I’ve decided to shake up the structure a bit for this post. In the abundant set of samples that royal_teacups sent me, she included four from Kusmi Tea. When I was looking through my spreadsheet to consider which tastings to write about for this entry, I noticed how nice and stacked the four of them were in my spreadsheet, and decided it would be a nice change of pace to devote one update to a single company’s samples.
I found Kusmi Tea to be a true delight all around, so these reviews are going to be positive across the board. However, while all the teas were good, I enjoyed some more than others, and you’ll see those preferences reflected below. All in all, no matter what your Earl Grey preferences are, you will probably find something to love from Kusmi.
Earl Grey (Classic Earl)
In my opinion, there are two true classic types of blended teas: Earl Grey and Chai. (Should I repeat this project next year with chai? Let me know in the comments!) And any tea company that sells blends (rather than exclusively plain tea) is going to include at least one Earl Grey and one Chai on their blend roster. And I also recognize that if a company has one or more fantastic Earl Grey variations, they probably feel compelled to offer a traditional Earl Grey for the customers who want the simple, classic blend.
However, when a company’s Earl Grey variations are so unique and of such high quality, I find that the traditional Earl Grey pales a bit in comparison. That’s not to say that the Kusmi Earl Grey is bad; it’s a lovely, straight-up Earl Grey. The tea smells lovely in the sachet, has a nice body and aroma, and has a quintessential Earl Grey flavor.
Ultimately, I have no real complaints about this blend, except that it just doesn’t stand out when Ksumi is already offering three other exceptional Earl Grey variations, one of which I found to be truly exceptional. I understand why they need to offer a standard Earl Grey, and they certainly blend it impeccably. If you’re an Earl Grey fan, you won’t be disappointed by this blend. However, the variations Kusmi offers are the true stars of the show.
Earl Grey Intense (Special Variation)
On the Kusmi website, Earl Grey Intense is described as, “an even bolder bergamot oil and particularly tangy lemon peel.” The addition of lemon peel puts this in the Special Variation category.
The steeped liquor is a nice amber color. Although the blend was billed as having a heavy citrus presence, the tea scent came through first when I smelled the liquor. On taste, I tasted tea first, then the lemon came through, with bergamot at the finish. In addition, as the tea cooled down, both citrus flavors became more prominent.
All in all, this was a brisk, fresh tea that made for an enjoyable cup. I imagine that this would be lovely prepared as a cold-brewed iced tea; you wouldn’t need to add any lemon to it. In addition, the flavors are balanced enough that I don’t think it requires any sweetener, whether prepared hot or iced. Between the quality of the tea leaves and the brightness of the citrus, this tea doesn’t have any bitterness. Although it’s called Intense, I think this would be a lovely blend for any tea drinker who likes Earl Grey in general.
Prince Vladimir (Special Variation)
The website describes the Prince Vladimir blend as containing grapefruit, orange, and lime in addition to the standard bergamot. This tea blend is also topped off with a bit of vanilla. Kusmi also notes cloves in the ingredient list. Obviously, with the number of additions, I consider this a Special Variation.
The steeped liquor has a nice body and an incredible scent. The clove and citrus really come through as the steam rises from my cup. When I drink this brew, I note the vanilla first, then the various citrus components, then the clove.
Although not heavily spiced, this tea reminds me a bit of Christmas. Crates of oranges were a Christmas staple when I was growing up, and of course cloves invoke the holiday season. While not overtly a holiday tea, I could see this right at home at a Christmas or Thanksgiving table.
Anastasia (Special Variation)
The Anastasia blend is my clear favorite of the Kusmi lineup. According to the Kusmi website, this blend includes lemon and orange blossom in addition to bergamot and black tea. The dry leaf is the most fragrant of these four blends, and is absolutely gorgeous, filling my whole kitchen with the scent of citrus.
The steeped liquor has a medium body, and when I smell it, I get the scent of tea first, followed by citrus. That order was consistent when tasting the tea as well. I think the inclusion of orange blossom was what made this taste extra-refreshing. It’s perfect for spring and summer, and like the Earl Grey Intense, this would be lovely as a cold-brew iced tea. I also don’t think it requires any sweetener, though if you like your tea sweet, I think honey would complement the orange blossom oil quite well.
When I finished my sample of the Anastasia blend, I immediately wished that I had more. This is the kind of tea that I could definitely drink all day long. It’s extremely sippable, with mellow black tea and bright citrus. This one is going on my best-of list, and definitely will have a regular place in my tea cabinet.
By the Numbers
I’ve officially reached the minimum number of teas I need to sample in the month of June, once again keeping comfortably ahead of schedule. And I’m now more than halfway through the tasting portion of this project!
Since I’ve only had four more teas since my last update, the proportions haven’t changed much. For reference, though I have many teas in my queue, I don’t classify them ahead of time; their category doesn’t get noted in the spreadsheet until I drink it. I prefer to update the teas as I go so the classification pie chart reflects my real-time tea drinking as closely as possible.
I’ve also now tasted nearly everything in my queue so far. I’ll have to buy a few more teas in order to meet my quota for July. I’ve enjoyed working my way through this long list of tea, and I’m also excited to add some new blends to my lineup. I have a long wishlist, and I haven’t decided what to purchase next. There are so many options for fantastic tea!
Enjoying this series? You can support my tea wishlist here, or contact me if you have samples you want to share!
For more tea content, check out my tea pairings playlist on YouTube.
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
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
Last week, I tasted my 50th tea of this project! (Meaning that this weekend I’ll probably hit my tasting minimum for the month of June.) This week, I’m reviewing two traditional blends and two special variations.
I’ve had a big learning experience since my last post. I was exchanging some messages with The Tea Girl, and she explained to me that one of the reasons she does her Earl Grey blends in more limited quantities is that bergamot oil is so quick to lose potency and flavor, more so than other oils. This makes me wonder how many teas I have felt were just so-so, particularly the bagged teas, were due to the bergamot oil being past its prime. The good news is, I’d be willing to give almost all of these teas a second chance; so far, only one has been memorably bad. So if it wasn’t a perfect tasting experience this time around, there’s always the opportunity for another tasting.
Traditional Blends
Earl Grey, Søstrene Grene
This tea had an incredible aroma when I poured the boiling water into the cup. The scent that wafted up in the steam felt like aromatherapy. The steeped liquid smelled lovely, too. Ultimately, though, the taste was a bit of a letdown. The bergamot just wasn’t as strong on my tongue as it was on my nose. The black tea felt a little thin as well.
I always like to go to a company’s website and read their description of the blend to get a feel for what they were going for. However, while Søstrene Grene does have a few loose-leaf teas for sale on their website, none of them are Earl Grey. Since I did receive this tea in bagged form, I searched for bagged teas as well, but all that came up was Celestial Seasonings blends. So I wonder if this was discontinued, or perhaps a promotional item. (I even worked my way through the Danish website with the few tea-related words I’ve picked up, and couldn’t find any Earl Grey.)
While Søstrene Grene is a company that clearly embodies hygge culture, in perusing the website, they’re clearly more of a general housewares company than a tea company. While an all-purpose shop (either brick-and-mortar or virtual) can offer excellent tea (and many do), I often feel that the lack of focus on tea itself means that tea from general stores is often a bit lacking.
Earl Grey, Twinings
I admit that while Twinings is a powerhouse in the tea industry, I haven’t had a cup of their tea in years, in part because I’ve done so much of my tea-buying from specialty shops. I couldn’t tell you the last time I bought tea in a grocery store, which is usually where I see Twinings being offered. But when I was in New Orleans in April, my hotel room had an assortment of Twinings teas available, including some bags of Earl Grey. So I added those to my tasting queue!
I admit that, just as with many huge businesses, I have a bias against huge tea producers. I also have a bias against tea bags that only contain fannings or dust. (Loose-leaf sachets are another story.) But my experience with the Twinings Earl Grey reminded me to check my snobbery once in a while. Because yes, while many big-name tea companies don’t always produce quality tea, some of them (like Twinings) are huge names because they produce such a quality product. And fanning- and dust- grade teas put in bags, while different from loose leaf, aren’t necessarily bad. A company focused on high-quality tea is likely to produce a nice tea bag.
I honestly enjoyed my cup of Twinings Earl Grey so much that I have added it to my list of teas to buy again! It was a nice-refreshing cup. In addition, I followed their instructions for a 3-minute steep (as a reminder, if there are brewing instructions, I always follow them for the first taste), and found it to be perfect, which is rare for me. Usually I steep for 3 minutes, but on subsequent cups go for 4 or 5. Twinings really has their blend nailed down if they can get a tea bag that only steeps 3 minutes and yet I, who prefers my tea extra-strong, found it perfect.
(I also appreciate that their instructions say “do not microwave.” I am generally live-and-let-live about brewing techniques, because taste really is subjective, but microwaving tea is one thing that I will always be a snob about, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.)
Special Variations
Sir William Smoky Earl Grey, Sibyllan’s
On the Sibyllan’s website, the Sir William blend is described as containing, “Seven different Chinese tea varieties, mostly black and green.” I understand them wanting to be vague about the specifics of the blend, because this is truly a special tea, and it makes sense that they want to protect their recipe.
The level of smokiness tells me that at least one of the seven teas is lapsang souchong; I haven’t yet seen or tasted a smoky Earl Grey that didn’t contain it. With the inclusion of six other teas, though, the lapsang is not overwhelming. Lapsang souchong is such an intense tea that in the tasting samples for my tea sommelier course, this tea is placed in a vacuum-sealed bag, and we’re instructed to keep it away from the other samples in our tasting box after opening. But in the Sir William blend, all of the different teas work together well.
However, the number of teas creates such a complex base that I feel the bergamot is fighting to shine. There is already so much going on with the different teas that the bergamot never gets a chance to stand out. It’s not absent, but it is competing with everything else. While I do love a complex tea, this one might be a little too complex for my taste.
Mélange Ladurée, Ladurée Paris
This Earl Grey blend came to me in a giveaway package I won on travel_withmycup’s Instagram page. In addition to bergamot, the Ladurée Paris signature blend contains vanilla, cinnamon, rose, and clove. While this isn’t billed as an Earl Grey blend on their website, because of the addition of bergamot, I’m considering it a special variation.
Mélange Ladurée is a complex blend that encourages you to slow down, concentrate, and savor it. When I tasted it, I got the vanilla and rose first, followed by clove and cinnamon, with bergamot finishing off the tasting experience.
I have to say that my personal preference is for simpler blends with fewer add-ins, but I still respect the composition of Mélange Ladurée. I appreciated the progression of the tasting experience, with flavors unfolding over the course of each sip. If you love a tea blend full of different flavors, you will love this Earl Grey.
By the Numbers
While my blogging pace hasn’t quite kept up with my tasting pace, I’m nonetheless proud to have reached the halfway point of Earl Grey sampling! That’s the most important part to me. After all, if I’m not drinking tea, then I don’t have anything to write about!
Since I’m officially at the halfway point of tasting, I thought it would be fun to compare my very first category pie chart with the current one. When I made my first blog post, I’d only sampled eight teas, and only had four categories. In fact, one of the categories no longer exists! (If you need a refresher about what happened to the Lady Grey category, you’ll find it in Part 2.)
At the halfway point, two other categories make a small but mighty appearance: Tisane Earl Grey (bergamot blended with rooibos or other herbs), and Green Earl Grey (bergamot with green tea). I have not ended up creating a category for White Earls because so far, I’ve only tasted one Earl Grey that had a white tea base. I created the Green Earl category because I thought that would end up taking a larger percentage than it has so far. Given how few Green Earls I’ve found, and how many fewer White Earls there are, white tea doesn’t get a separate category.
While classic Earl Grey blends still make up the bulk of what I’ve tasted, the Special Variations aren’t far behind. At this point, my categories are fixed; I don’t plan on adding more. It’s interesting which versions of Earl Grey are easy to find, and which aren’t; I had honestly expected more Creme Earls to show up in my queue. We’ll see where the next 50 cups of tea take me!
Enjoying this series? You can support my tea wishlist here, or contact me if you have samples you want to share!
For more tea content, check out my tea pairings playlist on YouTube.
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.
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
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
How when Astrid wags her tail, she wags her entire body.
That I bought this patio dining set super cheap on Craigslist, and a little sanding and teak oil brought it back to life!
I got accepted to lead a workshop in ACC’s summer software day next month!
I’m loving the prompts in the Two Sylvais Press online writing retreat. They’re offering two more sessions (with two different price points), and I definitely recommend it.
Propane Taxi offers easy, contactless delivery. Great if your grill is running low but you’re trying to avoid going to stores in the middle of a pandemic.
I cut my thumb deeply yesterday, but thanks to super glue and butterfly bandages, I avoiding needing to go to the ER for stitches.
That I’ve gotten diligent about sharpening my knives every month. A dull knife would have caused way more damage!
Michi Ramen has an option on their to-go menu where you can swap out the meat and swap in two ajitama. As someone who adores ajitama, I’m thrilled!
I appreciate that my neighbors all understand who gets sidewalk space and who has to step into the bike lane to maintain social distancing when we pass each other.
