This review is for the Mosaic Tea & Coffee Company…
…who have kindly asked me to review several teas from The Compassion Tea Company so they can determine the quality of the tea as a company to potentially source from.
As this is Earl Grey, and not something particularly unusual, I just brewed up a pot of it to enjoy today whilst cleaning the house and doing every day chores. For most people, Earl Grey is an ‘every day drinker’ and as such I felt it important to treat my brewing of it as such. Nothing fancy, and nothing the average tea drinker wouldn’t be able to handle themselves. I predict that’s how I’ll be reviewing the rest of the teas they sent me.
First observations are that this has a fairly potent bergamot aroma and does smell quite fresh: bergamot is one of those things used in blending that you can really tell when it’s aged because the oil will turn or ‘go off’ and I didn’t get that impression with this tea. That’s definitely a good thing. Brewed up; it delivers good flavour but not necessarily smooth flavour. Personally, when I’m drinking Earl Grey I want a smooth drink and not something more brisk/astringent which is why I tend to go for unconventional EG blends myself (ones that incorporate unusual bases or added ingredients). For some people, brisk is what they want from a morning cup: it’s really a personal choice and I think Mosaic will just have to decide what kind of tea drinker they want to cater to primarily. I will put it out there that astringent/brisk does NOT equal bitter and astringency can kind of be ‘altered’ with milk or cream…
Other things worth note: some EG tastes floral or of lavender, and I didn’t get that from this tea. Ultimately; it’s not a bad choice for an Earl Grey but there’s some roughness to it and I wouldn’t say it’s exactly the shining example of a"perfect" EG or anything like that. Since, when picking a supplier, you have to view the company’s offering as more of a ‘whole’ though I’m quite interested in trying the other teas that Mosaic has sent me. If the other teas are stellar than a more run of the mill/average EG (which is such a staple offering) is one of those things that can get by because the other teas will compensate.
Just my thoughts: hopefully they’re helpful!
