While the blogging has been a little slower than I’d like, I realized as I sat down to write that I’m more than halfway through with that portion of the project! This time around, I’m focusing on a few tisanes (which I’ve deliberately sought out), and my ever-growing list of classic blends. Two were good, one was great, and one was unfortunately not to my liking at all. But ultimately, this week is truly reflective of the project as a whole: mostly good blends, a few stellar ones, and a few I couldn’t finish. 

Tisanes

One of this week’s tisanes is a real outlier; it’s a blend with a coffee leaf base! The other is a rooibos-based blend, which is the most common tisane base I’ve encountered on the project. The tisane section in this entry consists of the tea I found incredible, and the one I found undrinkable.

Arabica Earl Grey, Adagio

I didn’t really understand what Arabica tea was when I first saw the Arabica Earl Grey Blend on the Adagio site. However, I saw the blend was getting discontinued, so I went ahead and ordered some to ensure I had a chance to taste every Earl Grey variation from Adagio.

I have since learned that Arabica tea is actually a tisane. Specifically, the brew consists of Arabica coffee leaves steeped like tea (Rosen 2020). It’s a traditional beverage in Indonesia and Ethiopia. In her article about Arabica tea, Diana Rosen describes the flavor as, “smooth, delicate-tasting, with a sweet edge” (2020). 

The instructions said to steep for a minimum of 5 minutes, but that the flavor would develop if the leaves sat longer. I decided to do a minimum steep first, just to get a baseline. Unfortunately, I did not find this tisane to be smooth, delicate, or the slightest bit sweet. The smell of the steeped leaves reminded me of asparagus; I couldn’t detect any bergamot at all. 

The tasting wasn’t any better; I couldn’t detect any of the bergamot or orange listed. The added cornflowers didn’t mellow anything out. The steeped liquid was intensely vegetal and bitter. Even adding a large quantity of honey didn’t help. I cannot imagine what a longer steeping time would have been like.

Arabica Earl Grey reminded me of maté, so if you enjoy that, you might like this, but I cannot seriously recommend it. Unfortunately, I accidentally bought three sample packs of this, and I haven’t touched it in weeks. It might end up as compost for my plants, unless someone really wants to try the two unopened samples. I would be happy to send them your way!

Rooibos Earl Grey, Simpson & Vail

The Simpson & Vail Rooibos Earl Grey is a blend that is definitely getting a spot on my best-of longlist! The smell of the dry blend has an incredible bergamot aroma. The steeped liquor has a rich, bold body that is a lovely shade of mahogany, and the infused aroma is well-balanced between the base and the bergamot.

When I taste this tea, the balance of rooibos and bergamot are absolutely perfect. There are no additions beyond bergamot, which I think is what gives this infusion an edge over some of the other tisane blends I’ve tasted. The bergamot doesn’t have to compete with cornflowers, vanilla, or other herbs. The rooibos and citrus flavors can simply coexist. 

Obviously, if you can’t stand rooibos (it’s really a love-or-hate thing for most tea drinkers), this isn’t the blend for you. But if rooibos is something you enjoy, this is truly a blend you could drink all day and not get tired of it. I bet it would make a lovely cold brew as well!

Classics

These two blends are the ones that were solidly enjoyable. They didn’t blow my mind, but the deeper I go into the project, the harder that becomes. The competition becomes stiffer, because I have found a few true gems, and those become the standard by which everything else is judged. But if you’re an Earl Grey fan, you’re likely to enjoy these. Both of these blends came from my friend royal_teacups.

Earl Grey, Kung Markatta

Kung Markatta is a Swedish company that produces a variety of food and beverage products. They use fair-trade tea and organic bergamot oil in their Earl Grey blend. The body is fairly light, and bergamot fragrance dominates when smelling the steeped liquid. 

When tasting the tea, I found the bergamot to be nice and strong. The citrus came through each and every sip. It’s definitely a bergamot-forward blend, and the tea seems a little weak by comparison. I found it bright, refreshing, and enjoyable, though ultimately, the balance between citrus and tea was a bit skewed. 

If you are a true bergamot lover and have access to Swedish teas, you will probably love this one. If you’re more of a tea-forward person, this might not be the best option for you. All in all, though, it’s a pleasant tea, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to try it.

Organic Earl Grey, Fredsted

Fredsted is a Danish tea company, and I would once again like to thank Google Translate for helping me get more information from the company’s website. (As far as I can tell, organic is not a 1:1 translation for the Danish word Økologisk, but it’s the best I can come up with. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong!) 

This Earl Grey blend has a strong, dark body. The scent of the tea is woody, and not much bergamot came through on the aroma. The bergamot was on the lighter side, and came through best at the back of my palate. It was on the subtle side, and took some time to emerge. This would probably be most enjoyable for someone who prefers a milder Earl Grey.

On the Fredsted website, the instructions for this particular blend say to steep for 5-6 minutes. I was surprised to see that; I can’t recall a time where I’ve been instructed to steep a true camellia sinensis blend for longer than 5 minutes. (I definitely have seen longer steeping times for tisanes without any actual tea.) When I tasted this, I only steeped it for 5 minutes, which is my go-to steeping length for black tea. However, I wonder if the bergamot would have shined a bit more if I’d let the teabag sit for an extra minute.

By the Numbers

I’ve taken a little bit of a tasting break for the end of July and beginning of August. Life is quite full, but I’m still well on track with the teas I need to taste this month. I’m only six teas away from my August minimum, and I already know what they’re going to be. Having a plan helps! 

I’ve deliberately sought out some Tisane Earl and Green Earl blends, so those numbers have increased slightly, but the fact remains that these are simply less represented in the tea world. I get that; black tea is the classic base. But I really do love the combination of green tea and bergamot, so I wish there were more Green Earl Greys out there!

I’m just about ⅔ of the way through the tasting portion of this project! I’m a little more behind on blogging than I’d like to be, but I have a plan to make more progress with that portion of the project. Be on the lookout for another update soon!

Support the Project

Read previous installments here:

The Earl Grey Year Part 1: Four Classics

The Earl Grey Year Part 2: Four Florals

The Earl Grey Year Part 3: Four More Classics

The Earl Grey Year Part 4: Greens and Tisanes

The Earl Grey Year Part 5: Cremes and Special Variations

The Earl Grey Year Part 6: Classics and Florals

The Earl Grey Year Part 7: Classics and Special Variations

The Earl Grey Year Part 8: Cremes and Variations Part 2

The Earl Grey Year Part 9 : Four More Florals

The Earl Grey Year Part 10: Halfway Point

The Earl Grey Year Part 11: Kusmi Tea

The Earl Grey Year Part 12: Cremes and Classics

The Earl Grey Year Part 13: Four More Special Variations

Enjoying this series? You can support my tea wishlist here, or contact me if you have samples you want to share!

You can also connect with me at the MyTeaPal app, where I’m posting under the username @haikuallyson. 

Project References

Note: This is an ongoing list of all the reading I have done so far for this project. The bibliographic entries here are not necessarily cited in this specific post.

American Chemical Society. (1965). “Bergamot Joins Lineup Of Synthetic Oils: Glidden process breaks down ß-pinene, back-blends components.” Chemical & Engineering News Archive 43 (33), 24-25. DOI: 10.1021/cen-v043n033.p024a 

Avila-Sosa, Raúl et. al.  “Bergamot (Citrus bergamia) Oils.” Essential Oils in Food Preservation, Flavor and Safety. Ed. Preedy, V.R. (2015). Elsevier Science & Technology. pp. 247-252. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-416641-7.00027-4

Di Giacomi, Angelo and Giovanni Dugo. “Origin, History, and Diffusion.” Citrus bergamia: Bergamot and Its Derivatives. Ed. Dugo, Giovanni and Ivana Bonaccorsi. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2013. pp. 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1201/b15375

Dugo, Giovanni and Ivana Bonaccorsi. “Composition of Leaf Oils.” Citrus bergamia: Bergamot and Its Derivatives. Ed. Dugo, Giovanni and Ivana Bonaccorsi. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2013. pp. 227-236. https://doi.org/10.1201/b15375

Galper, Amy. (December 14, 2022.) “Shelf Life of Essential Oils.” Cliganic. https://www.cliganic.com/blogs/the-essentials/essential-oils-shelf-life 

Heale, Christopher. (n.d.) “A Guide to the Tea Grading System.” Herbs & Kettles. https://www.herbsandkettles.com/blogs/blog/a-guide-to-the-tea-grading-system 

Lo Curto, Rosario. “Uses of Juice and By-Products.” Citrus bergamia: Bergamot and Its Derivatives. Ed. Dugo, Giovanni and Ivana Bonaccorsi. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2013. pp. 531-542. https://doi.org/10.1201/b15375

Nishida, Kei.  “What Does Astringency Mean for Tea Drinking?” (n.d.) Japanese GreenTea Co. https://www.japanesegreentea.in/blogs/japanese-green-tea-lovers-in-india/what-does-astringency-mean-for-tea-drinking 

Petite Histoire. (July 7, 2023).  “The [Complete & Complex] Guide to Natural vs. Synthetic Fragrance: What’s the Difference?” https://nyc.ph/blogs/inspiration/the-complete-guide-to-natural-vs-synthetic-fragrance

Rosen, Diana. (November 3, 2020). “New – Coffee Leaf Arabica tea.” TeaSmart. https://www.teasmart.com/article_201106.html 
Twinings. (n.d.) “What is Bergamot?” https://twinings.co.uk/blogs/news/what-is-bergamot