Tea: Earl Grey - Specialty Classics
An Earl Grey Tea from Basilur
Brand: | Basilur |
Style: | Earl Grey Tea |
Region: | ????? |
Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
Loose? | Teabag |
# Ratings: | 1 View All |
Reviewer: Alex Zorach
✓ 1453 teas reviewed
✓ 43 of Earl Grey Tea
✓ 109 of Flavored Black Tea
✓ 6 of Basilur
✓ 168 from ?????
Review of Earl Grey - Specialty Classics
August 30th, 2016
Aroma | Flavor | Value | Total |
4 of 10 | 4 of 5 | 1 of 5 | 47 of 100 |
Mediocre | Good | Not Worth Paying For |
I picked this tea up at a wedding, in a Hilton hotel. It's not widely available here in the US, but I was eager to try it.
This tea bag produced a delightful aroma as I poured water over the cup. After letting the cup steep for five minutes, I was surprised to find the cup had developed a peculiar aroma of artificial grape, underneath the rich smell of a quality Ceylon base tea. The artificial grape smell was distinctive: it took me back to Elementary school, grape-flavored popsickles or grape scratch-and-sniff stickers. It was an aroma completely unlike the muscatel grape notes of a Darjeeling or the raisin-like qualities of some Assam or Chinese black teas.
Overall, weaker than I expected. I was careful to use boiling water and warm up the cup before steeping. Relatively smooth and low in bitterness, but not the richest or most full-bodied tea.
Although I could appreciate the quality of the base tea, between the weakness and the strange artificial-grape-like flavor, I would pass on this one.
I don't know what the normal price of this is, but I was only able to find it online from some specialty retailers for $13 for a box of 20 teabags. That seems exorbitant to me. Perhaps I'd rate it a better value if it were priced a lot lower, but at this price it competes with some top-notch artisan teas.