Thé Mélange Russe (Russian Blend) (TE77)

I do find this pretty tasty but I, personally, wouldn’t put it into the Earl Grey category at all. I’m not tasting any EG notes, really, I can taste a small amount of Orange, a nice sweetness, a touch of smoke, a hint of malt, and a spec of unidentifiable spice. Like I said…nice tasting, but not what I would classify as Earl. It’s separate. It’s pleasant and has good flavor regardless.

I forgot what was in this, so I was very pleasantly surprised when I opened my sample packet and got that auto-soothing heady scent of bergamot. Figured it’d be a standard kinda heavy, smoky caravan-type blend. But no! There is a bitter smell though, made me worry it’d continue onto the sip and make the tea sharp, but so long as it stays pretty hot it’s not there. This tea is surprisingly light (I tend to associate Russian-labeled stuff as strong and relatively bitter, meant to take tons of sugar). The smokiness is not the ashy, musty kind many lapsangs have; it’s more like scorched firewood, barbecue smoke. Kind of a “wet”, fresh burn, if that makes any sense. I would drink this again! I often feel a tad self-conscious preferring so many of Upton’s blends that admit to having artificial flavors over their natural ones, but them’s the breaks.

Not feeling well today. Didn’t go to work, but I must go to school for a test! Making this tea to help me study :) Light on the bergamot, but sweet (the one teaspoon of sugar I added was almost too much!), with a touch of smoke which is really nice on such a cold day.

Eh… I really have to stop trying these lighter Earl Greys. I love bergmot, so I’m nearly always disappointed in them. This one smelled sharp, which was promising, but it was ultimately indistinguishable to me from all the other baby Earls I’ve tried. It has a slightly bitter taste to the black tea – perhaps I oversteeped it slightly, trying to get it a little stronger. At any rate, it tastes like a weak cup of Earl Grey. No other citrus that I can detect, and it’s a bit harsh somehow. But do keep in mind, that’s just my personal taste – for someone who wants lighter bergmot this might be great!

Flavorful, has maybe Bergamont, Vanilla and Anise. Though milder than some Earl Grey’s I’ve had, which in some versions has been overpowering.

I received this tea in the yarn and tea swap with the Steepsteristas group over on Ravelry. Good tea and good yarn. What more could a girl ask for? :)

This is a really light Earl Grey-ish tea. The bergamot is very subtle. In fact, the orange and orange peel are the more dominant flavors. I’m getting just a hint of smoke. Again, it’s there just subtle. There is also a leather-y tobacco flavor. Everything works together to make this an almost Earl Grey in my opinion. It comes close but in the end it stands on its own with just a nod to the classic tea. Very nice. I’m happy I got to move this one from my wishlist to my cupboard!