Earl Grey Manhattan Tea from Aromatica Fine Teas is one of those teas that I have been searching for and didn’t even know it! This eye-opening Earl Grey is much more than that – Earl Grey Manhattan Tea from Aromatica Fine Teas – is the 2015 1st Place Winner of the North American Tea Championship – and I can see why! It’s everything you want in an Earl Grey and more!
Earl Grey Manhattan Tea from Aromatica Fine Teas provides your stereotypical Earl Grey flavor at first sip but then morphs into a bit more floral and ends on a smoother note than most. Something that I noticed in the aroma but not-so-much in the taste was a speck of sweetness. This intrigued me. I appreciate that they not only used sunflower blossoms – but mallow blossoms, too! They were both a lovely addition.
Eventho Earl Grey Manhattan Tea from Aromatica Fine Teas is the first of their teas that I am reviewing here – I have tried their Walnut Green Tea, too, (and will be reviewing that soon) and have REALLY enjoyed both offers already! I’ve already had 2 glowingly-positive tea experiences with this company and I can’t wait to jump in to their other offerings! I know that their other teas have also received awards but after tasting 2 of them I think they need to get a bigger shelf for all of their awards they will start collecting! Earl Grey Manhattan Tea from Aromatica Fine Teas was FABULOUS! My morning my start the RIGHT WAY now!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Aromatica Fine Teas
Description:
North American Tea Championship: 1st Place – Earl Greys category – 2013 Fall – Hot Teas Division
Also known as “Manhattan Earl Grey” yields a bright taste and extremely fragrant cup. Black tea, sunflower blossoms, flavour, mallow blossoms.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Pepper Mango Green Tea from Gurman’s
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Gurman’s
Tea Description:
Green tea with mango bits, papaya bits, pink pepper, flavouring, chili pepper, sunflower blossoms, safflower.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is such a very pretty tea to look at! It reminds me of a forest floor. The peppercorns look like ripe berries laying in a field of dried green grass that the green tea offers, along with the bits of mango giving off such an eye pleasing palate of color! The smell is intoxicating as well.
Don’t fear the peppercorns! This is such a well blended tea that you do not need to worry about a gentle palette being lit afire! The peppercorns do exactly what they should do, add a gentle presence that gives the tea a nice lift, and the dried mango does its job in sweetening up the cup! Truly you do not need to add any sweetener to this tea! While it does not have stevia or any added sweeteners to it, the mango is naturally and perfectly sweet enough to give this tea just the level of sugary goodness it needs!
The aroma while steeped is so amazing, even our own LiberTeas likened it to asian food, saying (not a direct quote) that it was savory yet sweet with a good balance. I absolutely agree here that Gurman’s managed to get this tea just right!
Originally I received this tea in a tea trade, but when I went to the site to purchase it – in great anticipation mind you, it was not on the site! I wrote Gurman’s and within days they had it back up on their site for me to buy! Now that is some good customer service if you ask me!
I have had several of their teas and every one has been excellent!
Now keep in mind as strongly flavored as this tea sounds with all the peppers, mango, etc… it is really quite a light tea, both in the color of the brew and the flavor. It is certainly now what I call a “punch in the face” flavored tea, I think many times we expect a tea with such ingredients to be so. Not this one, this is actually quite mellow and laid back. It may have peppers in it but it has manners!
Now I should say that peppers and I are friends. I don’t mind them one bit, in fact I love them. I can eat jalapenos in the raw form and often fill them with peanut butter as a snack. Granted jalapenos are not the hottest peppers out there but this is for frame of reference only. I have read a few tasting notes here and there that do say this is a spicy tea, however I just can’t honestly say it is. It only has a kick in my opinion but then you can also now see where my opinions come from!
I don’t want to give anyone a false idea that this tea is for everyone, but at the same time I don’t want to scare anyone away as it is truly a tea, and a tea company worth checking into!
Manhattan Earl Grey from Sands of Thyme
Tea Type: Black Tea
Where To Buy: Sands of Thyme
Product Description:
www.sandsofthyme.artfire.com
Ingredients: black tea, sunflower blossoms, flavor, mallow blossoms
Tasters Review:
I’m always looking for something OTHER than run-of-the-mill Earl Grey and this one fits the bill. Sure, it’s floral, but that is the draw with this one! It’s strong but creamy. The Bergamot isn’t the focus here it’s very much in the background and contributes a little more than a hint of it in the overall taste of the tea. The stereotypical Earl Grey taste is a bit more subtle that most and the floral notes have stepped up to bat for this one.
This is a nice departure from your stereotypical Earl and I like it!
Chocolate Earl Grey (TE13) from Upton Tea Imports
Tea Type: Black Tea
Where To Buy: Upton Tea Imports
Product Description:
Description:
A premium black tea combining the popular tastes of bergamot and chocolate with a hint of lemon. Decorated with flower petals and lemon peel for a delightful presentation.Ingredients:
black tea, chocolate pieces (sugar, cocoa, soy lecithin), cacao beans, lemongrass, lemon peel, corn flowers, jasmine flowers, sunflower blossoms, natural & artificial flavor
Origin:
Germany
Tasters Review:
My wonderful SororiTEA Sister Anne (AKA LiberTEAs) sent me some of this a while back and I thought I would officially add it to our blog as one of our reviews.
It’s been a while since I posted a review about an Earl Grey and I don’t think I have ever reviewed an Upton Tea on SororiTEA Sisters yet…so I figured I would check two items off of my Tea Review Bucket List today!
Chocolate Earl Grey from Upton Tea Imports – first and foremost – smells AMAZING! It’s pure chocolate and Earl Grey just like would would think – or HOPED – it would smell! This sort of takes me back to my obsession with Orange Chocolate as well! Ahhhh!
The aroma changes completely after infusion is complete. It’s still pleasant but not as awesome…I guess you could say. Don’t get me wrong – the aroma is still YUMMY but I can’t pick out each flavor like before. This doesn’t bother me too much because this often happens with flavored teas – as you know.
This infuses very dark brown and has a bit of cloudiness to it…I am assuming from the sugary-chocolate bits.
The taste is different but very good. I would say I can taste the cocoa type taste first then it quickly changes into a chocolate…so almost first being hot cocoa taste but then more of a chocolate bar taste. From there you can taste the black tea but then quickly changes into more of a bergamot and chocolate type taste. It ends more of a chocolaty-black tea flavored taste. Thru-out the entire sip it’s very smooth and the flavor changes intrigue me.
This is the first cup in a long time I have had to think about it with each sip (more than just a few sips, that is). This one kept my attention going strong the entire time.
As it cools at room temp for a few minutes I can taste a chocolate-woodsy-black tea type taste for the after taste more. This certainly isn’t a bad thing (in my book).
Anne told me to try a 2nd infusion with this one and I never pass up a 2nd infusion especially on a great cuppa! So for the 2nd Infusion…it smells like a gentle earl grey and cream.
The taste is still very smooth with a bit of sugary-ness to it and orange, floral, and cocoa hints hiding underneath.
This is a great infusion. Still a lovely tea overall…a nice treat!
Chocolate Earl Grey from Upton is an ADVENTURE in a cup! A great way to start or end the day! Wonderful!