Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: WayGood Tea
Tea Description:
An exquisite black tea flavored with aromatic lavender flowers & bergamot.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Lavender Earl Grey Cleanse from WayGood Tea is one of the most unusual Earl Grey teas that I’ve encountered.
Let me start with the “cleanse” part of this tea. I’m not a doctor or one who specializes in herbs. I’m not someone who recommends a ‘cleanse’ or a ‘detox’ because neither of these activities are something of which I partake. I don’t drink tea for health benefits. I don’t drink tea to cleanse, detox or lose weight. I drink tea because I like the way it tastes.
Now, if I happen to find a tea that I enjoy drinking, I certainly don’t mind at all if it happens to have the cleansing, detoxifying or weight loss benefits in addition to a great flavor. But flavor should come first. I drink tea because I like the flavor of it, if I want to drink something for health benefits, I’ll go drink some wheatgrass juice.
I don’t drink wheatgrass juice. I drink stuff I like to drink. That’s why I stick to tea.
So now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let me turn my attention to this tea. It’s one of the more unusual “twists” to the classic Earl Grey teas that I’ve yet to taste. That’s not to say that I don’t like it – to be honest, I haven’t actually decided if I do or I don’t! It’s quite different.
The rosemary adds it’s distinctive fragrance to the overall cup and when I lift the cup to my lips to take a sip, I smell the rosemary. While the rosemary and bergamot seem to complement each other aromatically, the first few sips were a little strange because I expected to smell bergamot but I smelled the rosemary with the bergamot (as well as notes of lavender and juniper berry) and the medley of aromas is just … well, it’s different. It is unexpected.
But, even though it IS different and unexpected, it’s quite pleasant! I’m not hating the flavor here at all. Quite the opposite.
That said, one big disappointment about this tea is that the black tea isn’t a particularly strong flavor. It’s more of a background note and that’s even a little more generous than the flavor here actually represents. The black tea tastes thin (almost like it’s a decaffeinated black tea). It’s a very weak tasting black tea and I’m of the opinion that black tea should have some vigor to it.
I steeped this for four minutes in 205°F – that should not have produced a weak tasting black tea unless the black tea is not a particularly strong tea to begin with … or it’s a decaffeinated tea.
The bergamot isn’t a particularly strong flavor as it melds with the flavors of lavender, rosemary and juniper berry. The orange peel enhances the notes of bergamot somewhat, but not really enough for someone who is a bergamot fan like I am.
I don’t taste much from the elderberry either. Of the seven elements of this tea, I taste the rosemary the strongest while the pine-y notes of the juniper seem to accentuate the rosemary, then I taste the lavender, followed by the bergamot (and orange), the black tea and then the elderberry. It tastes herb-y, pine-ish and floral with hints of citrus in the background.
Overall, it’s a pleasant cup of tea, but I find myself wanting to taste TEA here, and I’m not tasting a lot of it. It’s a very weak tea – but as far as a cleansing or detox type of tea, this is quite enjoyable.
Planters’ Earl Grey Tea from PMD P.M. David Silva & Sons
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: PMD P.M. David Silva & Sons
Tea Description:
We have taken this cherished tea back to its roots. Many of the Earl Grey teas on offer are created to misguide consumer’s senses. Tea makers mask poor quality tea with blue cornflowers as a visual distraction and then over scent the tea with artificial Bergamot essence. At PMD we have selected a high quality low grown tea and married it with natural bergamot oil; creating you a heavenly aromatic experience whilst finishing with smooth, citrus notes.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Earl Grey is a hit or miss kind of tea for me. I either love it or hate it. I’m not a huge fan of floral teas that completely overwhelm the senses. I even shied away from them until I met my boyfriend who loves them. He fell in love with them when he was traveling abroad.
This tea comes in two different variations, loose and bagged, which is very convenient for on the go people or for work. I have all of my tea hardware at work (kettle, teapot, filters, etc.) but sometimes you just want to plop the tea in some water and go. This is a tea that I think you could do just that with. I brewed this up on in my favorite rooster mug (yep, I have a rooster mug) with 1 cup of 212F water for about 3 minutes. Without question, I could tell this was an earl grey and hesitation started to grow. I wasn’t in the mood to be smacked in the face with a huge heaping of cup full of bergamot oil.
First sip, holy cow! This is a sleek and polished earl grey! Very smooth! With an incredible rich black base to boot! The citrus notes are a delightful addition. After a few sips, I added in some milk and made myself a latte which brought out the richness even more. As it cools off, the flavors mingle delightfully together and really provide a fantastic treat. Yum!
I’m incredibly impressed with this one! This Earl Grey may be the best bagged Earl Grey I’ve ever had!
Blue Sky Blend Black Tea from J. Atkinson & Co
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: J. Atkinson & Co
Tea Description:
Renowned as we are for our Earl Grey Extra we thought we’d add another member to our citrus flavoured black tea family. With the addition of Orange already taken up on the market in the delightful form of Lady Grey, we looked to the next size up from Bergamot, which one only ever seems to find in Earl Grey, and settled on the Grapefruit. In creating this blend we decided to go for the sweeter more distinctive Pink Grapefruit. With the delicate decorative embellishment of Blue Cornflower petals we warmed to our theme of creating a cheery ‘Recession-busting’ refreshment. Blue Sky Blend was born and was so enamoured by the Judges at the North West Fine Food awards that they gave it a Gold Medal on its first outing into the wider world. Under the premise that ‘another cup of tea’ is the greatest procrastinator to the creative process, we would recommend that if you’re looking to do some Blue Sky Thinking get Blue Sky Drinking! (I obviously need to go and do just that…!)
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Also known as “Grapefruit Earl Grey”, this Award Winning blend certainly packs a citrus scented punch. Whilst raw it has a wonderful grapefruit, rose and floral scent that is very refreshing but super citrusy at the same time.
In flavour this is lightly sweet with moderate grapefruit and rose petal tones which offers a refreshing taste compared to it’s dark black tea base. Somewhat perfumed but in a wonderful way! Every time I drink rose petals in tea it makes me feel beautiful, and this tea holds no exception. Behind the floral and citrus notes is a dark, malt base which holds the lighter flavours together.
Throughout the flavours remain consistent, even as it cools, and I would say that the balance of flavours was delightful! An inventive twist on the classic Earl Grey but a blend that keeps itself ‘close to home’.
Overall I would say this makes a pleasant change from your classic Earl Grey but keeping the elegance and debonair vibe it has accustomed over the years. While it may not take the place of some of my beloved Earl Grey blends on my shelf, I admit the grapefruit is a wonderful extra in the early afternoon!
So, grapefruit in an Earl Grey? Yes please!
Girlie Grey Black Tea from Jeeves & Jericho
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.
