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I like this Earl Grey. Two things to note: the form bought in teabags in definitely the best I’ve tried; they currently hang out in a tiny tin in my travel bag for drinking on trains. The loose form is auditioning for a place in my cupboard as my Earl Grey staple.

Very woodsy and floral if brewed gently; the jasmine is sickeningly overpowering if not. Quite bitter, astringent undertones, which are refreshing diluted. Enormous leaves, which develop from barely-infused to over-steeped very rapidly as they unfurl. It might make good ice tea.

I grew up drinking this when no-one could be bothered to shop for anything more exciting (that was a lot of the time). The tea base is good and the bergamot pleasing, but both are coarse in stronger brews (the bergamot more so than the base). Must be bought fresh — I’ve drunk too much of this abandoned in an armoire from years-past visits from England!

Previous reviewers are correct in that there doesn’t seem to be a lot of quality control between batches.

Fairly rough, does not stand waiting in the pot. Drunk fresh it’s pleasing. Surprisingly coarse individual leaves (I’m more accustomed to gently-rolled green teas than black).