Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Plum Deluxe
Tea Description:
The mindful morning blend is the Plum Deluxe take on classic Earl Grey.
Everyone loves Earl Grey, but we found a way to make it even better so that we can start every day with a tea blend that is truly luxurious. We began with our absolute favorite black tea, Ceylon – it is a tea from Sri Lanka that has a gentle vanilla flavor to it. We then added a tiny pinch of sweet honey, a bit of flavor and color with the cornflowers, and topped it off with the bergamot oil that makes earl grey so famous. The orange peels give it a final flavor boost.
All Plum Deluxe teas are hand-blended and infused with love in Portland, Oregon.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m enjoying my second cup of this tea. With the first cup, I neglected to “shake” the pouch and this is one tea where you want to do that. There are honey crystals in the tea and they tend to settle to the bottom of the package so you want to mix it up a little before you scoop out the tea.
I wasn’t too sure about having honey crystals in my tea. I have often said that I prefer it when tea companies don’t put sugar, honey crystals, stevia or other sweeteners in my tea because I like to decide if I want to have a sweeter tea. I like to make that decision for myself and not have it made for me. But, I like the honey in this. I like the touch of honey flavor.
To brew this, I used my Kati Tumbler. I decided to use the tumbler rather than the tea maker because I didn’t want to put honey in the tea maker. I don’t know why, but, I made the catastrophic mistake of attempting to heat milk in an electric tea kettle a long time ago, (before there was a Breville One-Touch) and since that time, I have been very careful about what I’ll put in my kettles.
Learn from my mistake and don’t ever heat anything except water in tea kettles. Just say no.
After shaking the pouch and getting some of those honey crystals to the surface, I measured 1 bamboo scoop of tea into the basket of my Kati and added 12 ounces of boiling water to the tumbler. I steeped the tea for 3 minutes and removed the basket. Now I have a tumbler full of Earl Grey yumminess.
This is actually a spin on an Earl Grey Creme tea. And it’s quite lovely.
The black tea base is a smooth, medium-bodied Ceylon. It has a pleasant flavor that’s a little earthy and a wee bit malty. It has a slightly dry finish, indicating some astringency. I would say it’s mildly astringent and it doesn’t detract from the enjoyment of the cup or the smoothness of the sip.
The bergamot is not exceptionally strong in this blend, but I think that’s probably because the vanilla notes have softened the bergamot, creating a lovely citrus-y, creamy flavor that hints at caramel tones. Bring in the light honey notes from the honey crystals and that’s where this tea really “hits the sweet spot.” The honey plus the caramel is delightfully delicious.
I do get a bright, tangy note of bergamot that’s softer than a typical Earl Grey. Then again, this isn’t a typical Earl Grey and it’s not meant to be. The vanilla adds a touch creamy. The orange peel highlights the brightness of the bergamot. And these flavors mingle in a really beautiful way with the aforementioned honeyed caramel. Mmm!
This is the first tea that I’ve tried from Plum Deluxe, and I’m so pleased with it! I really like what I’ve seen (and tasted!) from this company thus far. I love that they’re a company based locally (Portland, Oregon) and I was touched by the story that inspired the company. And I just LOVED getting a purple bubble envelope in the mail the other day! What fun! (Get it? Plum Deluxe? Purple Envelope? Loved it!)
