Review #74 - High Teas - Breakfast Earl Grey

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. "

On Sunday Oct 21, 2012 my first Earl Grey addict review went live. I was clearly not qualified to review tea, (still not) but the internet is a big place so fear went out the window and I went for it. It turned out to be the right thing to do. I got to meet alot of fellow Earl Grey-ers and had fun along the way. Well given I'm an engineer and not some great poetic writer lets just get right to the point. After this review I will do one more to end on a nice clean number (i.e.75) and then I will retire. Simply put, no more reviews. 

1. Yes I know I didn't try all of them. Now that I know I'm a traditionalist who enjoys a certain kind of Earl Grey the world got awfully small. 

2. I now have this great list of teas that I can always reference when out and about which was my goal from the beginning. 

3. I'm not one to follow stats but numbers don't lie.  My peak saw over 5000 views for just one review. My last review has yet to reach 65. 

So with enough teas to pick from that I like, and with readers losing interest it's the perfect time to pull the plug. With that out of the way, onto the review. 

Aroma

As you know I really enjoy reviewing teas I've never heard about. So when Donovan contacted me and offered to send over some Earl Grey I obviously said yes. When the package arrived I found a black zip lock type sample pouch. On one side, black with a label telling me what it was and on the back side clear plastic. Seeing the tea before you ever open it is kinda cool. Points should be given to any company that sends out sample size bags with zip locks and High Teas gets one there. 

Once I opened the bag I was met with a very black tea aroma. I really couldn't pick up on the citrus at all and that's fine. We've seen before how some blends come alive once steeping occurs so what made this tea smell the way it did? From their site:

  A sturdy blend of strong black china and ceylon teas together with the unmistakable scent of bergamot. Ideal morning tea. An improved base enhances the generous Bergamot flavours.

After some checking on their website I got my answer to the aroma.

Breakfast tea predominantly is a robust, full-bodied beverage with light floral undertones, which can sometimes be referred to as "coppery".

Needless to say a rather unique way of describing tea. Lets now see how they want it prepared. 

Steeping Method

I understand keeping a website up to date is no small task but when I see generic steep times that only refer to "general" tea groups I think it misses something. I personally like to know what the person(s) who created this tea thinks is the best steeping method. With that said this is what their site said: 

4-6mins at 95c

This meant it was time to dig out the thermometer and do some science-y stuff.

The Results 

At the 4 min time the aroma really didn't change all that much but I was met with a nice

cup of Earl Grey. It definitely had that strong full bodied flavor they spoke of which kinda left me wanting a bit more citrus. Their coppery flavor was nice but that brisk citrus flavor would have really added to the whole balance. The color was on par with most other teas at this time. Cooling gave it a bit more mellow which I liked. 

For the 5min time the aroma changed a bit but again the strong tea really came through. The color got a bit darker but you really had to look for it. At just steeped, I didn't really like the overwhelming flavor but after letting it cool a bit this tea smoothed out very nicely. A very nice surprise. 

At the 6 min time the aroma was even more intense black tea with even less balance in the citrus area. The color really got darker and the flavor was pretty much all black tea. Cooling brought some balance and soothing but not like what happened at the 5min steep time.


Re-Steeping 

If you are looking to get very similar teas then I would go with a 4 minute first steep with a slightly over 5 minute 2nd steep.


Final Thoughts

We never really touched on Organic, where the bergamot comes from, fair trade and all the rest because their site didn't mention it. If they did then I missed it. But for my long term readers I look for balance and this variety is weighted more towards the bold tea used in this blend. I would have liked more citrus but it is what they said it was going to be. So if you like a bolder more black tea based Earl Grey I'd say give it a try and be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments section below to help others. 

Review #73 - Stash Tea - Organic Earl Grey Black & Green (bagged)

The references I could make about the next three reviews are beyond numerous. I could reference a certain frog who sang about it's not easy, I could reference a certain well known UK metal band with the song title of "Can I play with madness", and finally I could pull out a certain series of books by a certain author who lives in Maine but I won't. I will just explain what is going on. For a time, I had today's reviewed tea staring me in the face. It came with a gift 3-pack box that someone gave to me. 1 Earl Grey, 1 Green and this one. Both Black and Green tea. Then two other companies sent me Green Only Earl Grey and asked that I review them. Needless to say I put them off for a while because this is all new territory for me. So this review will start me on my Green adventure by going easy on me because it has both Black and Green tea but the next two are full on Green tea based. Can I test them the same way? Will my tea background (cough) help me do a good job? But most importantly will I like them? Well fellow EGA'ers, lets find out.

Aroma

Since you know where I got the tea lets get straight to the box. It's your typical TBDB with alot of information on it. It says organic but also has the round USDA green organic symbol and the Fair Trade logo as well. On the back some information about ecological harmony with regards to farming and on the final side, ingredients, brewing info and another certification for organics this time by QAI. So what is in this tea?

Blend of organic black and organic green teas with organic oil of bergamot

There was one...ok we'll call it weird....thing about the box, it only had 18 bags in it and not the typical 20. If anyone from Stash or anyone else out there knows why they went with 18 instead of 20 let me know. Once you open the box you will find all the bags and each one looks just like the cover of the box with one exception. The bags have both English and French on them. The title, the ingredients and the brewing all have both. Only one language on the box but two for the bags. In my typical engineering thinking I'm going to say that given how close they are to the Canadian boarder (Stash is in Oregon) they put French on the bags to support those across the boarder.  So what aroma does it give off? Not much. It has a bit of black tea to it but not much else. Lets move to the brewing.

Steeping Instructions

To savor the full flavor of our teas, bring fresh water to a rolling boil. Pour hot water directly over the tea bags in a pre-heated pot or cup. Brew 3-5 minutes or to desired taste. 

Not going to lie I wasn't expecting to see the use of boiling water since there is green tea present. I'm guessing this tea is weighted more towards the black.

The Results

 Starting with the 3 minute steep time I found a lightly colored tea with a nice aroma. The citrus was

starting to come out and the two different teas started to give off their own aroma. The flavor was very different then I am use to. I wanna say the green tea was holding it's own against the black but nothing was distinct. Even the bergamot wasn't easily picked out. After the letting the tea cool a bit I noticed the black took over a bit. My initial reaction was kinda neutral. It wasn't Earl Grey as I know it but I couldn't really knock it for it's differences.  It just wasn't winning me over.

Moving onto the 4 minute time had the tea grow darker, and the aroma change. There was definitely more citrus coming through and now the tea had this wonderful sweetness to it. The mix of flavors was really nice.  I would say this tea had some complexity. When you drank it you could pick out the different flavors. I must admit, I very much enjoyed this time.

Ending with the 5 minute time brought more changes. The tea grew darker again but the aroma faded a bit. The sweetness was not as prominent and now the black tea had come forward. The mix of flavors I enjoyed at 4 wasn't there. It was now more of a traditional Earl Grey but not really. If I had to guess I would say the green had either burned off or had become overwhelmed by the black. 

Re-Steeping

I tried but the flavors were completely different from the ones that I enjoyed at the 4 minute time. For me personally, I wouldn't do it.

Final Thoughts

I am totally surprised by what I drank at the 4 minute time. The sweetness, the complexity and all the rest made this tea something I would definitely enjoy again. Is this a traditional Earl Grey? No way, but if you would like to try something based upon Earl Grey that has a bit more sweetness while not being overpowered then stick with the 4 minute time. Also if you are concerned with what is in your food/drink then this tea ticks all the right organic boxes. As always, if you try this tea please leave a comment so others can learn from your experience. 


   

Review #72 - Grey's Teas - Earl Grey Tea Blend (loose)

We are back with another review and for this one I tried something different for the photos. Since the beginning I was using plain ol' point and shot cameras. I know, I know but aren't you an engineering and know all that F-stop stuff. Honestly, I've just never got into the whole photography thing. You are going to cringe but when I wanted a certain shot I would just go into manual mode and start changing settings until I get what I want. For those of you who are legitimate picture takers, please forgive me. The most recent camera was my Canon PowerShot ELPH 130 IS. It served its purpose for a long time but now I think it's time to let my phone take over the job. Yeah that's right I took this reviews shots with my trusty Lenovo/Motorola Moto something something something. I used Open Camera and one of those cheapo phone stands that allow you to take pictures with. Feedback on the pictures is always welcome but I think they look a bit better. Onto the review.


Aroma

This review originated via social media when the fine folks at Grey's Teas contacted me and asked that I review not just one but two of their Earl Grey teas. Needless to say I said yes and here we are with the first. The package arrived from across the pond in jolly ol' England in a nice re-seal-able zip lock bag. 

 

It clearly states "Sample only" so I will not review the bag only to say, I like that I could reseal it. When you open the bag you get alot of black tea. I could not make out any citrus at all. We've seen this before when the blender follows a certain process and all the aroma is released once brewing begins. So what is in this tea? The bag and their site pretty much say the same thing so here it is:

"A traditional large leaf blend of China Keemun and Indian Darjeeling with oil of bergamot: an Italian citrus fruit. " 

I did a bit of looking around their site to make sure I wasn't missing anything since I was sent a sample packet. Sure enough, there was more.

"Many of our teas are sourced through members of the Ethical Tea Partnership..."


If you continue reading you'll find our this partnership works to insure all people who produce tea are treated fairly with regards to employment. On one hand this is very cool to see, on the other hand it's sad we need something like this to prevent large companies from taking advantage of those doing the actual work.

To end this section another thing I noticed was this.

"Our Earl Grey light bodied due to the teas used, together with the right proportion of bergamot oil giving a refreshing, but not overpowing taste"

And

"Tags: Afternoon, Light-bodied, no milk."

So there will be no guessing on this tea which is very nice. This is a lighter tea and that's the way they intended.

Steeping Instructions

So I'm going to fess us to not following the directions clearly stated on their site. And I quote:

"Use one teaspoon per person and infuse for three minutes. Drink without milk"

Seriously they couldn't be any more clear yet I did what I always did and started with 4 minutes and then 5. I then contacted Grey's and they gave me the steep time I should have just seen on their site.

The Results

I'm going to start with the wrong steep times and state clearly, this is not what Grey's suggested and

any result I got is not their fault.  So we'll start with 5, then goto 4, and end with the 3 minute time.

Starting with the 5 minute time I got a nice dark color with pretty much no citrus aroma. The flavor was pretty much all black tea. For my regular readers they know I enjoy Darjeeling and have reviewed Darjeeling based Earl Grey's before. But since this tea is a blend of two teas the flavor is different but I liked it. Even though I burned off all of the Earl Grey flavor I really liked their choice in black tea. Letting it cool did nothing to change the flavor.

Moving on to 4 minutes and there was a touch more aroma but still, this tea is clearly not meant to be steeped for this long. The color was pretty much the same as the 5 minute time but the flavor was more distinct Darjeeling. So with my standard 4 and 5 minute steep times being wrong, I moved onto the steep time Grey's suggested. I even contacted them via Twitter to make sure I wasn't messing up even more. They graciously put up with my questions and confirmed the 3 minute time.

At the 3 minute time the aroma gained a bit more but the flavor was definitely different.  No longer was this a black tea only cup. This tea had a third flavor coming through. The color was obviously much lighter and cooling only brought out the tea more and not the added bergamot. For the record, this is probably the lightest Earl Grey I have probably ever tested. But that's exactly what Grey's said they were creating.  "light bodied (snip) but not overpowing taste".

Re-Steeping

Grey's blended this to be a light bodied tea to start with so a second steep is not suggested. Going for a second cup only provided a light Black tea with no citrus flavor at all. 

Final Thoughts

When people/companies send me tea I strive to be as honest as I can because I think everyone wins. My readers win, I win, and to some extent the people sending the tea win because they get an honest review. So when I say this tea was not blended for my preferences I mean it. As you know I prefer a more balanced tea where the bergamot and the tea share in the flavor. But at the same time, Grey's set out to create a certain type of Earl Grey and given how light a blend this is I think they have succeeded. Going back to my wine analogy you can't complain about a Pinot Noir being on the light side because that's what a Pinot Noir is. Is this a good tea? Absolutely yes, I really enjoyed the tea because I already enjoy Darjeeling. Is this to my taste? Nope but I can appreciate what they were going for so if you like a very light bodied Earl Grey then give this tea a try and leave your comments below.

Review #71 - Newman's Own Organics Earl Grey Black Tea (bagged)

One of the nice things about reviewing this tea is not having to worry about the brand name. I think I can safely say that everyone reading this review, no matter what country they are reading from, has heard of Paul Newman. Either by his work as an actor, director, Indy Car owner and of course his "All profits to Charity" food brand. My kids love his cheese pizza, I enjoy his salsa,  so without making any Failure to Communicate references, on with the review.

Aroma

The Newman box is not your typical TBDB since it has no retail opening tab. You pull off a strip from the side, open the box and find 20 individually wrapped bags inside. The statement about Newman's Own Foundation and royalties found right next to where the strip is pulled off is the same on the tea bag. I personally like when the steeping instructions are on the bag and on the box but it's hard to complain when the foundation has donated (from the box) over $450 millions dollars to charity. Once you rip one of the bags open you are greeted with a very mild hint of citrus but very little tea aroma. When you take the bags out you will not find any staples which is a good thing. This tea is listed as organic so there will be no metal in this drink. So what is creating such a mild aroma, from the box:

Organic Black Tea, Organic Oil of Bergamot. 

Needless to say this is like my ultimate ingredients list. Two items, both organic. And not just organic but USDA organic and again from the box:

"Certified by QAI" 

To end, and to complete this section, the only thing holding the bag and tabs together are knots of string. In my opinion, this should be SOP for all tea houses by now.

Steeping Instructions

From the hot tea section, on the side of the box:

1. Bring Fresh water to a rolling boil.
2. Pour water over a tea bag and brew for 3 - 5 minutes.
3. Remove tea bag.

Good range of times but I will of course stress test this tea.

The Results

Starting with the 3 minute steep time, I got a very light aroma along with a very light colored tea. The

flavor was pretty much what you expect when everything else is so light. Very thin, very bland and no finishing complexity at all. I let the cup cool a bit but nothing changed.

The 4 minute steep time really didn't improve much. I took pictures of both 3 and 4 and quite honestly couldn't see a difference. The aroma and flavor again matched the color. Very thin, very bland with no finishing changes. Letting the cup cool again did not change anything.

The final time from the box, 5 minutes, did provide some darkening of the tea but it didn't really improve the flavor. This tea is very thin and very light. It might be one of the lightest teas I've reviewed in a while. Whether that is by design or not I don't know. The only mention of how this tea is supposed to taste is this statement from the box, "This blend offers a crisp refreshing taste sensation [sic]".

With the above results in mind, I was very curious to see how this tea reacted to my stress testing. The results proved both interesting and surprising. At the 10 minute mark, yes I said 10 minutes, I finally got a tea where there was some balance, an acceptable amount of flavor and a decent color. Mind you this is still a lighter tea but at least at this time it had some Earl Grey flavors. Letting it cool did not improve it.


Re-Steeping 

Given how thin this tea is on the first steep I can't suggest it, even those who like a very lite re-steep.


Final Thoughts

Given the brand name I will admit I was expecting a good quality tea. Unfortunately that's not what I got. What I got was an extremely light tea that did not have the flavors I look for in a good Earl Grey. To be honest, I cannot suggest this tea to anyone except those who want an organic tea from a respected company and enjoy very light teas. As always if you have tried this tea please share your thoughts in the comment section below. 

Review #70 - Trader Joe's Specialty Teas Earl Grey (bagged)

I'll let you in on a little secret, for a while now I've been wondering (incorrectly) if people were giving me #faketeas to "find" and then laughing about it. Well I am here to tell you that -Margarita- was not lying. I actually found the tea in the store and bought it.  With my phobia of #faketea now washed away lets get on with the review. A real review, not a fake one. Ok I'll stop with the fake jokes now.

Aroma 

 The tea comes in a TBDB box with a pull off opening strip that reveals a closing tab. Inside are individually wrapped bags in a brown color that matches the boarder around the text boxes. Once you open one up you are met by a mostly tea aroma. If you really hang in there you will eventually pick up some very slight citrus smells but as you can tell from my description, it's not much at all. So what is making this aroma? To the box we go:

"Ingredients: Black tea with Oil of Bergamot"

That's not alot to go on but if you take the next few sentences:

"The oil of Bergamot is derived from the rind of the Bergamot orange. There are no flavors used."

And add that to Trader Joe's reputation for carrying alot of organic products we can hope this tea is a natural one.

As for the bag, it's your typical tea bag with no staples found on the bag or tag. It should also be noted that I will not be linking directly to this tea on the TJ's site because even after using their search engine I couldn't find it's location. Moving on.


Steeping Method

Directly from their box:

"Place one tea bag in an 8oz cup. Add Boiling water and steep 3-5 minutes"

So that means I will follow their directions and add the typical stress test times.


The Results

At the 3 minute mark the tea kinda surprised me. Normally this steep time doesn't really give me

much to talk about but this one had a bit of flavor. It was alot darker then I would normally see at this time, the aroma started to get cranked up and the flavor wasn't bad. I personally like a more balanced tea but for 3 minutes, not bad at all.

The 4 minute mark showed additional improvements but not much. The color change for me was hard to tell so I had my kids (ah to have young eyes again) compare the 3 and 4 times and they agreed there was a slight darkening. The aroma kinda stayed the same and the taste only improved a bit. I let it cool and it gained a touch of citrus but nothing great.

At 5 minutes things improved even more. It was noticeably darker, the flavor had more to it but the aroma remained the same.  I'm normally a 4 minute guy but so far this tea was at it's best for me at this time. After I let it cool it smoothed out a bit and again added a bit more citrus.

That brings us to the stress test...... and it passed with flying colors. I made it all the way to 8 minutes without a hint of burning. I also gained some extra flavors and the aroma improved. The tea still could have used a bit more citrus to balance the tea out but at this steep time I think it's safe to say I was getting everything out of this tea.

Re-Steeping 

It depends who you are and how you like your tea. If you are me, then forget getting a second steep. Just let the bag sit for the stress test time and if you want another cup, get another bag. If you prefer a lighter tea then I would go with 5 for the first steep and 5 for the second.

Final Thoughts

If this tea is created following the Trader Joe way of selling healthy organic food to people at a reasonable price then I would have no problems telling everyone to try this tea. For the price it has a decent range of flavors that should suit many drinkers. As I have said many times, not the balance I personally look for but everyone likes what they like. Also, if we later find out it's being created by some "third" party who doesn't share Trader Joe's healthy views then I would have to reconsider my suggestion. Either way leave a comment if you have tried it.

Review #69 - Suttons of London Earl Grey (bagged)

As I started uploading everything for this review I had a look at my stats. I do this because I really enjoy seeing all the different places where my visitors are coming from. But then I noticed this number and I did a double take. I convinced myself the number was wrong because I never thought when I started this whole Earl Grey Review thing it would ever get past being my personal log. But oh how wrong I was, I mean are, is....oh never mind. Either way, I have officially past the 200K hits point and I have have all my readers to thank. So everyone in unison raise your cup of Earl Grey and to you I say....Well Done and Thank You!!!!

Aroma

The tea comes in a rectangular box minus the dispenser opening wrapped in plastic. When I ripped open the plastic I was met with a huge wave of tea. It appears the plastic was doing it's job of keeping the box all nice and sealed up.  From there I took another good breath from one of the bags. The aroma had both citrus and tea but for me it was the citrus that really came through. One of the first interesting things I'll point out, there are no steeping instructions anywhere on the box. I've seen this before so I checked the bags and found nothing. I'll get back to that weird omission and bring you to the bad news. While looking around for the steeping instructions I found a staple on the top of the bag just under the flap. Not good I thought, but at least they don't use staples for the part that goes in the water. Sadly I was wrong.  There was a staple keeping the bag closed up and attaching the string to the tag. I've been reviewing teas since 2012 and still find it a bit disappointing when I see staples. Ok, very disappointing. 

So what's inside? From the bottom of their box: 

"Finest quality blend of teas with Bergamot flavour" 

That doesn't tell us much so next stop, the side with the nutritional facts.

"Pure Ceylon tea 

Packed in Sri Lanka (Ceylon)"

Needless to say, not an encouraging start to this review. Lets move on.

Steeping Method

To be fair I headed off to their website in search of steeping instruction and found...confusion.

The website they give on the box doesn't take you to the Suttons home page. You have to search for their site to find it. Once there I couldn't find any steeping instructions so like I said earlier, not something you see very often with tea companies. I'd also also like to point this out:

Suttons of London can produce any own label packaging that you may require and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your requirements. We can supply all the necessary ingredients needed for you to produce your own successful brand, starting at the initial design stage, right through to the finished product.

So Sutton's is one of those companies that makes tea for others so that means I'm making up my own steeping times.

3 - 4 - 5 and stress testing.

The Results

At three minutes this is a very light tea with a light color and a light flavor. The aroma keeps coming

and it does smell really nice but since we don't know anything about the ingredients, it's hard to get excited. I let the tea cool a bit and instead of gaining some extras this tea lost some fast.

At four minutes the flavor started to improve while the color got darker. The aroma continued on but it was less citrus and more tea. As stated the color did get darker so we were definitely getting more out of the bag.  Again I let the tea cool and again it lost more then it gained.

At the five minute time, this tea really stepped up in all categories. The color got darker, the flavor improved and the aroma went back to more citrus and less tea. I said it had more flavor but I will point out it didn't gain any complexity, it was just more of the same. Once again I tried cooling and once again the flavor just fell apart.

Which brings us to stress testing times. The tea made it to about 7 minutes before starting to become bitter. To be perfectly honest, at around the 5.5 to 6 minute mark I found what I considered to be the best this tea could offer. To end, cooling did nothing for this tea except loose all it's flavor.

Re-Steeping

If you like light tea, then maybe you can get two cups out of this but for me once you go past the 5 minute mark you leave little to no flavor left for a second steep. My best attempt, and result, was 4 minutes then 6 minutes but that was really pushing it past where this tea can go.

Final Thoughts

Yes loyal readers you know what I am going to say. If you are like me and are concerned about where you food is sourced I cannot suggest this tea. You have very little info on both the tea and flavors and you have metal for your steeping pleasure. If you are less concerned with such things, then for the price and the flavor, I would say give it a try and see if you like it. If you do be sure to leave a comment so others can learn from your experience.

Review #68 - Zest Tea Earl Grey (bagged)

For today's tea review it looks like I need to add a few things to my typical protocol. Normally caffeine level is not something I discuss for a whole host of reasons. I don't have any way to test it, no one really talks about it, etc, etc. But this tea uses their caffeine level as part of it's marketing approach. On the front of their bag they have "As much caffeine as coffee*" statement so for me that means I need to cover it.

The other addition is price. Again most tea boxes come in around the same price give or take a dollar. This tea is almost twice as much as other teas I have reviewed and will review. For this tea I paid 7.99 plus tax for 15 pyramid bags. Because of this I will add my opinion into the Final Thoughts section on value. Onto the review.

Aroma 

The tea comes in a zip lock bag where you rip off the top section in order to use the zip lock feature. Once through, you will be greeted by 15 pyramids. Because this type of bag is really flexible I was able to size up about how much tea is inside. I then verified what I found by ripping one open and actually measuring it. I found about 2 grams of tea.  This turns out to be a pretty standard weight because nearly every green tea I have has 2 grams as it's typical serving size. The aroma when you first open the packaging is big on citrus and very small on tea. As you take more in the tea starts to come through. 

So what is in this tea that gives it the aroma it has? From the bag:

Flowery orange pekoe black tea, tea extract, natural begamot flavor

If I were a betting man I would guess that the tea extract part is where the extra caffeine comes from. Which brings us to the next quote from the bag:

L-Theanine, a rare amino acid found in Zest Tea helps prolong the energy and alertness while reducing the jitters and crash associated with most caffeinated products. 

 Again if I were a betting man I would double down on their tea extract as the source of the caffeine and the amino. Now to be fair, it's been a long time since I took my last chemistry class so I did some research:

Tea is known to be a rich source of flavonoid antioxidants. However tea also contains a unique amino acid, L-theanine that may modulate aspects of brain function in humans.

       source: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Needless to say I read the entire article and a few others but this falls way outside my engineering background so I will just say, this is one of the more unique teas I've tried ingredient wise.

Steeping Method

Directly from their bag:

Use boiling water and steep for 4-5 minutes

Given the level of caffeine I only added a 6 minute stress test to their times.

The Results

For this section please be aware that I did not perform this review in one sitting

like most other teas. Given the level of caffeine in this tea I didn't think that was a wise move. Also I don't drink coffee but I love a good espresso so I will use that as my caffeine comparison.

At the 4 minute steep time I found a lightly colored tea with a nice citrus aroma. The flavor was more citrus and less tea leaving me wanting a more balanced Earl Grey. I was looking to see if the flavor changed at all but there were no changes during the cooling. What you started with flavor wise was what you kept which means no complexity. As for the caffeine, it felt like an average shot of espresso.

At the 5 minute steep time the color didn't really change all that much, the aroma continued to be enjoyable but the flavor was about the same. What wasn't the same was the caffeine level. This time had me feeling a bit jittery but no worse then a double shot of espresso during a ride or before a workout.

At the 6 minute steep time the color did get a bit darker, there was about the same citrus aroma and the caffeine again went to the next level. The flavor was very citrus driven, still not balanced, but better. Cooling didn't change anything and there was no complexity. I was unwilling to finish the cup in one sitting and really had to take my time with this one. Obviously this is not what Zest suggested but as you know, we always stress test so there it is. 

Re-Steeping

Given how the level of caffeine is a selling point for this tea I can understand if Zest doesn't suggest it. It's not listed on their bag but that is my guess. I tried the 4 minute bag and got a very thin tea when I went 5 minutes for the second steep. I personally wouldn't do it but it is possible. 

Final Thoughts

This tea clearly has it sights set on getting people who drink tea for one reason (calm, zen, etc) and coffee (energy, zing, etc) for another to reconsider that choice. With catch phrases like "The rush without the grind" and "Not your grandma's tea" they are really going after the coffee drinkers.  It's funny because back in the day, before espresso, I use to drink a Celestial Seasonings tea that was highly caffeinated before my workouts. This tea reminds me of that except in Earl Grey flavoring. So what are my final thoughts?  As for the caffeine it's nice having an Earl Grey flavored pre-workout option if you don't mind a thin tea. My big concern is the price. At over 8 dollars for 15 servings it's not the cheapest tea out there but it's a heck of alot better for you then one of those canned energy drinks with all their sugar and chemicals. (Whether it's cheaper then homemade espresso is unknown) So I will leave this one up to you and end by saying, if you don't want/like coffee but want the caffeine boost, I'd check it out. If nothing else I know one thing, following this review I know my workout will go longer. 

Review #67 - Adagio Teas Earl Grey Bravo (loose)

So let's say one of my loyal readers, lets call her Jean...well because that's her real name...contacted/emailed a well known tea house that specializes in organic and fair trade tea. And lets say that Jean asked a rather pointed question about how teas are labelled. But instead of the tea house shying away they handed it over to their person in charge of "labeling and certifications" and the answer returned turned out to be pure gold. Well that's what really happened.

To be honest I delayed posting this review until I heard back from Jean. I originally was just going to put their response in this pre-amble area but when I saw how well written the response was I knew I needed to add another page so we can easily reference it. So if you look up to my menu,  you will see a new page called -> Label Info. On this page you will find the response from Aubrey of Arbor Teas where she explains all the intricacies of labeling. It's crazy good. Heck maybe someone from across the Pond (UK, India, etc) can contact me with info on how their country regulates their labeling so I can add that to the page as well.

Finally, and before I start this review I would like to send a huge EGA thank you over to Jean at DelightfulRepast.com for taking the time and effort in sending out that first email and getting me the permission so everyone can benefit from Aubrey's knowledge.

Aroma 

So I get this email about reviewing tea from Adagio BUT they kinda knew of my traditionalist slant with regards to Earl Grey. But to Adagio's credit they told me right up front "we want you to try something a bit different." After a bit of back and forth I settled on this tea because it's only extra ingredient is Orange Peels. So when an .8oz sized bag came in I knew I would be able to play around and really have fun testing this blend. The bag is a resealable zip lock type bag where you rip off the top and it leaves the zip part behind. I purposely took the picture a bit low to hide my horrible ripping job. Seriously, I couldn't have screwed this up any worse then I did. When opened I was met with a nice fresh smell and at first got nothing but bergamot then a wave of orange and then the black tea. So what are the ingredients? From their bag:

Black Tea, Orange Peels, Natural Earl Grey Flavor

 So as I alluded to before we have three ingredients instead of my typical two. Would this mess with my review process? Would I like it? Would I hate it? Well lets find out.

Steeping Method

The bag says the following:

Steeping: 1 teaspoon per cup | 2-3 mins @ 212F / 100C

Obviously I'd be following their suggestions but given how much tea they sent I was going to also use 4, 5 and 6 minutes and maybe just maybe I'd even stress test it.


The Results

Starting with the 2minute time I found a thin Earl Grey with a little orange flavor.  As the tea cooled the Earl Grey/bergamot was replaced with the orange. The color was very good given how short a steep time this was but it went from an Earl Grey to something else.

At the 3 minute time I found more orange and much less bergamot/Earl Grey. The color was a bit darker and the aroma was of both orange and black tea. As this time frame cooled the orange came out even more leaving no Earl Grey.

Moving on to 4 minutes brought out chaos. No seriously, this time couldn't decide what it wanted to be and that was due to the balance being off. It was like the bergamot and orange where fighting for control and it wasn't working. It should be repeated, Adagio did not suggest this time on their bag so we can't blame them for this result. To be honest we can't blame them for the next two as well.

That brings me to 5 minutes.  At this time the tea had a much stronger Earl Grey aroma but it had

more orange flavors right after steeping. The color was one of the darkest but when it cooled that's when I found what I wanted. That's right, at 5 minutes, and after letting it cool, I was treated to an Earl Grey that was on the thin side but one that I found familiar. The balance was pretty good and I probably liked it the best because the orange had "burned" off. This steep time practically forced me to go for 6.

We are so far beyond what Adagio suggests its not even funny but guess what, at this time it pretty much starts out as an Earl Grey. The balance was good even though the flavor was still on the thin side. As it cooled I picked up a hint of orange but that helped to mellow the bergamot and create this rather smooth flavor. Some where at Adagio there is a tea blender who is screaming at the screen as they read this, "you are ruining my tea. " To be honest they have a point.   

Re-Steeping

I have no idea what to tell you. At every steep time there was a change in flavors as the tea cooled. The two times I liked the best didn't allow it because I pushed this tea way past where it should go. But at the same time the shorter steeps kinda produced thinner versions of the initial flavors.

Final Thoughts

This tea should be called Schrodinger's cat given it's ability to be two different teas almost at once. Want to start fruity with more orange and less bergomot but still want a bit more Earl Grey when it cools, no problem. Or do you want Earl Grey right from the beginning but then let some orange back in at the end. This tea can do that too. But do I like it? Well it's not technically a traditional Earl Grey but Adagio was completely honest and told me that right away. Curse you duality where is Bohr when you need him. So did I like it? Yes. When it's more orange it was nicely balanced because the orange didn't over power the black tea. When I changed the steeping times to get more of a traditional Earl Grey it was on the lighter side but still everything came through and it was enjoyable. So there you have it, my first quantum response. I think. Maybe.

Review #66 - Red Rose Earl Grey (bagged)

If you have been reading my twitter posts you'll know I had started this review some time ago. Then an immediate family member entered the hospital and stayed for 8days. The person is fine. They are getting stronger each day and are looking to make a full recovery. Needless to say everyone's life was put on hold. If you emailed me, I'm still working my way through the emails. To the two companies that sent me tea for review, you are still in the Que in the order I originally told you things are, just pushed back. Thank you everyone for your understanding. I will assume ( bad idea) everyone reading this may consider sending me a supporting email. Thank you very much but please take that time and use it to volunteer at your local hospital instead.  There are many people, kids included, who could use a friendly visit.


Aroma

For this review the marketing people went with the typical US mega sizing. That's right, this box goes to 11. Actually it holds 40 bags instead of your typical 20. The box is not your typical TBDB because there is no dispenser hole at the bottom. Not to mention this box is not opened while the box is in portrait mode. More like it's laying down with the cover opening up. Have a look at the picture and it will all make sense.

The box was wrapped in clear plastic but I could not detect any aroma prior to opening. Once opened I found all 40 bags individually wrapped in their own paper wraps. On the back side of the wrap I found the "Lift Here" sign so I opened to find something I thought we had gotten rid of. Yup you guessed it, a staple. Now to be fair, the staple connects the string to the tag and not to the bag it self. So technically if you keep the tag/label out of your water you won't be drinking metal.  But why do this when you can just use the string to tie off the tag/label? Not to mention I can't just throw this bag into my compost until I remove the metal. So I'll admit I was disappointed to see this.

As for the aroma itself, there wasn't alot going on. We've seen teas in the past with very light aroma's but this is definitely on the very low end. No citrus, just a bit of tea. So what's inside creating this aroma? From the box:

Black Tea, Natural Bergamot Flavor with other natural flavors, orange peel and lemon peel.

To my regular readers you know what is coming next. (deep breath) "Other natural flavors"?? What is that?  Next, this is not Earl Grey at least not in the traditional sense. I didn't buy this box, someone who knows what I do got it for me. To be honest it was more like "Hey I saw a box you haven't reviewed yet should I pick it up for you?" "Thanks I'll pay you back." Few days later, person hands me the box and after I read the ingredients I go "oh well." So I guess the only thing left to do is continue this review.


Steeping Method

From both the back of the box and the back of the bag here are their suggestions:

Pour boiling water over tea bag. Brew 3 to 5 minutes.

With 40 bags at my testing disposal I tested 3, 4, 5, 6 and my typical stress test.


The Results

I will start at the 3 minute mark. The color was very light to go along with the

aroma. Once the brewing process started I immediately picked up on the orange and lemon in the tea. Normally I would talk about how it tasted with regards to Earl Grey but it didn't taste like an Earl Grey. This only increased when I let it cool. The bergamot was just overwhelmed by the other citrus.

At the 4 minute mark the color got a bit darker but the flavor of this tea didn't change. It was just a stronger, and not by much, version of what the 3 minute gave me.

At 5 minutes I started to get some bergamot coming through to go along with the increased color and aroma. But as it cooled the flavor changed back to the orange and lemon ending all Earl Grey flavor.

At 6 minutes the color darkened and a bit more bergamot could be tasted but it was still in the background. Just like before as the tea cooled you lost the Earl Grey flavor and it changed to a black tea with a lemon on top. If I recall correctly, it's how Number Six liked his tea.

That leaves us with the stress test, just leaving the bag in. To my surprise, this tea past with flying colors...with one major exception. The tea never tasted burnt even though I let it go all the way to around 8-9 minutes. The problem is, it technically never tasted like a traditional Earl Grey. At this point the only flavors coming through were the orange and lemon. Letting it cool only cemented this fact.

Re-Steeping

If you like this teas flavor then I guess you can but it will be light. But if you are looking for a second cup of Earl Grey, you won't get it so there really is no point.

Final Thoughts

Everyone who reads my reviews knows I would like the tea industry to standardize their names, especially blends like Earl Grey. To me this tea is not Earl Grey but they call it that. I'm also not a fan of what is or is not in my tea and I'm also not a fan of their metal tag connections. To end, if you are looking for an Earl Grey as I enjoy them, I cannot suggest this tea. If you want to try something that has extra flavors in it, with the unknown stuff, and the staples..... well I guess that's up to you. 

Review #64 - Care Tea Early Grey (bagged)

So lets start this whole write up with the answer to the question that's on everyone's mind.....where have I been? I guess the cliff note version is this; Don't ever get involved in your son's Robotics Club never mind run it. Huh? I know, what does tea have to do with Robotics? Only that one totally takes over your life and doesn't allow for anything else. If that's all you need then skip the next part and head straight to the review. For the rest of you curious types hang on it's going to be a fun ride.

Last year after much prompting from many different people, I started a robotics club at my sons school. The principle found some funds and away we went. Our first year was a learning year and to be honest the team only wanted to play RoboWars. I.e. smash things together. Year 2 rolls around and the maturity of the team jumps up. After more instruction the idea of entering a competition is considered. We are given a green light and a local competition is found. From there we read the rules, built a bot and practiced alot all in about two and half months. Our plan, was try not to finish last. Not only did we not finish last but we ended up in second place after the preliminary rounds. We then ended up in 1st place after the finals round with another team. This qualified us for Regionals. In our 2nd act of pure panic, we upgraded our bot, practiced even more and at Regionals, finished 1st after the preliminary round, won the overall, ended up winning 3 trophys, and received an invite to the Vex Worlds Robotics competition in Louisville, KY.  Then things really got crazy. We were featured in a local newspapers, built yet another robot in order to compete at the next level, worked on getting funding (think GoFundMe), got our own logo, got shirts,  booked flights and hotels, and oh did I mention we had to build another bot and practiced alot? So there you have it, the reason for my absence.  The only thing bad about this whole affair, I still don't know whether Androids dream of electric sheep. Sigh. Onto the review.


Aroma

The box is your basic TBDB variety and the bags found within come wrapped in a paper pouch. Once you rip one open you will not find any staples or snaps of any kind. As for aroma, there is some but I did notice how some bags had more while others had less. It's mostly a tea smell but if you linger a bit you can pick up some citrus. It was very light so I almost wonder if I was willing myself to get it. What is making this tea smell the way it does? From the box:

Fair Trade Certified Organic Black tea, Organic Bergamot. 

It should be noted that also on the side of the box is this: Care Tea is distributed by Numi Inc. Another nice bit of info is on the other side. There you will find the NON GMO label, the fair trade label and the USDA Organic label.  Needless to say I love seeing those. But we are not through. If you look at the bottom you will find information about Care Tea's Eco Care Audit which is not something you see everyday. If only all tea makers provided such relevant information.

Steeping Method

From their box and in a mere three words:

Steep 4 Mins

With only one time given I added 5 minutes and my typical stress testing.


The Results

To be fair I started at the 4 minute time. The color was light to medium, the aroma was alot more then when I first tested it and the first tastes were pretty good. As the box says this is a light tea and not one with an overwhelming bergamot flavor. As the tea cooled it gained a bit extra citrus which was a nice surprise.

Next up, the 5 minute steep time. As expected the color darkened up a bit more, the aroma grew a bit

and the flavor was a bit more balanced. The bergamot was more pronounced then at 4 minutes but I could have still used an increase for more balance. As the tea cooled and unlike the 4 minutes time, it didn't gain any citrus. It was still on the light side but still a good cup of Earl Grey.

That leaves only the stress test and guess what? It passed. Seriously, I left the bag in the cup for well over 7 minutes while I was testing and it was only after 8 or 9 minutes that I really started to taste a change in the flavor. To be honest this was my favorite. The bergamot was the strongest it was going to be, the aroma was stronger and the color was even darker. This was obviously not how Care Tea had intended anyone to drink this tea but I liked it.


Re-Steeping

Given the "hint" of bergamot to start I don't suggest a second step especially if you go with my stress test method. But if you really want to I would do 4 for the first and let it sit for the second. It will be even lighter but that shouldn't surprise anyone.

Final Thoughts

As the expression goes, this tea ticks all the boxes. Organic, Fair Trade, No GMOs, and the right packaging. They said right on the box, "A hint of bergamot orange" so it's hard for me to ask for something the tea is not. Yes I would have preferred a more balanced tea but that's not how they blended it. So if you prefer a lighter Earl Grey and like knowing exactly what is in your cup of tea, I would definitely give it a try.

Review #63 - Wissotzky Tea Imperial Earl Grey (bagged)

"Houston we have a problem." Or should I say we've had a few problems? Either way I should apologize for taking so long to get this next review out. I did something different this time and gave my twitter followers the choice of picking my next review. I then planned to do the review during the Christmas break (Happy New Year everyone) which was not a good idea. Surprise, surprise, I was way busy and never got to it. Then we hit the next bump in the road and the review almost didn't happened. So after some thought, I decided to move forward. But before I begin I'm going to take a deep breath, and try not to rant.

The tea I am reviewing today was given to me by a friend. This friend is not an Earl Grey fan nor are they tea drinkers. But given the friend title they were nice enough to find and then pick this tea up for me after checking my site. I didn't think anything of it until the actual review began. With my apologizes to Wissotzky, I really feel the tea industry needs some standardization because this tea contains cornflower but it doesn't state that point anywhere except the back. To be fair I will raise my hand and say, "ok, I should have checked before I started this review" and admit fault. But the industry as a whole needs to settle on some distinct names. I saw the word IMPERIAL and didn't even consider looking at the ingredients because other Imperials from other tea houses don't have cornflower. My friend doesn't really drink tea yet if they had grabbed this and tasted it, they would have thought this is what Earl Grey is. With all of that said, you can probably guess how this review is going to go.

Aroma

The box is a bit different then your typical TBDB because this one has this nice overlapping cover and no area at the bottom to push out for individual sales. Once you open the box you will find a foil pouch which holds all of their "silky pyramid tea bags". The aroma is not like typical Earl Greys because the cornflower changes things. I also wondered if the foil bag could be used to keep the bags fresh. After looking at the side of the box, it's apparent they did not design the pouch for that because they suggest you store it in an airtight container. As an aside, I think the amount of glue used to keep the tag stuck to the bag is too much. I ripped open 2 different bags until I finally learned to slowly peel it off.

So what is in this tea? From the box:

Selected Ceylon tea, cornflower blossom and bergamot flavor.   

You know what I am going to say about the word "flavor" so I'll just get it over with. Not knowing what is actually in my tea is not a good thing.

Steeping Method

From their box:

Pour freshly boiled water over the teabag, leave the tea tag out and allow to brew for 3-5 minutes or until the beverage reaches desired strength.  

The Results

At the 3minute mark I was met with a lighter color and aroma of a tea that has cornflower. I let it cool for a bit but the cornflower flavor didn't diminish.  The tea was definitely weighted towards the cornflower and tea and the bergamot got lost in the mix.

At the 4minute mark the color darkened a bit and the cornflower really took over. If you held the tea in your mouth for a bit you could just about pick up on the citrus. The tea was still unbalanced with the cornflower and black tea drowning out the bergamot.

At the 5minute mark this tea started to act like other teas I have tried that had cornflower. Meaning the cornflower flavor was starting to burn off. So I went to 6 minutes and even though I started to pick up some stronger flavors, burning maybe, I could taste the bergamot/ citrus a slight bit.


Re-Steeping

Given my preferences, I went straight to the 5 minute time for my first steep in an attempt to burn off

the cornflower and another 4 minutes for the second steep. What ever cornflower they used could not be burned off so my experiment didn't work.

Final Thoughts

Just to repeat, I almost didn't do this review because I went in knowing the results before the first bubbles ever formed in my electric pot. I'm not a fan of cornflower and I honestly believe that anything listed as Earl Grey should only contain two ingredients; Black tea and bergamot. If companies wish to try new things, go for it just please label them properly. If you like cornflower in your tea and don't mind not really knowing what ingredients are being used, try it. If you are more of a traditional Earl Grey drinker and believe you should know everything in your tea, then I would skip this one.

Review #62 - The Kent and Sussex Tea and Coffee Company Earl Grey Darjeeling (loose)

Today's review is a result of a nice email chat I had with a guy...er ... or I should say bloke (right??) named David from The Kent and Sussex Tea and Coffee Company.  That would be across the pond in the UK. In a virtual sense he gave me the keys to his shop and said, "go check out ALL our Earl Grey teas and pick something out for your self and I'll mail it to you."  After much thought and debate I picked out the tea we are reviewing today. Needless to say that was very cool. By the way, if anyone from Canyon, Colnago or Focus is listening, and would like to do the same thing, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Also I was contacted by a fellow Earl Grey drinker who said I should get a nicer plate to display my teas and that I should contact someone to get something especially for this site. Thanks for the idea but I can't justify asking for something of that magnitude. If someone decided on their own to do something like that, well that's completely different, but I just couldn't bring myself to send an email asking for a free plate. Now off to the review.

Aroma

As you can see from the picture the sample arrived in a resealable package. Before I cut it open I tried to pick up any hints of tea but I could not. Good start for some good packaging. Once opened I was met with a bunch of different things. To start there was definitely tea but also in there was some citrus. Not alot but still enough to warrant me to note it. At the bottom of the aroma chart was some deeper things which I believe to be some extra aroma Darjeeling brings. I pulled out my current selection of that same kind and sure enough it was in there. So what made this tea give off such an aroma? Directly from their site:

This is a unique Earl Grey Darjeeling Tea. We use a good quality medium sized leaf Darjeeling which we scent with Oil of Bergamot. 

 On the tea side it's very nice to know the kind of tea I am drinking (and that's its from India) but the bergamot oil is a bit unknown. As always I like knowing where my food comes from so maybe a location for the bergamot or maybe whether its organic or not. For some this is nit picking, but my loyal readers know it's sort of my thing.

Steeping Method

I will admit, their times caught me by surprise. From their site:

Brewing instructions: Best brewed for 2 - 3 minutes use boiling water.

What?! No 4 minute option? How can this be? So I decided, oh why not, I'll do a 4 and 5 as well.

The Results 

Starting at the 2 minute time I found a light tea with a fair amount aroma. The flavor leaned more

towards the Darjeeling side while the bergamot flavor was much less. The color was very light and the aroma sweetened up a bit as it cooled. The cooling actually let the tea balance out a bit, but this was still a Darjeeling first Earl Grey.

Next up, 3 minutes. As expected everything increased a bit more. The tea got slightly darker, the aroma improved and the flavor gained a bit more citrus. This meant it balanced out a bit but still not enough for my liking. As it cooled a bit more sweetness was added and the tea gained some complexity. It was nice to enjoy some extra flavoring.

We will now step outside the suggested steep time and let you know how things went. The first time I tried was my ol faithful 4 minutes and I have to admit, things edged towards my preference. The color was darker, the aroma gained a bit more but most importantly, the tea was even more balanced especially when allowed to cool. The flavor was still on the light side due to the distinct Darjeeling flavor coming through but now it had more complexity when it cooled. In my opinion this was the best time.

Keeping in mind we are well past the suggested steep time, I give you the 5 minute results. Unfortunately the bergamot didn't increase but rather the opposite. At this time I lost most of the bergamot flavor but like I said, it's not Kent and Sussex's fault. I went way past where they said I should go. But then again, everyone kind of knows by now when I review tea there will be stress testing. I would like to add even thought the flavor was changed, it was still a good cup of tea. I think this reflects the quality of tea used in this blend.

Re-Steeping

As you have read, this is a lighter Earl Grey which makes re-steeping a tough call for me. If you really want to get an Earl Grey both times I would go 3 then 4 minutes. If you go with my suggestion of 4 right off the bat there is very little bergamot left but you will still get a good cup of Darjeeling.


Final Thoughts

I am happy to report I think Kent and Sussex have something here. From my testing its apparent they started with a good Darjeeling as their base. We don't know where the bergamot comes from but at least they are not giving us the same old tired, "Natural flavors" ingredient listing. Is the blend to my preference? No because I like a more balanced and bolder flavor but there definitely was some nice flavors in this tea. So here are my final thoughts. If you prefer a lighter Earl Grey I would definitely suggest you try this tea. If you are like me and want something a bit bolder then go for the 4 minute steep time while keeping in mind this is not the strongest Earl Grey. Because just like wine, just because I prefer Cab Sav it doesn't mean I can't appreciate and enjoy a Pinot Gris.

Review #61 - Teekanne Earl Grey (bagged)

With the summer now officially behind us it's time I get back to reviewing Earl Grey tea. This time I thought I was traveling to a far off land where Strudel and Bratwurst are everyone's favorite dish. But instead I found a curve ball thrown my way regarding who actually makes this tea. Then when I got over that one, I was hit with another one. This time with the actual ingredients. So as I set aside my Hogan's Heroes references let's quickly dive into another review. Schnell!

Aroma

The tea comes in a TBDB box with each bag individually wrapped. I should point out the box has a slight variation in that you can also open the box by unwrapping it from the center. There is a tab that once pulled back actually reveals the steeping process in some small descriptive boxes. Peel back a bit more and there are the bags.  After all this work I still could not pick up any tea aroma, so their sealing system is dead on. Once I did get the bag open I must say I thought I had a plain black tea bag and not an Earl Grey version. I could not make out any of the bergamot or any fruity fragrances. So what was in that little bag.....welcome to our first curve ball.

If you look at the front of the box it states the following:

"Premium black tea blended with Natural Bergamot flavor"

But if you look a bit closer to the actual ingredients you'll find a few extra things in there:

"Black tea, Natural Bergamot with other natural flavors, orange peel and lemon peel."  

To start, the dreaded "Natural flavors". As you know I am no fan of unknowns in my food and those words always get me wondering. Next up, both lemon and orange peels have been added which again, if you know me, kinda make me think this really isn't a traditional Earl Grey.  Which brings us to our next curve ball, who makes it.

If you pull out your Sherlock Holmes glass and give the box a good inspection you will find the following bits of info:

"Produced for Teekanne (emphasis mine) .......snip.....by Redco Foods Inc ...... Little Falls NY"

After reading that, any thoughts of strudel went right out the window. So in fact this German tea is not actually created....made......blended....???? in Germany but rather in the US. Technically there is nothing wrong with that but the idea of trying a German tea is not going to happen with this version.
That's too bad but that's how the tea industry works for some.

Steeping Method

One of the things I did find different for this tea was the suggested steep times. Are you ready for this?

They suggested 5 - 8 mins. Which meant there was no need for me to stress test this tea because we kinda already are when compared to other Earl Greys.


The Results

Just to set the stage, this tea is all over the place when it comes to steeping, cooling, and aroma. For

example, I compared the 5 and 6 minute steep times side by side not once but twice. Hopefully I can explain this properly.

When steeping, the 6 gave off far more citrus then the 5. But once the bags were removed and it started to cool there was a 1-2 minute window where they reversed and 5 was producing more aroma then 6. But then it reverted back again. Now you know why I did it twice.

As for the flavor, I got to see some of the same behavior. When done steeping 5 had more citrus flavor while the 6 had a bit more Must. It was clearly a thicker flavor with less citrus. But after letting my oldest son try both of them I tried them again and they reversed. The 5 now had the thicker flavor while the 6 had blended quite nicely to a point of a good balance between tea and fruit. So I let the teas cool a bit more and they went back to their original state. I noticed the same thing at the 7 minute steep time. Just after you take the bag out the tea tastes one way. Let it cool and it starts to blend and mix and you get another flavor pattern. And if you don't like that, let it cool a bit more and you get another.

Thankfully the 8 minute time did not exhibit this pattern of changing. It was just a strong tea flavored Earl Grey. The balance was clearly on the tea side which is strange given there were three fruit sources. As for the color of the tea, as you can probably guess it was very dark compared to other versions.

Re-Steeping

Given how long these teas are steeped for, you can imagine there is not much left in the bag when you are done. So I would not suggest it at all. But if you must, I would shoot for 5 minutes the first time and 8 minutes the second.

Final Thoughts

So after all of this testing and cooling and all the rest, here is my take. To begin this tea starts with two strikes against it. It has unknown ingredients and it has some musty (dare I say artificial?) flavors. Where are those flavors coming from?  I don't know. As for the steeping times, you definitely can make the best cup for you given how flexible this tea is. But given how the tea reacts to cooling that may be an issue if you are a slow drinker. There are three different sources of citrus in this tea yet it still remains a mostly black tea. To end, if you are like me and like knowing all the ingredients in your food, I would skip this version. But if that is not a concern, I'd say give it a try and see if you can find a steep time that makes you happy.

Note: I could not find this tea on their site so I posted their main URL. I apologize if the language barrier prevented me from finding it.  

Review #60 - Bromley's Earl Grey (bagged)

You can thank my youngest because he is the one who found this tea when I wasn't even looking for one. I believe we were at one of those "We sell everything for your kitchen" stores. You know the type of place I'm referring too, it's the one that would make Alton "I hate uni-task-ers" Brown scream in pain. So there we were getting something, and that's when my youngest called me over. "Dad, I found an Earl Grey, have you reviewed this one yet?" Which I replied by giving him a High-five and answering, "No, No I have not, great find. "

Next up, as an engineer and someone who has written his fair share of code, I need to employ a technique in my reviews often used in Software Development. It's called Code Re-Use. The process is quite simple,  you re-use code you have already written because why should you re-invent the wheel when you have already done so.  To make things easier I will no longer review the box the tea came in if it fits into what must be a industry standardized box. After some internet research I found most places call it the (drum roll)  Tea Bag Dispenser Box. So from now on I will only refer to it as the - TBDB -. Hey if Rachel can call Extra Virgin Olive Oil, EVOO, I can do the same with boxes.

Aroma 

The tea comes in a TBDB and was sealed properly because none of aroma could be detected. Once opened you will find each tea bag sealed in its own foil that looks like the side of the TBDB. After ripping open the foil I was met with a fair amount of bergamot. Meaning I could smell it before I even put my nose close to it. When I did take a deep breath I'd call the aroma deep with a bit of linger. Meaning the aroma doesn't dissipate quickly.  What I could not pick up on was the tea. In this case the bergamot was all that was coming through.

A quick look on the bag will give you the ingredients:

"A fine blend of Black teas flavored with pure Italian bergamot oil"

To see if I could get more information on the ingredients themselves I headed off to their site. Regarding the tea I found nothing extra. what I did find if you look around their site enough is a recipe for Earl Grey Truffles. I'd post it here but I don't want to break anyone's copyright. So in this case we have to hope both the tea and oil are sourced properly and are natural in origin.

Steeping Method

A quick look to their box provides brewing suggestions:

"Bring fresh water to boil. Pour the steaming water over the tea bag. For optimum flavour, let it brew 3 to 5 minutes." 

That means I will follow their suggestion and then do my typical stress test.

The Result

 Starting with the 3min steep time, you obtain a very light colored cup with a more balanced aroma.

The flavor is very much on the light side. It's balanced but there really isn't much to it. I let it cool to see if things would improve but they didn't.

Moving on to the 4min steep time saw the color darken up a bit and a bit more flavor to enjoy. The aroma remained about the same but at least the flavor improved. That was the good part, the bad was the flavor. Yes it was still on the lighter side but what really struck me was how plain, or bland it was. The flavor was definitely Earl Grey but it really didn't make me sit up and take notice. Again I let the tea cool and this time I did get a hint more citrus but nothing that swayed my initial opinion.

That left me with the 5 minute steeping time. Just like before the color got darker, the aroma became more pronounced and the flavor increased. But, the flavor itself didn't improve, it was just more of the same. For the last time I let the cup cool in hopes of coaxing something extra out of this tea but in the end, nothing really changed. Meaning there was no complexity.

Which brings me to my stress test and guess what? I have found another tea you can just leave the bag in the water. I tried it twice to make sure and in both cases the flavor increased a bit beyond the 5 minute steep time but never really went beyond.

Re-Steeping

Given the nature of this tea, I personally would not re-steep. With such a light flavor to begin with there really isn't alot left for a second cup. But, if you must, I would go 4 minutes, finish the 1st cup then just put the bag back in and leave it for the second.

Final Thoughts

After looking around the box and the company site, I couldn't find any description of what kind of Earl Grey this was suppose to be. So I will assume (scary thing to do)  it's a light Earl Grey and treated it that way. If I'm right this tea will work for those who like a light Earl Grey. For people like me, this is a Rose' in a Merlot world and not something I would buy for myself. But if you like this type of Earl Grey, I would try it for yourself. And remember, if you do try please leave a comment so fellow Earl Grey drinkers can learn from your experience.

Review #59 - Pique Tea Earl Grey Organic Black Tea

That sound you just heard was my review system going up in a mushroom cloud. That's right, the tea sent to me doesn't really fit into my system. For example, I normally stress test most bagged teas. Can't do that with this one. Re-Steeping is another thing I look into. Buzzed! Again, can't do that either. So why is everything so messed up? Lets get on with the review so you can understand why things are soooooo different.


Aroma

As you can see from the photo there is no bag per say. Meaning there is no tea bag in the typical sense of the word because this tea has already been brewed and then crystallized. I guess you could call it powdered tea (Dare I compare it to Matcha?) but we'll stick with crystallized since that's the name Pique uses. To give you a sense of how small this package is I measured it. 3 1/4" x 3/4" at about 1/8" thick. On the front is their company name and the words Earl Grey. On the back Organic information and brewing directions.

As for the actual aroma, not much of anything which I guess is normal for this type of tea.  Given how small the package size is, there is little room for many details. So I headed on over to their website and grabbed the following:

Our delicious Earl Grey is made from the finest Organic and Fair Trade certified leaves from the world-renowned Idulgashinna Estate in the Uva region in eastern Sri Lanka. A really special area, at 3,300-6,500 feet in elevation, the Uva region receives tons of rain in winter very strong, dry winds in late summer. 

As I already touched on it, this tea is organic and sourced from Fair Trade certified tea farms so good on both points. So how do you make...brew...create.... this new tea? Lets find out.


Steeping Method

I will now present the shortest write up for this section of any review. Ready... because if you are not ready you will miss it.

                   Pour package contents into glass, add boiling water, stir and drink.

That's it.


The Result


So lets start with the tea itself and then discuss other matters. The tea has a good color and the aroma appears the minute the water hits the crystals. I would describe it as mellow, meaning it doesn't have alot of citrus to it but it definitely doesn't give off any form of perfume. The tea itself is just like it's aroma, mellow. The flavor is closely balanced weighted more towards the tea then the bergamot. Again I prefer a bit more citrus but this tea is exactly as they describe it on their site.

I let the tea sit for a bit and it pretty much remained the same as when I first poured it. As for complexity this tea doesn't really change all that much in the mouth. The first sip is very much like the last leaving a touch of sweetness. With the tasting out of the way lets talk how this tea may or may not influence the tea market.

Normally I wouldn't talk about such matters but given how quickly I was able to review this tea, I felt like I had the time and space. To begin, one of its strengths is the repeat-ability of this tea, the other is speed. As for steeping, it has to be one of the easiest I have ever tried. You don't need a pot to brew it in, you don't need to worry about getting the brewing time just right, it all just works and fast. Another positive is the package size and type. With most bagged teas the bag comes in a wrapper of some sort but some of them are paper and don't really hold up. The Pique "bags" could easily be thrown, yes I said thrown, into a backpack on your way out the door for a day of hiking.

Ironically one of it's biggest positives is also one of it's biggest negatives. Because the work of brewing this tea has been taken out of the equation you cannot tailor this tea to your liking. I did mess around with the amount of water in an attempt to change the flavor but my efforts only made it weaker. Also, because you need a certain amount of water to give the crystals room to dissolve going the other way is just not possible. Maybe a bit but, beyond that must start messing with their recipe.

Before I finalized my opinion I talked to a number of fellow tea drinkers and got their opinion on this new idea. Like me they were fascinated by the idea, thought it great for people just getting into tea but then paused because we all shared the next opinion. Part of the whole tea experience is slowing down and going through the whole process especially when having others join you. That is clearly missing from this experience. As one person pointed out, it very much reminded them of the instant coffee days.

So where does that leave us? As it always does, up to the individual to decided.



Re-Steeping 

Again may just be the shortest entry I've put in this section. Ready?

Impossible. Nothing left to re-steep.


Final Thoughts

Wrapping this review up will be harder then most because Pique has created something rather unique. My engineering side likes to see people push the boundaries and try new things so this tea, as I said before, fascinates me. The results speak for themselves because it's a good tea that is beyond easy to make, and is very super convenient to handle.  But at the same time that convenience does take away from the experience and the ability to tailor the tea to your personal likes or dislikes. Either way, try it and see if it fits your requirements.