Tea with the delicate taste! (Twinings Earl Grey)

Member Name: jo@145

Product:	Twinings Earl Grey
Date:	20/10/06 (450 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Low calories. Don't need milk.

Disadvantages: Slightly perfumed.

My daughter was on a dairy free diet and her mother in law gave her some Earl Grey tea to drink. It was along time since I had drunk it and so we tried some and enjoyed it. My husband actually admitted he enjoyed it more than ordinary tea which he had never liked since he gave up sugar many years ago!

Earl Grey tea was named after Charles Grey. He was Prime Minister to King William IV in the early 19th century. The legend is that the Earl was given the recipe by a Chinese mandarin with whom he was friends, and whose life he had saved, although there are variations on this tale!

The tea gets its unusual flavour from oil of Bergamot, which is a small acidic orange. The latest research indicates that the Bergamot orange is a cross between the sweet or pear lemon (Citrus Limetta) and the Seville or sour orange (Citrus Aurantium). Earl Grey tea is a fine blend of Oriental teas scented with oil of bergamot and is famous for its exceptional fragrance.
The tea proved so popular in the Prime Minister's drawing room that his tea merchants, Twinings in the Strand, were given a sample and asked to come up with a close match. Twinings sold the first "Earl Grey's tea" in the British market.
Twinings Earl Grey blend includes China tea, Indian Darjeeling, Ceylon, and a hint of Lapsang souchong, a strong, "smoky" black tea. Although it is often served black (without milk), many of the upper classes (contrary to belief) drink it with a little milk (which gives the tea a murky grey colour, similar to that of dull washing up water).

I purchased the box of 50 teabags. It is a rather classy looking box, mostly black and gold and a picture of the gentleman himself, with the name EARL GREY in a purply grey colour. The word “aromatics” appears on the box, as it is part of a range of tea bags including Lapsang Souchong, Chai and Lady Grey. The box looks very different to the picture and sometimes the teabags are available in a tin, but it looks much more classy than the picture.

*Instructions*

Brew for 3 to 5 minutes. In fact if I drop the teabag in a cup I don’t leave it that long or it is too strong for me, but made in a teapot I infuse it for 2 minutes for my husband and 3 for myself! It produces a lovely pale gold colour. I drink it black, although with a slice of lemon on a hot day it is really refreshing. My son in law likes it with milk, but not being a lover of milk I can’t stomach the perfumed flavour with milk!

*Flavour*

I have to admit it tastes different to ordinary black tea. The flavour I cannot describe, it has a perfumed aroma, leaving the mouth feeling slightly puckered! But pleasantly so! It isn’t sweet, but is certainly not bitter either. Something to be tasted, many people don’t like it, but I find it very pleasant.

*Cost*

I bought my teabags from Tesco, they cost £1.79 for 50 bags. A larger box of 100 cost £2.99. 3p for a tea bag is a bargain as it will make 3 or 4 cups of tea, if made in a teapot. But remember to remove the teabag as it gets stronger the longer it is left infusing!

*Good news!*

From the dietary point of view it only contains 1 calorie in a 200 ml cup, if taken without milk and sugar.
Today the natural, healthful properties of tea are being rediscovered. Black tea and green tea naturally contain flavonoid antioxidants, which may help protect the body from the damage caused by harmful free radicals.

So go and put the kettle on and enjoy a cup of tea.

Summary: Delicate refresshing tea.