Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Luhse Tea
Tea Description:
Story: Queen Song is clearly not your typical gorilla. She’s a risk taker and norm-breaker. She couldn’t just leave traditional Earl Grey alone.
Tea Description: Earl Grey’s flamboyant brother. Added vanilla takes average Earl to a whole new level.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Ah, this is nice! I love Earl Grey – as I’ve mentioned many times! – and I love it when I find a delicious creamy Earl Grey like this Dorian Grey Tea from Luhse Tea. The traditional bergamot flavored black tea with a touch of sweet, creamy vanilla makes this Dorian Grey different from the classic Earl.
It would seem that I’ve tasted almost as many Earl Grey “Creme” blends as I have the traditional Earl Grey teas … because it would seem that for every Earl grey tea that there is out there, there is the creamy counterpart. But please do not read that as a complaint … just a statement of observation. I love Earl Grey, and I’m certainly not going to complain that there are too many Earl Grey teas out there – all the more for me to sample, my dear!
And I’m really enjoying this Dorian Grey Tea. I wasn’t too sure about it when I first opened my sampling of this tea, because the aroma was rather muted. I didn’t smell a whole lot of bergamot, or vanilla … or well, anything. I was worried that either my olfactory nerves were not operating properly, or maybe the tea was a stale sampling. However, once, I brewed the tea, the aroma came forward! Beautiful citrus-y notes, hints of flower, and a lovely vanilla overtone. My taste buds started to jump for joy.
The flavor is really quite delightful. The vanilla is just a tad stronger than the bergamot … but it doesn’t overpower it. It mellows out the bergamot – as I expected it to – but I still taste the tangy citrus notes. The cream adds a lovely sweet note to the cup … and the thing I love about creamy Earl Grey teas is that it’s a built-in “latte” – no dairy required!
This is a smooth, wonderful tea. A great choice for those who find the traditional bergamot tea to be a bit too much … this is softer, creamier, and more decadent! I love it!
Organic Creamy Earl Grey Black Tea from Fashionista Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Fashionista Tea
Tea Description:
Organic, high grown estate black tea hand blended with cornflowers, fragrant oil of bergamot and a touch of French Vanilla.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Well, this is it, folks! This is the last tea that I have to try from the Fashionista Tea collection! And I saved (one of) the best for last! Organic Creamy Earl Grey Black Tea!
If you’ve been reading my reviews for any length of time, you are probably pretty aware of my love affair with the smooth Mr. Grey. I’ve never made it any secret of how much I adore the combination of rich black tea and the tangy bergamot fruit. And I’m always excited to try variations of the classic combination of bergamot and black tea … like this Creamy Earl Grey from Fashionista Tea.
They combined the delicious flavor of the traditional favorite and added a touch of French Vanilla, which adds a smooth, creamy note … eliminating the need to add milk or cream to get that delicious latte flavor! This has that flavor built right in!
But that’s not the reason I love it so much (because I rarely add milk or cream to my Earl Grey tea … make that VERY rarely … as in nearly never!) I love this because the creaminess of the vanilla gives the Earl Grey a really different kind of flavor. It is smooth and creamy, of course, and sweeter than the standard Earl Grey, but it is the play between those sweet, creamy notes and the bergamot that I really enjoy. It gives it an almost “creamsicle” kind of taste … only more interesting because the orange notes here are bergamot orange! It tastes like an exotic creamsicle.
The bergamot is markedly toned down here, it is not as sharp or tangy as it is in the classic version of Earl Grey. But don’t mistake that as meaning that there is less flavor – because this cup is definitely a full-flavored tea. It has a rich, solid flavor that offers a creamy overtone, tangy mid-notes and a strong, black tea base that supports it all. It is not overly astringent (it’s quite mild as far as astringency goes!) and not at all bitter. Just … really enjoyable!
After having tried all of the teas in the Fashionista Tea collection, I really must say that this company has some MUST TRY teas in their collection … and this one is among them. I’d also recommend their Fashionista Blend and their White Tip Jasmine Tea. Of course, you can’t go wrong with the Basic Black Blend, either. And you’ll LOVE getting a package in the mail from them – the packaging is as much fun as the tea!
Raspberry Cream Flavored Black Tea from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
I was thinking, you always see teas fashioned after strawberries & cream, peaches & cream, even blueberries & cream, but why not raspberries & cream? So, of course, I had to make one. Here’s our premium black teas with real freeze-dried raspberries and organic flavors. And yes, it’s as delicious as it sounds. Hot or iced, it’s just nice.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
I have to agree with the above description from 52Teas, you really don’t see a whole lot of raspberries and cream flavored teas out there. I’ve come across quite a few strawberries and cream … occasionally the peaches and cream and the rare blueberries and cream, but I can’t recall a raspberries and cream flavored tea. I might have come across one, but I certainly don’t remember it.
So I was excited to try this Raspberry Cream Flavored Black Tea from 52Teas when it was announced for the week of February 11. The flavor combination sounds so yummy!
And it is. The black tea base offers a solid backdrop of flavor, it is rich and robust. Not too astringent, not bitter … just flavorful: slightly earthy, hints of malt that meld nicely with the cream notes, and a smooth, rich flavor that supports the flavors of raspberry and cream very well. I like that the black tea tastes comes through strongly with this cup.
The next taste that I notice is the raspberry. The sweet-tart flavor of raspberry comes through right at the start, and is noticed throughout the sip, but, is especially noticeable at the finish and into the aftertaste when there is that pleasant tangy taste that tickles the tongue as if I just popped a fresh, juicy raspberry in my mouth.
The cream flavors are a little less noticeable. I find myself wishing for a tad more creaminess in this cup – just a hint more sweet, vanilla-y cream taste. The cream flavor does come out really nicely when a splash of milk is added to the cup, but, when I drink “cream” flavored teas I want the cream notes to come through without the addition of dairy. As the tea cools slightly, I notice the cream notes just a little more … so this is a tea that definitely benefits from a brief wait time from the moment it is poured until you take a sip (just a few minutes is all you need wait!)
A really tasty tea!
Milkie Way Candy Bar Tea from Dori’s Tea Cottage
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Dori’s Tea Cottage
Dori’s Tea Cottage on eBay
Tea Description:
Just like your favorite candy bar, this tea is a yummy blend of chocolate-, cream- and caramel-flavored premium black teas. All the taste of a chocolate and caramel sweet — without the calories!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is really yummy! I don’t know if this Milkie Way Candy Bar Tea from Dori’s Cottage tastes just like a candy bar, but, I do taste the flavors of chocolate, caramel and vanilla cream, along with a rich tasting black tea base, and I am really enjoying the taste of this.
The flavoring is about on even keel with the black tea base – that is to say, that while don’t think that the black tea stands out as the strongest taste in this cup, I don’t think that the chocolate, cream and caramel flavors are overwhelming the cup either. There’s a good balance between flavoring and tea.
This is a very flavorful black tea – I suspect it is a Ceylon, but it very good quality one. It has a rich taste to it, and I don’t know if it’s this particular combination of flavors that enhances it, but I do taste an ever-so-slight smoky note as well as hint of earth. There are notes of fruit … very distant notes, but I taste them.
There is a nice level of chocolate flavoring here, and I like the way it mingles with the aforementioned slightly smoky tones. It brings out the roasted flavor of the cacao. The caramel is sweet with a vague bitter burnt-sugar note. And then there is the cream which gives the overall cup a very luscious, sweet, creamy taste.
A very enjoyable cuppa, delicious hot or cold – very nice as a latte!
Oolong Crème from Sloane Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Amoda Tea
Tea Description:
True luxury tea. Sloane Tea exudes elegance and old world charm and has a line-up of premium teas, beautifully packaged. Their teas are sourced, selected and blended by in-house certified tea sommeliers. The director studied perfumery in France, so her blends are amazingly aromatic and skillfully scented and flavoured.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This tea was the first that I tried from this month’s Amoda Tea Tasting Box (Yes, I’m actually trying a tea from January’s box… in January! Maybe I am getting caught up!), and it is a good one! Oolong Crème from Sloane Tea is a milk Oolong that has been lightly flavored to enhance the naturally creamy notes of the milk Oolong.
I brewed this the way I brew most Oolongs – in my gaiwan. Using short steeps, I produced three very lovely cups (combining the first two infusions for cup one, infusions three and four made cup two, and infusions five and six made cup number three). I suspect I could have gotten a fourth cup from these leaves too, because the third cup was still very flavorful (and to tell the truth, it may have been my favorite of the three!) but my time was required elsewhere, so I wasn’t able to work on a fourth cup.
But the three cups I did enjoy were lovely. The first cup was very much like a milk Oolong (which it is, so, I guess that should be expected!) the flavor is sweet and creamy and delicate in this first cup. This first cup is so creamy, it is difficult to discern any floral or fruity notes, they seem to be somewhere in the background … almost lost but not quite. The creaminess makes up for it though, because it is so wonderful!
With the second cup, I found that the flavor had intensified. Still sweet and creamy … but less delicate. The mouthfeel is remarkably smooth and silky. Now I taste a little bit more flower. A hint of fruit begins to emerge in the background reminding me vaguely of plum. Very soft and pleasant overall. I find this second cup to be extraordinarily soothing and peaceful. A perfect cup with which to unwind.
I notice a crispness to the third cup that I didn’t find with the first two. The creaminess has waned somewhat, making way for a lighter flavor that is refreshing and crisp. A slight astringency comes forward here too. It is still creamy though, and certainly sweet … just a little less creamy than the first two which allows some of the other characteristics of the tea to appear. I almost taste … a minty note here … the crispness gives off a minty kind of note, and although it’s not a strong and obvious note, it’s certainly a surprising element.
This was a very enjoyable milk Oolong, certainly worth a try for those who love milk Oolong – and I know that there are a lot of you out there!