Since I bought so much tea from the London Tea Merchant when their St. Louis tea room was closing, I’ve written about a few of the teas already. When preparing to write this week’s Earl Grey installment, I noticed I had exactly four LTM teas left to review. So I thought it would be fun to create a single post devoted to these final four blends. Two I loved, one I liked well enough, and one didn’t land so well. However, remember that palates are personal; something I didn’t  enjoy might actually be your favorite! The London Tea Merchant is still selling tea online via their website, so you should check out any of these blends that pique your interest. 

Earl Grey 

This classic Earl Grey blend has a bergamot-forward dry cup, but at first whiff doesn’t seem like anything special. The steeped liquor, on the other hand, has a more compelling aroma. The bergamot and tea are well-balanced, and I detect some spicy undertones. The LTM blenders use Yunnan tea as their base, which is one of my favorites. 

On taste, this Earl Grey is exceptionally well-balanced. The tea is bright and refreshing, and is smooth enough to drink all day long. (Assuming you’re willing to consume caffeine later in the day, which I definitely am.) The bergamot shines, but the Yunnan tea comes through. I wrote in my notes, “This is the platonic ideal of Earl Grey tea.”

Though it’s getting more and more difficult to be impressed by a standard Earl Grey, this is a magnificent tea that is getting a spot on my best-of long list. I’m thrilled that although the London Tea Room has closed, the Merchant is still selling tea online, because I want to be able to buy it again. 

Cream Earl Grey

From dry aroma to steeped aroma to taste, this is a remarkably consistent blend. On the one hand, that’s not an inherent indicator of quality. Like wine (or even potato chips), variation between aroma and taste is normal, and doesn’t indicate anything about the skill of the tea maker. However, a tea that has the same profile all the way through is a rare find, and I enjoy celebrating that when it comes up. 

The London Tea Room approach to Creme Earl Grey includes black tea, cornflower petals, vanilla flavor, and bergamot flavor. I found the balance of tea and vanilla to be well-matched, but the bergamot was lighter than I prefer. 

While Creme Earl Grey does not represent the biggest proportion of teas that I’ve tasted, I’ve tasted enough that, as with the classic version, it’s getting difficult to impress me. While special variations make up a larger proportion than cremes, there’s enough novelty in that category to keep me guessing. Creme Earl Greys, on the other hand, have a standard range of ingredients, so it’s now taking more effort for me to really love one of these blends. I recognize the London Tea Room’s Creme Earl Grey as expertly blended and of high quality, but it’s simply not something that changes my life. 

Churchill

I was genuinely conflicted about how to categorize this tea. On the one hand, the only ingredients are black tea and bergamot, suggesting this is a classic blend. In addition, London Tea Merchant doesn’t specify which types of teas are in this blend. However, it’s so smoky that lapsang souchong has to be in here, and since that’s not a common Earl Grey base, I ended up calling this a special variation, just as I did for the Forntum & Mason Smoky Earl Grey.

The aroma of the dry cup is bright with bergamot; the smoky tea is there, but it takes a back seat. The steeped tea, however, has a heavily smoky aroma; it’s difficult to detect the bergamot. I found the taste to be overwhelmingly smoky, with the bergamot largely hidden. Even though I followed the steeping instructions, the tea also seemed excessively bitter.

Since I was sick for a chunk of September and October, I gave this blend a second chance. Although I tasted it after I’d recovered, I thought my palate might still have been compromised. So I felt this blend deserved another shot. And while it was less bitter the second time around, I felt the smoke to bergamot balance was off. I just didn’t love this one the way I loved its Fortnum’s counterpart. 

Queen of Hearts

This summery blend contains black tea, wild strawberry leaves, and bergamot oil. The additions shine through in the dry leaves, with strawberry and bergamot having a well-balanced aroma. The tea aroma is in the background. This same aroma profile comes through in the steeped liquor as well.

The tea, on the other hand, is strawberry-forward, followed by tea. The bergamot flavor is on the weaker side. However, in this blend, I’m not complaining. The bergamot serving as an accent note works well. I think sometimes bergamot can clash with certain fruit flavors, so keeping it minimal here was probably the ideal choice.

While I’m not a huge fan of strawberry flavor in my tea, I did enjoy this blend, and I’m glad I have a big tin of it. I’d buy this again, and once the warmer months come back, I would make this as a cold-brew blend to serve at a summer picnic.

By the Numbers

I’m 90% of the way through the tasting portion of this project! It’s funny that just a few weeks ago, I was feeling over it and ready to call it quits early. I’m glad I didn’t, because I’ve enjoyed some absolutely marvelous teas since then. 

Once again, my percentages remain largely the same. While the specific numbers have changed somewhat, the proportions aren’t all that different. With so few tastings left, I doubt there will be any surprises with the final pie chart. 

Since reaching my 90th tea, I’ve added five new samples to my roster. That means I only have to acquire five more. I’m trying to choose carefully because there are many options out there. I’m excited for the new teas that will arrive in my mailbox in the next few days, and I look forward to seeing whatever fills up those few final spots.

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

The Earl Grey Year Part 14: Tisanes and Classics

The Earl Grey Year Part 15: European Classics

The Earl Grey Year Part 16: Even More Classics and Variations

The Earl Grey Year Part 17: Creams and Greens

The Earl Grey Year Part 18: Florals and a Classics Challenge

The Earl Grey Year Part 19: Even More Variations

The Earl Grey Year Part 20: Classics and Greens

This month I’m taking part in the #OctoberTeas2024 challenge on Instagram. If you’re a tea drinker on the ‘gram, follow the hashtag and play along with us!

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

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