This tea and I had a misunderstanding, so the first thing I have to do is apologise; sorry tea! When I read “Earl Grey Strong” I immediately thought of a strong Earl Grey (i.e. lots of bergamot). Apparently, that’s not what was meant. The black tea base is strong, and the bergamot level is the same. Actually, the bergamot is less prominent than usual because the base tea drowns it out more than it usually would. So it turns out that this could actually be one of my favourite Earl Grey blends, because it’s not strong. Or at least, not in the way I thought.
So now we have an understanding. The base tea here is pretty good – a blend of Assam, Rwandan, Ceylon and Darjeeling. It’s malty, sweet, a little zesty, and it takes milk well. I’m a bit of a heretic and usually drink my EG with milk anyway, so this suits me well. The bergamot is barely a presence, if I’m honest. There’s a hint of it kicking around in the background but it’s not the main flavour like it usually is. I could actually take a bit more bergamot, which is a rare thing for me to say, because without it this is really just a breakfast blend. It strikes a pretty good balance, though, and I was happy to have straightened things out with this tea. It’s a good ’un after all.
That is exactly what I thought, too! I was like “This is gonna be like Harney’s Earl Grey Supreme, right?”