Earl Grey Des Seigneurs

Dammann Freres advent day 2

It felt a bit strange to go from a bergamot forward white tea (day 1 of this advent) to an earl grey where the bergamot felt more like an afterthought. It’s there in the scent, but I was underwhelmed. I got mostly a slightly bitter black tea with an aftertaste of bergamot. I prefer a heavier hand, so ymmv, but I’d definitely pick the Simpson & Vail version over this one.

DF Advent — Day 2

Earl Grey des Seigneurs is very robust, so strong that I added a little eggnog to the cup. Doing so surprisingly drowned out a lot of what was going on with the base tea but the bergamot did come through as a little sparkle. Plain, it’s simultaneously bright and heavy, tannic and smooth. The Assam leaf clearly steals the show from Yunnan. If I had this in the future, I’d steep it for less than the recommended time. I’ve had other Earl Greys more to my preference.

Adventageddon Day 2

A little bit bummed to see a second bergamot blend in a row from DF, but maybe that means we’re getting them all out of the way early. One can hope, right? Anyway, this one just wasn’t really my cup of tea at all. It’s a very, very classic feeling Earl Grey with a brisk, aromatic presence of bergamot on a somewhat more mineral and brassy tasting black tea base. I’m sure others would appreciate it, though.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDF43CoyYo2/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAG_-GXDGME&ab_channel=GlassAnimalsVEVO

I finally overcame my laziness and sorted out my account again (I don’t usually use Chrome but Steepster seems to despise Firefox). So… Hi everyone! I hope you have all been doing well :)

It’s fall, which apparently means French teas. Also lots and lots of Earl Grey. I think I meant to get Thé des Sages (should have double-checked my Steepster notes before ordering), but this one is still alright! The bergamot note and general profile is very clean, bold, bright, and floral-fruity – even with milk. Truly the best of both worlds with that assam/yunnan blend as a base.

Thanks SO much Zennenn for all the work you put into the group order and thank you to everyone who split teas. This is enabling me to try so many of the DF blends. Though I’ve been sipping teas for years, DF is pretty much new to me. I wanted to try this one first, as it was the blend I wanted most. It was also a little pricier than most of the other blends I bought. Luckily, it is as delicious as I expected. A lovely bergamot over a blend of assam and yunnan teas. I love the briskness from the assam but would have loved more yunnan. I was hoping it would have been one of those lighter, golden Yunnans to better balance the strength of the assam but I suppose I could always add some light yunnan of my own! The Earl flavor was perfect in the first cup (note to self: steep it this way next time) but I think I should have waited a little while after boiling to brew the second cup. I’m happy with this one!
Steep #1 // heaping teaspoon for a full mug// 12 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3-4 minute steep