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Rounding out my Earl Grey Fest this afternoon, I thought I’d brew this one to compare with the cream earl greys. There’s definitely a difference – the bergamot flavour is quite strong and citrusy without anything else to balance it out. Like the others, I like this one a bit better with milk added. It’s pretty much just an uncomplicated middle-of-the-road earl grey, though I have to say that when comparing with the other two (before the milk), the base tea in this just tasted a little… flat. It’s possible it’s actually a bit stale, because this tea has definitely been in my cupboard for a while.

WHY IS THIS TEA’S NAME IN ALL CAPS? (oh, I bet someone was copy-pasting from their website in order to preseve the (wrong) accent in crème. ok, nevermind, carry on.)

I decided to get this one out to compare with the Herbal Republic Earl Grey Cream. Compared to that one, this has a much more distinct vanilla/cream flavour, it’s like BAM, right there alongside the bergamot. It also adds a bit of sweetness. They’re both good, but I think I actually prefer the other one. Interesting.

Michael Menashy from Tea Sparrow says about this tea: “Wow, I’m impressed. I am not a fan of Cream Earl Grey, but this one is exceptional. Love it!” So, there you go, it’s recommended by at least one non-Earl Grey fan. I don’t hate Earl Greys, but I don’t often crave them, you know? And I think I usually like the “cream” addition in Cream Earl Greys. Mostly I’m steeping this right now because I have cold hands and want to wrap them around a hot mug. :)

The dry tea smells strongly of bergamot – I don’t detect much vanilla. Brewed, some more of the cream/vanilla aromas come out, though it’s still predominantly bergamot. Same with tasting, actually. The base tea is solid but fairly unremarkable. There is a very faint bitterness, but I think that’s mellowing out as it cools a bit.

Ok, I tried adding sugar, which made it… sweeter, obviously, but not really better. Then I added some milk, which helped quite a bit. I guess I just needed a wee bit of actual cream in order to appreciate the cream flavour in this tea. Pretty good, but it’s not changing my life or anything. Might have to try this head to head against another cream earl grey from my cupboard to appreciate the differences.

Edited to add:
I compared it with a regular earl grey, and another brand’s cream earl grey, and here’s what I’ve concluded: the cream/vanilla favour in this is so mild, it doesn’t really stand out as its own flavour (unless you stick your nose right in the cup). What it does is mellow out the bergamot into something smoother and less tart. So it’s like a regular earl grey, but… nicer! Unless a really bitey citrus is what you’re going for with your earl grey, in which case I guess this would be a downgrade. Anyway, the other cream earl grey I own has a much more distinct vanilla/cream flavour, it’s like BAM, right there alongside the bergamot. This one, not so much. :)

This is a nice yunnan black – smooth and malty with a hint of minerality and sweetness at the end of the sip. I’m getting some citrus/bergamot notes from this, wondering if that’s the tea, or if this sample just spent some time snuggled up against an earl grey. Thanks to Anlina for the sample! :)

I got this in this month’s Tea Sparrow box – a neat change of pace from the flavoured teas! I spent a bit of time trying to decide where to leave this tasting note, since there are duplicate entries in the database, this one under “The Mountain Tea co” and the one under “Mountain Tea”. If you look at those two company listings, one has 25 teas listed under it and the other has 19, with a fair bit of duplication. What a mess! This one has a lot more tasting notes, which is why I chose it.

This is an interesting tea! With dark oolongs I tend to assume they’re going to be heavily roasted, but this one is actually just heavily oxidized – I don’t detect any roastiness at all. It is a neat blend of malty and floral, with a light, fruity note that I convinced myself was apple after reading the description. :) It’s like a light, surprisingly floral, black tea.

Having this tea for breakfast this morning! Seemed appropriate. Smooth and malty, with a bit of acidity and astringincy as the cup cools. Very nice. :)

Addendum: Second steeping (6min) was milder and sweeter, with a bit of minerality.

I’m fairly certain this is what I’m actually drinking. It came in a subscription box from the super-sketchy tastecha.com (rip-off, strongly suggest to avoid) labelled “Temi Sikkim”, but the description they provided was identical to Metropolitan’s, so…

Anyway, this is actually a really nice tea. The dry leaves are a mix of colours, mostly black but some brown and some lighter (greenish or grey). It has floral notes in the aroma, maybe a hint of bread or biscuit as well. I was thinking that it reminded me of a darjeeling, and then found out Sikkim teas are described as “darjeeling-style”. The flavour is very light and smooth, a bit floral, a bit fruity (some muscatel, I think), slightly sweet, and with a slight astringency as I reach the bottom of the cup.

I’m not going to rate this one, because brewing it turned into such a fiasco. :) So first I over-cooled the water, it was down around 65C when I checked the temp in my mug. I let it steep for 2min, and it was weak. So then I let it steep for another 1min, and it was still weak. Then I put the tea basket back in the mug and promptly forgot about it for… I don’t even know how long. By the time I remembered, it was no longer too weak! But it was fairly bitter. It actually wasn’t undrinkable, but not particularly enjoyable. I decided to take the leaves for another steep, and for this one I added a little less than 1tsp of peppermint leaves to the basket, and steeped with water just off the boil, but for only 1 minute. After that I stirred in some sugar for the true Morroccan tea experience (in my kitchen, lol). Pretty good! But I think I’m mostly tasting the mint. :p