I strongly encourage readers to try this if they like extra-flavored Earl Greys. However, hardcore Earl Grey purists like my wife likely will offer a derisive, somewhat disgusted pout upon sniffing or tasting this product. Basis for my guess: she did. :-) I love it, so...high rating!

The packaging for the tea bags is the same as described in my review of Murchie's Earl Grey Cream, and like the latter, Royal Grey also is sold loose. Instead of flowers, they use currants to add a noticeable but still second-order berry note to the rich and dominant vanilla, which still assumes primacy over even bergamot in the flavoring.

Royal Grey is a delicious, savory, creamy/fruity flavor combination saddled firmly astride a full-bodied black tea that has some muscular horsepower on its own. I'll likely order this again, as just a few into a 10-bag sampler pack, it has become one of my favorite of both alt-Grey and flavored black teas overall. The dry-bag aroma bears the most bergamot, with the in-cup and wet-bag scents being vanilla-dominant, as are all flavor levels from sip through aftertaste. Still, this isn't just a vanilla tea; the bergamot isn't lost, nor is the currant. I'm not very skilled at complexity nor subtlety, yet somehow can pick up on all these flavors at once, and it's a great experience. They play well together.

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