Allyson Whipple

Category: beverages

  • The Earl Grey Year Part 19: Even More Variations

    The Earl Grey Year Part 19: Even More Variations

    While I haven’t 100% recovered from the virus that hit me hard at the end of September, I’m happy to report that my senses of taste and smell are back! I got back into tasting as soon as I could in order to get caught up and stay on track with my goal. 

    I’m also still farther behind on blogging than I’d like to be. This portion of the project is certainly in better shape than it was mid-year, but I’m still not quite where I’d like to be. As I’ve said elsewhere, I don’t want to finish my tasting and then have a large number of samples left to review. So here’s another post in quick succession.

    I had a number of unreviewed Special Variations in my tasting queue, so these take the focus for today’s entry. I hope you enjoy this overview of four unique Earl Grey blends, one of which really stood out among the rest. 

    Duchess Grey, Ohio Tea Company

    With Duchess Grey, the Ohio Tea Company has made a truly summer-inspired Earl Grey blend. Consisting of black tea, chrysanthemum petals, orange pieces, peach flavor, and bergamot, this is a bright, sweet blend that is lovely hot, and would also be a delightful iced tea to enjoy on a picnic. 

    The dry leaves are gorgeous, with the cornflower petals providing a summery pop of color. The orange and bergamot scents work together, and are the strongest, with the peach and tea aromas on the back end. I didn’t detect much of the herbal chrysanthemum in the dry cup. The steeped aroma, on the other hand, smells strongly of peach and tea, followed closely by the herbaceous nature of chrysanthemum, with the orange and bergamot coming from behind. 

    The tea actually tastes chrysanthemum-forward, with a floral, herbal tone throughout. The peach followed close behind with the orange and bergamot once again working together. Ultimately, the flavor of the tea is an undertone supporting the added ingredients. This blend is fresh and enjoyable, and while enjoyable year-round, should definitely have a place in next summer’s tea cabinet. 

    Citrus Paradisi, Simpson & Vail

    For Citrus Paradisi, Simpson & Vail added grapefruit oil along with bergamot for a different approach to sweet and sour. When I smelled the dry cup, I was suspicious. The grapefruit smell was overwhelming; I couldn’t detect anything else. While I love grapefruit, it’s not necessarily a flavor I want dominating my tea. 

    The steeped aroma, on the other hand, smelled more strongly of tea than citrus. I also had a difficult time distinguishing the scent of the grapefruit and the bergamot. When I tasted it, though, the flavors were fortunately well-balanced and I could detect all of them. 

    While I love grapefruit, this tea ultimately didn’t blow my mind. I’m certainly glad I tried it; I think this is the first Earl Grey I’ve encountered that included grapefruit as the dominant citrus flavor. Simpson & Vail has certainly created a unique approach to Earl Grey, but this isn’t my favorite of their variations. Still, if you’re a grapefruit fan, you might want to order a 1-oz sample and give it a try.  

    Paris, Harney & Sons

    This tea put me in a tizzy with regards to its classification. The Harney & Sons blend contains black tea, oolong tea, black currant flavor, vanilla flavor, bergamot oil, and caramel flavor. We have the makings of a special variation (oolong tea, black currant, caramel), but the presence of vanilla suggests a creme Earl Grey. Ultimately, though, the sheer number of additional ingredients compelled me to make this one a special variation.

    The dry leaves smell delightful. The bergamot comes first, with the vanilla and caramel coming through as well. The black currant and tea aromas don’t quite come through on the dry leaf, but the farther I go in this project, the more I understand the vast range that can appear between the dry aroma, steeped aroma, and final taste. In this blend, the steeped liquor has a caramel- and vanilla-forward aroma, then bergamot. Again, I don’t get much in the way of black currant or tea.

    When I tasted the tea, the caramel and vanilla were once again in the forefront. I did pick up on notes of bergamot, but it had faded into the background. The black currant and tea flavors never quite came through, and I wonder if they served more as silent partners to keep the caramel flavor from tasting too sweet. But if that was the case, they didn’t quite get the job done. Not only did I find the tea quite sweet, but it tasted so creamy that I almost considered going back and labeling this one a Cream Earl. However, I decided to stick with my original decision. This is a nice tea, but ultimately neither the tea nor bergamot flavor were enough for this to feel like a true Earl Grey to me. I’m honestly bummed; Harney & Sons is one of the most reputable United States tea blenders, and yet I haven’t found anything of theirs on this project I’ve really loved.  

    Earl Grey de la Crème, Tea Market

    On their website, Tea Market describes this blend as, “Our version of Lady Grey.” In addition to black tea and bergamot, the blend contains vanilla bean, English lavender, and raspberry leaf. Since the most common definition of Lady Grey is an Earl Grey blend with the addition of citrus peel (see the second post in this series), seeing this tea described as a Lady Grey is confusing. Then, of course, we run into other difficulties with how to classify this blend. The presence of lavender could render it a Floral Grey. However, the inclusion of vanilla, plus the name of the tea, suggests that this would be a Creme Earl. But raspberry leaf indicates a special variation; I’ve definitely never seen that in an Earl Grey blend before! Given the sheer complexity of this tea, I decided the “crème” in the name wasn’t invoking cream, but instead crème de la crème (the best of the best). With that, I marked this one as a Special Variation on my spreadsheet. 

    The dry aroma is vanilla-forward, and the raspberry leaf is strong as well, followed by bergamot and lavender. I struggled to detect the scent of tea. This is a medium-body tea, and the steeped aroma has the progression of lavender, vanilla, bergamot, raspberry, and tea. The flavor, meanwhile, is lavender-forward, followed by raspberry, bergamot, vanilla, and tea. 

    Given the sheer number of additions to this blend, plus the fact that I don’t love raspberry leaf, I did not expect to enjoy this tea. However, it wound up earning a place on my best-of long list. I realized that the raspberry leaf tempers the vanilla and lavender, which can both get overwhelming. All of the ingredients are perfectly balanced and work together rather than fighting. What this blend teaches me is that a disliked ingredient doesn’t have to be a dealbreaker when used in the right context.   

    By the Numbers

    As of today I’ve tasted 82 teas, meaning I’m caught up from September and getting back on track for October. It’s such a relief to have my senses of taste and smell back!

    That being said, since so little has changed since my last update, I’m not going to spend time on this section today, as I don’t think it yields any new or interesting information. But I do have two more tea orders that should arrive in the next few days, so there should be some interesting things to report in the next update!

    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

    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

  • Boozeku

    Boozeku

    Those familiar with the history of haiku know that the style emerged from the longer, collaborative form called renga. Renga were typically written at social gatherings, which often involved tea or sake. In my podcast episode with Jennifer Hambrick, we spoke a bit about alcohol in the haiku tradition, and acknowledged the challenges of celebrating what is a genuinely toxic substance that can lead to serious health issues, including addiction. I believe it’s important to acknowledge these complexities, and recognize the fact that, whether we like it or not, people have written, and are going to continue writing, libation haiku and senryu. I think it helps that these poems also are complex, and address sensuality, taste, pleasure, and problems.

    So far in my research, I haven’t come across many alcohol terms that are clearly seasonally specific. Certainly, they exist; I’ve referenced Oktoberfest beer before, and that is certainly a fall term. Eggnog and hot toddies could correspond with winter, and if I find any of those, I’ll add them to my database. At this point, though, much of my collection includes drinking words that could best be described as all-year; all of the seasonal poems in this post include kigo not specifically related to drinking.

    All Year

    a friendship—
    the whole universe drowned
    in a wineglass

    Franjo Ordanić, Failed Haiku 70

    The loss of a friendship can be at least as devastating (if not more) than the end of a romantic relationship. I interpret this senryu as one in which drinking leads to a friendship’s tragic demise. Certainly if you know the pain of losing a close friend, it really can feel like drowning. In my interpretation of the poem, resentment has been building for some time, and one night after a drink too many, things blow up. As with many senryu, there’s no explicit seasonal referent. We would either need a standard kigo, or perhaps the name of a specific wine, to place this at a particular time of year.

    ramen and beer . . .
    the self-checkout lets me
    avoid speaking

    Joshua Gage, First Frost #1

    Going out for ramen and beer can be a social activity, but in the second line of Joshua Gage’s haiku, we see it turned into a solitary venture. The second and third lines indicate that this solitude is a choice; the self-checkout lets him avoid speaking. The speaker of the haiku doesn’t just want to eat and drink alone; he wants to avoid conversation with the cashier as well. Ramen can be eaten any time of year, and I maintain that beer is an all-season word (more on that in the summer section of this post), so I consider this an all-season piece.

    priest holding a chalice and communion bread
    Photo by gabriel manjarres on Pexels.com

    Holy Wafer
    all sins forgiven—
    I still get drunk

    Eve Castle, Haiku Pea Podcast, Series 5, Episode 10

    Communion is an all-year act (more on that in the winter section of this post), so without a further seasonal word, this is an all-year senryu. Written in homage to Jack Kerouac, Eve Castle’s poem speaks to the desire for transcendence and the limits of human fallibility. Even with the rituals that absolve us, we turn around and go back to our bad habits.

    Summer

    beer with a bourbon chaser
    a wasp disappears
    under a shingle

    Kristen Lindquist, bottle rockets #46
    clear glass mug filled with yellow liquid
    Photo by Engin Akyurt on Pexels.com

    While William J. Higginson lists beer as a summer kigo in Haiku World: An International Poetry Almanac, as I mentioned in a previous post, I don’t inherently agree with that assessment. Beer and bourbon are consumed year-round; it’s the presence of the wasp that makes this clearly a summer haiku. I’m also intrigued by the first image, because it inverts what I understand to be the usual drinking lineup. I admittedly have never had a chaser, and it was my understanding that people drank liquor first, and chased it with a beer. In my interpretation of Kirsten Lindquist’s haiku, the inversion of the standard order (beer coming before bourbon) mirrors the wasp as it goes upside-down beneath a shingle. (If you disagree with my interpretation, please let me know in the comments! Maybe I’m just seriously ignorant in the ways of drinking.)

    Autumn

    will you, too, sink
    into tonight’s last whiskey?
    full moon

    Joshua Gage, Haiku Pea Podcast, Series 5, Episode 4
    selective focus photo of a shot glass with tequila near a slice of lime and salt
    Photo by Los Muertos Crew on Pexels.com

    tequila dreams
    the half-moon floating
    in amber

    Mark E. Brager, Lifting the Sky: Southwestern Haiku and Haiga, ed. Scott Wiggerman and Constance Campbell. Dos Gatos Press, 2013.

    As I’ve mentioned elsewhere (and as is mentioned in a number of saijiki), the moon is an autumn kigo. Neither whiskey nor tequila have their specific seasons (though aficionados should leave a comment correcting me if I’m wrong!), but the presence of the moon means I interpret these two haiku as taking place in autumn. What interests me about both of them is the way the moon appears to be immersed in liquor. In Joshua Gage’s poem, the full moon might sink. In Mark E. Brager’s poem, the half-moon floats suspended in the glass. Perhaps the drinkers are holding their glasses up to the sky. Perhaps they are slumped across tables, so the perspective of the moon appears low. I think Joshua’s poem is a little more morose, while Mark’s poem is a little more mystical, so in the first poem, I see someone slumped, but in the second, I see someone holding a glass.

    Winter

    crunch of snow
    in the crosswalk
    dirty martini

    Jennifer Hambrick, Kingfisher 3

    A dirty martini is one one which a splash of olive brine is added to the cocktail. The end result is a martini that is cloudy with a tinge of green. There’s nothing inherently seasonal about this particular cocktail; it’s the first image in Jennifer Hambrick’s haiku that places this poem in winter. When I read this poem, I picture a late winter snow, one that is icier, and a little gray from foot traffic and tires. Unlike fresh, early snow, this snow has been adulterated, and is less visually appealing. Of course, those who enjoy dirty martinis might not agree with the comparison, but I nonetheless think it’s a striking image.

    vodka martini in cocktail glass
    Photo by Polina Kovaleva on Pexels.com

    his bartending story
    while I set up the cups
    winter communion

    Dan Scherwin, bottle rockets #46

    While a child’s first communion typically takes place in the spring in Western countries, the general act of communion happens year-round. Dan Scherwin specifically names the season here, which in my reading, enhances the sense of intimacy. The speaker of the senryu is setting up cups for the formal ritual, while someone keeping them company tells a story. The speaker of the poem and the teller of the story are in their own form of communion, being present with each other, keeping the bleakness of winter at bay with each other’s company.

    As always, I look forward to your comments and questions! Feel free to also suggest post topics of you have them. While I do keep a list, I’m also curious about what people want to read on this site!