Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Jeeves & Jericho
Tea Description:
Now for something completely spectacular: our very own Girlie Grey blend. It’s a medium-bodied black loose leaf Assam tea with pretty rose buds and slivers of dried lemon pieces.Girlie Grey is a delicious dance of flavours with a decadent vanilla sweetness contrasted with a zesty citrus taste. It’s both a visual and gastronomic extravaganza…a boudoir in a cup!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I tried this Girlie Grey Black Tea from Jeeves & Jericho once a couple of years ago and after trying it that one time, I knew I had to try some more. Thanks to an online tea friend, I have that opportunity!
This is wonderful! It’s a delightful twist on the classic Earl Grey. The black tea base is an Assam tea and it’s rich and malty. I like the strength of this base, it’s bold and solid without being too aggressive. It’s not bitter or overly astringent. It has a light sweetness to it that interacts well with the notes of vanilla – creating a sweet, creamy, almost caramel-y sort of taste.
The tangy bergamot is softened by the vanilla and there is just a hint of tartness to this from the lemon. The rose adds a soft floral note that accentuates the natural floral tones to the bergamot in a pleasing way. It all comes together nicely.
Two thumbs up for this one!
Earl Grey Tea from Pipers Loose Leaf Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Pipers Loose Leaf Tea
Tea Description:
Made with the finest China teas including a large portion of white tips (the most prized leaf of the plant) and blended with the highest quality Sicilian oil of bergamot available.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is the last of the four teas that Pipers Loose Leaf sent to me, and it would appear that I saved the best for last. I liked a couple of the teas that they sent me and I really enjoyed the Red Grey that I tried which kind of surprised me because I don’t usually think I’ll enjoy a ‘rooibos’ Earl Grey. That one was quite nice.
But this Earl Grey Tea from Pipers Loose Leaf Tea is the best one that I tried from them. First of all, the dry leaf! It’s beautiful! The leaves are whole and large. They’re chocolate brown and wiry and there are several ‘white tips’ in there too. Beautiful. The aroma is strong and distinctly bergamot and you know that I loved that.
To brew the tea, I used my Breville One-Touch and measured 2 bamboo scoops of the tea into the basket. Then I added 500ml of water to the kettle and set the timer for 2 1/2 minutes and the temperature for 205°F.
No real reason for choosing 205° over the boiling temperature of 212°F except that I felt more comfortable using a slightly lower temperature with all the white tips in the tea. I don’t know that the slightly lower temperature would make all that much difference, and really, there were probably 4 white tips that were among the many chocolate brown leaves in the basket, so I doubt that their presence in the basket would have deemed necessary a slightly lower temperature. But I also didn’t figure that seven degrees below boiling would have made all that much difference to the ability of the black leaves to release their flavor fully. So I just went with my gut and my gut told me to use 205°F. So that’s what I did.
Nice. The bergamot flavor is a bit on the subtle side. The aroma was quite strong and led me to think that this would be a very bergamot-y cup. Don’t get me wrong, the bergamot is THERE and it’s quite wonderful. It’s just a bit softer than the dry leaf aroma would led me to believe it would be.
What makes this particular tea so nice is the way the black tea comes through. It’s a rich, malty black tea. It has a pleasantly thick texture to it and it has a solid, full flavor. Nicely round. And really quite smooth! There is very little astringency to this, even as I focus on trying to find the astringency to this tea, I find very little. Just a very slight dry note toward the finish. It’s so very slight that when I take the sip, I don’t notice it unless I am trying to find it. A smooth, robust delivery from start to finish.
The bergamot is softer, as I mentioned, but it’s a pleasant sweet-tangy citrus taste. It’s bright and invigorating. I know that Earl Grey is a popular tea to go ‘latte’ with, but I don’t know that I’d suggest doing that with this particular Earl Grey, because I think that the milk or cream might overwhelm the bergamot flavor. I find that the bergamot develops as I continue to sip and now that I’m just past the halfway point in my cup, the flavor is stronger than when I first started.
It’s still not as strong as some of the more boldly flavored bergamot teas I’ve had in the past, and not quite as strong as the aforementioned Red Grey that I tasted a few days ago. But, even though that Red Grey was stronger – bergamot wise – I find myself still preferring this tea to that one because I like the way the bergamot plays with the black tea notes here.
This is lovely. My adoration of a good Earl Grey is no secret by now, I’m sure! And this is a good one. I don’t know that it would be able to eek it’s way into my ‘top 3’ or even my top 5. But, I’m enjoying it and I’d be happy to drink it again.
Red Grey Tisane from Pipers Loose Leaf Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Roiboos
Where to Buy: Pipers Loose Leaf Tea
Tea Description:
A caffeine free version of Earl Grey using the finest Rooibos enhanced with organic Sicilian bergamot oil resulting in an absolutely delicious rich, flowery tea with bright citrus notes.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve sampled some decent tasting Earl Grey inspired rooibos blends and some not so decent tasting Earl Grey inspired rooibos blends, and I think I’ve probably tried more not so decent ones than decent. So when it comes to trying one that I haven’t yet tasted, I tend to be a little hesitant because the memories of the not so decent ones outweigh the decent ones.
So, I was a little hesitant to try this Red Grey Tisane from Pipers Loose Leaf Tea – but fortunately, this tea surpassed my expectations. This is really quite good!
The sweet, nutty flavor of the rooibos complements the bright citrus notes of the bergamot really well. The bergamot is not overdone and I think it’s important to note that because with bergamot, when overdone, it can end up tasting soapy. Here, there is just enough bergamot flavor to add a tangy-sweet flavor to the cup without it tasting soap-ish.
And while I’m not often a fan of the flavor of rooibos, I like the way the nutty flavors go with the bergamot. The earthy flavor of the rooibos balances out that zesty flavor of the bergamot nicely. Hints of flower add some dimension to the tea.
Overall, a very pleasant cuppa.
Earl Grey Tea from Rington’s Premium English Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Rington’s Premium English Teas
Tea Description:
Aromatic light black tea bags. From our ‘Extra Fresh’ family of teas. A premium quality fair traded aromatic blend of black tea, delicately flavoured with natural bergamot flavour.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Earl Grey Tea from Rington’s Premium English Teas: another bagged Earl Grey. I decided to go into this experience with an open mind and determined to find the good in this tea. I feel like lately, most of my bagged tea reviews have been ‘bagging’ on the tea bag. I want to try to keep an open mind because I have, in fact, tried decent bagged teas. Sure, loose leaf is better. Loose leaf is the way to go in about 98% of all situations, but there is the occasion when bagged teas are certainly more convenient even if they aren’t more flavorful.
So I steeped the bag in one of my favorite mugs, using 8 ounces of boiling water for 3 minutes. Now that I’m sipping this, I wish I would have gone with 2 1/2 minutes because this is a tad more astringent than I would like it to be and I think that a slightly shorter steep time might help to reduce that.
My first impression: the flavor is a bit off. The bergamot tastes strange to me, it doesn’t have that crisp tangy flavor that I expect from bergamot.
Again, I want to find the good in this tea, so I’m not tossing it yet! The black tea. It’s alright. It has a pleasant flavor. It’s rich and has a light malty note to it. It is astringent, like I’ve already mentioned. It has a dry sensation toward the tail of the sip.
On the good side: although the bergamot isn’t quite what I expected when I tasted this tea, it isn’t ‘bad’ – it’s just a bit sweeter than I expected from bergamot. It tastes like maybe the bergamot has been ‘enhanced’ by another orange flavor to soften the edge of the bergamot. The black tea has a pleasant flavor. And this tea does taste better as it cools – this would make a really nice iced tea.
I suspect that this might be alright to someone who hasn’t tasted better Earl Grey teas. That is to say, if all they’ve been drinking is other brands of bagged Earl Grey teas, they might find this one to be just as acceptable as some other bagged Earl Grey teas, perhaps even better than others. It’s certainly not the worst Earl Grey I’ve ever tried, but it’s not the best either. But if you’ve tried a really good, loose leaf Earl Grey tea, you’ll more than likely find this one lacking, I’m sorry to say.
Ginger Ale Iced White Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
Our amazing organic shou mei fannings blended with the organic flavors of ginger and bergamot. We think it makes the ultimate tribute to ginger ale. But what do you think?
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve been back and forth with this Ginger Ale Iced White Tea from Southern Boy Teas. I like it … but I find myself not as happy with it as I was with the original Ginger Ale. I don’t know if it’s because that tea was crafted with Bai Mu Dan and this is Shou Mei.
Or maybe it’s because since having tried that Ginger Ale tea, I’ve been exposed to a few really awesome ginger ale sodas that have knocked my socks off and perhaps my expectations of ginger ale are higher now. Perhaps those experiences have raised the bar for me.
That’s not to say that I’m not enjoying this. I find it tasty and very refreshing. We’ve had some rather warm weather here lately (sorry for those of you who aren’t getting that same warm weather!) and this is really nice for when I need something cold and tasty that will quench the thirst.
Still, I find myself tasting a little more bergamot than ginger and I’m wishing that the ginger had just a wee bit more bite to it. I guess it goes back to what I was saying before, some of the ‘gourmet’ ginger ale sodas that I’ve tried in the last few years have been absolutely outstanding and I find myself wanting that kind of flavor.
Overall, though, if you enjoyed the first Ginger Ale tea from 52Teas, I think you’d enjoy this. It’s tasty. I found that I enjoyed the second half gallon pitcher of the tea more than the first – so, this is one you definitely want to resteep!
This review will publish at the very tail end of Southern Boy Teas’ Indiegogo Campaign to raise funds to build the brand. Support this small business and help it grow!