Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Empire Tea Services
Product Description:
An unsurpassed floral tribute to Ceylon tea. Blended with Lavender flowers.
Taster’s Review:
This has to be one of the most remarkable Lavender teas I’ve ever encountered – certainly the best Lavender black tea I’ve yet to taste.
From the moment that I opened the pouch, I was amazed at just how fragrant the tea is. It smells like pure lavender. So beautiful! It doesn’t smell like lavender oil. It doesn’t smell like artificial lavender essence. It smells like the fresh flower, as if I were standing in a field of lavender in bloom. As the tea brews, my whole kitchen is filled with the scent of lavender! If you want a fresh-smelling kitchen – this stuff works better than potpourri or candles!
The flavor is superb! If you like the flavor of lavender – this tea should be put on your “must try” list immediately! The lavender flavor is intense and so true – but at the same time, it doesn’t taste like I’ve just taken a swig from a bottle of lavender body wash. It doesn’t taste perfume-y or soapy. It tastes sweet and floral.
The black tea is not lost here either. It does stand back to allow the lavender flavors to express themselves fully, while not standing so far away that it can’t be noticed. This is one of the very best floral flavored black teas I’ve ever encountered. It allows for a perfect representation of the flower while still keeping the flavors of the black tea in focus.
This is great hot or cold – perfect for a garden tea party!
Grey Duchess from Souvia
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Souvia
Product Description:
A Souvia exclusive! We compine the flavor of real vanilla, earl grey and lavender. Mellow and mild, a great soother.
Ingredients: Black Tea, Organic Lavender, Vanilla, Bergamot oil, flavoring
Taster’s Review:
This is lovely!
I adore a good Earl Grey tea, and this takes a good Earl Grey two steps further with the addition of lavender and vanilla. This isn’t an Earl Grey Cream or an Earl Grey Lavender – it’s both! Two great tastes in one (or perhaps I should say three great tastes in one!)
The black tea provides a solid base for this blend. It is strong and flavorful with a light astringency that hits at the tail. The astringency is delicate and slightly dry, allowing for enjoyment of the sweetness of the vanilla tones in the aftertaste.
I find this tea to be very well-balanced. No one flavor seeks to overthrow another. The sip begins with the brisk strength of the black tea, and the bergamot comes up immediately which is tempered with the smooth, creamy taste of vanilla. The lavender comes in about mid-sip, a beautiful, mellow floral taste.
The overall cup is quite soothing and smooth, sweet and delicious. I would recommend this to the tea drinker who finds most Earl Grey teas to be a bit too strong or overbearing for their tastes – this one is very mild and calming. Very nice!
Organic Lavender Earl Grey from Two Leaves and a Bud
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Two Leaves and a Bud
Product Description:
We added organic French lavender flowers to an Organic Assam base to create this smooth, refreshing and relaxing Lavender Earl Grey. Layers of wild honey and a light bergamot citrus finish make this the perfect variation on a theme for Earl Grey fanatics.
Taster’s Review:
I am, indeed, one of those “Earl Grey fanatics” as mentioned in the above description. I love Earl Grey!
And the more Earl Grey teas that I drink, the more I am starting to discover just how much I like the Earl Grey with Lavender varieties. I like how the flowery notes of the bergamot meld with the flavor of the lavender. It creates a unified floral tone for the cup.
The base of this tea is a strong Assam tea. It has a malty note to it and a bold character that holds up well to the sometimes aggressive flavor of bergamot. By doing so, the bergamot remains strong but doesn’t overpower the cup and come off tasting pefume-ish.
One might think that the addition of the lavender would increase the odds of it tasting perfume-ish, but it really doesn’t. This addition allows the floral tones to flourish, however, the Assam is sturdy enough to keep the flowery notes from going crazy.
This is a very pleasantly smooth, rich tasting Earl Grey with a lovely twist. It has a light astringency and a sweet finish. If you like Earl Grey, you’ll love this one!
Lover’s Lane from Indie Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Indie Tea
Product Description:
Ahhh…Who Can Argue Against Romance?
To Turn An Otherwise Ordinary Occasion Into A Treasured Memory Where If You Play Your Cards Right, You May Even Get To See A Full Moon.
Taster’s Review:
This is a unique and beautiful blend – one of the most unique blends I think I’ve ever come across!
The green tea base is an organic Dragon Well green tea. It offers a pleasant vegetative taste without tasting too grassy. It is lightly sweet but not buttery the way a Sencha would have been, and I think that the buttery tone would have overwhelmed the other ingredients. Dragon Well is absolutely the best choice for this blend.
The rose and the lavender together create a harmonious floral quality that is seamless. It is a sweet and romantic pairing, offering a lovely floral taste without coming across as a soap-like taste. The orange here is probably the softest flavor, but I like that it is there. It is just the right touch of bright, sunny taste.
I have been very impressed with this tea company – Indie Teas. They offer unique blends that you are probably not going to find anywhere else. These teas are works of art!
Achieve Clarity – Vanilla Earl Grey from Teamotions
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Teamotions
Product Description:
Flavor Profile Rich and robust black tea with notes of citrus and vanilla.
Ingredients Earl Grey Black Tea, Black Congu Tea, Black Breakfast Blend, Neem leaf, Tulsi, Lavender, Cornflowers, Natural Flavors.
Emotional Benefit Improves mental function. Calms a racing mind. Helps restore one’s ability to think clearly under stress and emerge from denial or confusion.
Taster’s Review:
This is a remarkable and deliciously different variation on the classic Earl Grey, and I’m enjoying it quite a lot!
The black tea is quite bold, and no wonder! This is a blend of an Earl Grey black tea, a Black Congu, and a Breakfast Blend (Assam and Ceylon?) With that many different black teas forming the base of this blend, it made me wonder if the bergamot might get lost in the mix. But one sniff of the dry leaf assured me that the bergamot is definitely there.
The aroma of the brewed tea is quite delightful. I love the way the various black teas, bergamot, vanilla, tulsi, neem and lavender mingle together to create one very intriguing and nose-pleasing fragrance. This is a tea that you want to inhale deeply before taking a sip to get full effect from the scent as well as the flavor.
The black tea is bold and robust, and there is a fairly strong astringency to this cup – it is slightly drying and leaves the palate feeling clean so that the aftertaste of vanilla, bergamot and the slightest whisper of mint can be enjoyed.
The bergamot flavor is considerably softer than in a typical Earl Grey tea, or even in a typical Earl Grey Creme for that matter. In fact, it is the vanilla that reaches the palate first. Smooth and creamy – and beautifully sweet! The bergamot is more of a sneaky flavor in this blend – peeking in and out of the sip. While I do love my bergamot strong and bold, it is also nice to come across one that is more mysterious like this.
The Neem, Tulsi and lavender do not contribute a lot of flavor to the cup, but I can taste a very subtle mint-like tone from the Tulsi. The lavender presents a VERY delicate yet distinct note that develops as I continue to sip, but it never becomes a strong presence in the cup.
Neem is not a taste that I’m very familiar with, I only remember trying it once or maybe twice. So, I can’t really tell you that I’m tasting Neem or not, but, what I can say is that I am familiar with the other flavors of this blend. I do detect a rather unusual sweetness – I want to describe it as an almost “wild” tasting sweetness – that is quite enjoyable.
This tea is a myriad of delicious flavors that makes for a very contemplative tea. It is aptly named “Achieve Clarity” as it does seem to recharge the mind and readies it to do what it does best – think! What a perfectly brilliant blend!