This allows the lemony Bergamot to come through loud and clear.
(snip)
This is a medium bodied black tea. It is not as full bodied as other Earl Greys. 

So I'm kinda at a loss as to why the reason for the teas lightness was attributed to it being organic.  I

understand my formal education in tea and tea blending is not to the level of the folks running Harney & Sons but I've had organic Earl Greys that are not this light. If someone from H&S would be so kind to either leave a comment or contact me via twitter I'd love to learn.

Re-Steeping

I will be honest here, teas that start out light typically are not your best re-steepers. But surprise, surprise I was wrong with this tea. If you brew the first steep at 4 minutes and the second at 5mins you will actually get a decent cup of Earl Grey. Will it over power you? No, because you started light to begin with. But this tea holds a lot of it's flavor which comes out when it cools after the second steep.


Final Thoughts

If you are like me and are concerned about what's being put into your food, having an organic option solves this problem. Thankfully H&S has an entire organic section so they should be commended. As for their blend of Earl Grey, it's good just not the type I like the best. I was hoping for a bit more body. To end, do yourself a favor and try it for yourself especially if you are a fan of lighter Earl Grey.

Review #28 - The Republic of Tea Earl Greyer Black Tea Bags

While walking around with my family in the wonderful town of North Conway, NH I tried a small sandwich shop that also served tea. Most of it was generic stuff but I did happened to notice their selection of the not so generic -Republic of Tea-. After a quick look around I found their Earl Grey offering and just like that, another tea ready to be reviewed.

Aroma

It was bound to happen but The Republic of Tea (TRT) has managed to change my review process when it comes to bags, and how they are sealed. Up to this point everything pretty much came in a bag and almost every tea bag was individually wrapped. This tea does not come in a box, but rather a cylinder that is the sealed container. Once you break off the seal and open the container, you will have full visibility to their round tea bags. Yes I said round and I will also say they don't use any staples to connect their bag to the label. In fact, there are no labels or strings. It's just a circular bag. So for me to perform my test I merely had to close the container. TRT has done their homework and I could not smell anything coming from the container. A quick read from their label explained why:

Save this recyclable, airtight container store refills. 

As to the actual aroma I would say very subdued given how you are basically taking in all 50 bags at once. As for the bags themselves, they are "Natural, unbleached tea bags". Which is always good to see used given the unwanted alternatives. So how do they get their aroma ingredients wise? According to their container:

Fine black tea and natural bergamot oil

But their site adds a bit more detail:

Our exceptional Earl Greyer blend combines the lush flavor and exquisite fragrance of the Bergamot Orange, native to Southern Italy, with a lovely Ceylon black tea leaf from Sri Lanka.  

So we have a reusable container, no staples and bags made from unbleached material. Definitely a good start.

Steeping Method

The container had a bit more detail regarding water quality but I think TRT's site lists the instructions perfectly.

Steeping black tea is easy. Simply heat fresh, filtered water to a rolling boil. Then pour water over tea and steep for 3-5 minutes if using a tea bag or full-leaf.

If you head over to their site you can even watch a video that explains the same thing but adds that everyone should find their own personal steeping time. This means I will be testing the tea at 3, 4, 5 minutes and of course my torture test.

The Results

I actually started in reverse this time and went straight for the 5 minute time. The color was darker then most and the flavor started almost immediately. Even with a still very warm cup, alot of the flavor could be enjoyed. After about 30secs this tea really started to shine and it only got better from there. A nice strong, natural citrus flavor was perfectly balanced with the black tea. You could taste both parts on each sip. For me this is what Earl Grey should be. A black tea that is enhanced with the addition of bergamot not overwhelmed.

At the 4 minute mark I really couldn't tell any difference in the color or the aroma from the 5 min. The flavor
was a tiny bit thinner but still balanced. I also noticed it took some additional time for the flavors to overcome the just boiled cup. But still a very good cup of Earl Grey.

At the 3 minute mark, the tea slid into the lighter category. The tea was a bit more pronounced and the bergamot was obviously a bit more subdued. The color and aroma followed suit and were both reduced. Meaning, less color and less aroma. Still good but like I said, more on the lighter side.

Now for the fun, the 6 minute torture test. Would I uncover some extra flavor? Would I unearth some extra aroma? No on all ideas. Sadly the only thing I accomplished with my test was to burn the tea. You could taste it around the 6minute mark and it only got worse from there. So no hidden treasures but with the flavor that you get at 5, I'm not complaining at all except for one small little thing.

I'm sorry but the tea bags need a string or something. During my first taste test I attempted to fish out the bag with my fork and of course got food on it. If you are daring and have clean hands you can get it out but most of us will have to have some form of utensil around to avoid any messes.

Re-Steeping

Given what I've written you can probably tell that I really enjoyed this tea and you would be right. Well there is a cost for that enjoyment. No re-steeping. In my opinion, don't do it. If you want another wonderful cup of Earl Grey, fish out the old bag, and just replace it.

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed this tea; period. This tea is what I look for in an Earl Grey. The flavors are balanced, there are no metal objects, and the company has taken steps to insure a quality cup of tea right up until the last bag is used. To prove how much I enjoy this tea, I will be ordering some loose to both review and hopefully enjoy. To put it simply, try this tea. No seriously, you really should try this tea. 

Review #27 - Clipper Organic Earl Grey Tea (bagged)

I guess the best way to start this entry would be to say, this tea was found and not looked for. No disrespect to Clipper but I hadn't heard of their company until I was walking through an Organic section at a local supermarket that was being phased out. As I walked around scanning for sale items I found the box and immediately grabbed it. If nothing else, this whole taste every Earl Grey on this planet thing has uncovered many unknown companies which is great.  So onto the review we go.

Aroma

Before I broke open the wrapped box I read some of their printed statements. To begin this tea is USDA organic, Certified to International Fairtrade standards, holds a GB Organic Certification 5 and the box is biodegradable.That last certification is a new one for me so here is but one linked for an explanation: Organic certifications - United_Kingdom.   As for the actual ingredients there is one discrepancy that hopefully is a none issue. On the box this is how the ingredients are listed:

*organically gown tea, natural bergamot flavor with other natural flavors 

Their website has this:

Organically grown fairtrade tea, natural bergamot flavour. 

The expiration date on the box is Dec 23, 2013 so I'm hoping the box is out of date and the website is the real thing. Why? Because that one extra "natural flavors" essentially adds an unknown mystery ingredient. Judging from the effort this company has put into labeling everything, I probably wouldn't worry. With that out of the way, I broke open the box and grabbed my first, of many, sealed bag and tested for aroma. To my surprise, I got nothing. Seriously, when I went to take in the aroma, there was nothing there. I immediately blamed myself and let the bag sit for a moment before trying again. The result was the same, no aroma what so ever.

So I grabbed the tea bag out of the sealed bag and found staples which was a huge shock to me. With all the  organic and natural steps this tea has taken to, I'll admit to being very confused why they choose to go with staples. If someone from Clipper reads this I'd be curious of their reasons why. Also if Clipper has moved away from the staples I would be happy to update this review because we all know how I feel about boiling metal in my tea. Not good.

Steeping Method

Both their site and their box have identical instructions so I just grabbed it from the site:

Always use fresh water, pour it over the tea bag while it's still boiling and allow it to brew for 2-4 minutes. The rest is up to you.

This means I'll be testing 2, 3, 4 and of course stress testing beyond what they suggest.

The Results

Starting at the 2 minute mark I can say this is a very thin tea. The color is very light and the flavors is very subtle. If you like a very lightly flavored tea I'd stay here because even though it's very light, it still presents a balanced flavor. The cooling effect doesn't really improve it at all and there is no complexity.

At the 3 minute mark things get better but you start to sense there is alot more to this tea then what 3 minutes

will give you. It's good, just not good enough to get excited about. At the suggested high end, the 4 minute mark, things improved again and the color got darker. The cooling effect didn't bring out any extra flavors but the tea was nicely balanced. Not too strong on the bergamot thus allowing the tea to come through flavor wise.

That's when I stressed this tea to the 5 minute mark and found what I was looking for. This must sound pretty strange coming from me, the 4 minute default steeper. But the steeping facts don't lie. At 5 minutes I enjoyed this tea. It was well balanced and had a slight cooling effect. Nothing award winning but it was there and added to the enjoyment.

Re-Steeping

As with most bagged teas, once you extract the most you can from the bag, there isn't much left for the re-steep. But as always I played around a bit and found a method that you might approve of. I've said this before but I'll repeat it. I wound't re-steep this tea but just grab a fresh bag. But if you really want too, here is what I consider acceptable. 1st steep should stop at 4 minutes then for your second steep just leave the bag in the cup/glass until you detect bitterness, then take it out.

Final Thoughts

I guess the obvious issue I have with this tea is their use of staples. Why did a company take all that time and effort to create a perfectly natural (in the real sense of the word) tea only to add metal to it is confusing. But as I have said before, if this is not a concern you share then I would definitely try it yourself. For me I would be happy to give this tea to guests who don't share my concern because it really is a good Earl Grey. But there are other bagged teas that either match or beat the flavor of this one and don't use staples. To end it's up to you, enjoy.