Earl Grey Supreme TE14

Just a little note to say how the face off between this tea and Arbor Tea’s Organic Earl Grey went.

This one wasn’t the winner. It doesn’t have the astringency Arbor Tea’s version does, but it doesn’t have as much bergamot either. What’s there is mostly on the aftertaste. There’s also a flat, woody note in it that makes it kind of unexciting.

In defense of this tea, I do like it a lot with additives. I forgot to doctor the Arbor Tea’s EG before finishing off the sample so it’s possible this one still might win the ‘With Milk and Sugar’ taste off battle. But it doesn’t with the unadulterated battle so I’m lowering the rating just a tad.

I think I liked this one better than EGSs I’ve had from Harney and, IIRC, American Tea Room (actually I think I’m remembering ATR Earl Grey Sterling, which was bizarrely gross tasting…not sure if that was a bad sample though or what). It was good! But I’ve never had one I liked markedly more than “normal” ones, so it never seems to merit actually stocking. I liked the Original Whole Leaf EG from Upton I had earlier today about as much, case in point.

Since I love and can crave Upton’s Earl Grey Vanilla, the natural next step is to test their other Earls. Chocolate Earl Grey is crave-worthy too, and “Natural” Earl Grey was pleasant…so is this one (pleasant). Having gotten into a (bad) habit of adding Coffeemate Sweet Cream or Vanilla Cream to the EGV, I was a little worried about testing this with only a T. of honey. But there is absolutely nothing bitter here and the bergamot is noticeable but not overpowering. The honey is even making this a bit “too sweet”, but people look at me weird everytime I say something is too sweet (hmmm). Still have one Earl sample to go, so might have to do side-by-sides to find my favorite “straight” Earl from Upton.

Upton Tea Sampler Buying Spree Tea #9:
Accidentally oversteeped this because I was distracted by reheating pizza. (That’s right! Pizza and tea! Tea goes with everything! EVERYTHING.) It came out a little more bitter than I think it’s necessarily meant to.
This is definitely another one of those subtle teas. There is only a very light hint of bergamot, a slight tease of citrus, an am I even there of flavor. I’ve already mentioned my preferences regarding Earl Grey flavors, so I won’t go into it again, but honestly, at this point wouldn’t you be better off just drinking tea flavored tea? If this is the level of Earl Grey that you like, why are you bothering to drink Earl Grey at all? Just drink unflavored black tea, then you never have to worry about the Earl Grey you’re drinking having too much flavor.
Besides that, it is, naturally, quite tasty.

Light and pleasant – it doesn’t beat you over the head with “the Earl”. This is really very nice and well balanced.

Not very supreme. The Bergamot is very light, and the tea base is quite subtle as well. It’s fairly pleasant on the first go, but if I try to steep it again – something I can always pull off at least once with high quality teas – it becomes dull and wooden all the way through. I’ll probably use this for blending down harsh stuff, or the occasional single pot.