Earl Grey Decaffeinated
This page is for the decaf version. See also Earl Grey.
4
Percentile
7 ratings |
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Commercial Description
Twinings has been blending my family tea for years. Today, I am proud to continue this tradition with the tea celebrated throughout the world known as Twinings Earl Grey. Legend has it, that my ancestor, the second Earl Grey, was presented with this exquisite recipe by an envoy on his return from China.
Ratings & Reviews
Page 1 of 1 page with 7 reviews
40 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 1/5 Value: 2/5Whiskey (45 reviews) on Nov. 10th, 2019
Twining's US uses a less-health-hazardous method for extracting caffeine from tea. I commend them for that, in principle. In practice, this is a terrible way of extracting caffeine because it takes all of the flavor along with it. There is a better way of doing it that is both less health-hazardous and maintains flavor. Perhaps they don't utilize it because of costs. Whatever the reason, it isn't nearly enough of one, as far as I'm concerned. Because this isn't tea, this is a shadow of tea. If everything good in a teabag effectively died and you then decided to drop a bit of bergamot oil on it, this would be what it might taste like. It's so watered down and devoid of flavor that, at first, I thought I was drinking dirty dishwater. It wasn't a conscious thought, it just came to me as an instantaneous reaction, and I looked at the kettle to see if I'd done something wrong. All hyperbole aside, it really does taste like someone took some legitimate Earl Grey tea, brewed it several times, then dried out the exhausted leaves, stuck them in a brand new teabag and then marketed them as "decaffeinated." You'll be able to go to sleep after drinking this because this isn't a taste you'll want to be awake for. If you want to call that "decaffeination," be my guest.
I'm truly unsure whether I'd rather drink this liquid punishment or roll around like a rotisserie chicken in my bed all night, hopped up on caffeine from drinking tea with the flavor still in it.
55 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5Lisa Kufs (4 reviews) on Oct. 16th, 2018
A weakly-flavored, not very aromatic tea experience. If you're looking for a very mild, decaffeinated tea that's easy on the stomach, this is a good choice, but if you were hoping for intense flavors, maybe try something else.
37 Aroma: 2/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5Tchuggin' Okie (397 reviews) on Sep. 30th, 2017
As of this writing, the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain has started offering this tea as their mainstay Earl Grey for service, without telling the customer up front that it is decaffeinated. My wife ordered hot tea, expecting the usual (if tolerable) Lipton rubbish, and got this rubbish instead.
I need to qualify that insult just a tad. She received this whilst expecting a normally caffeinated Earl Grey. Instead of returning it, she simply asked for some black tea that wasn't decaffeinated. They generously brought her four (!) bags of Twinings English Breakfast and I got this. Thanks...I think. :-)
Admittedly my preconceptions were jaded by previous experiences with typically weak teas of this brand. "This stuff already has two strikes before stepping up to the plate: it's Twinings, and it's decaf!" Perhaps the cratered expectations led to a surprisingly high (albeit still poor to mediocre) rating. It didn't get a base hit, but it did stand still for four balls and earn a walk.
I stared at the dry bag and sniffed, then poured and sniffed both cup and wet bag some more, and didn't detect much -- maybe a very faint hint of bergamot and perhaps lemon. In essence, it has almost no scent. Then I braced myself for the ultimate in blandness, and instead, got a flavor recognizable not only as tea, but tea with bergamot. It wasn't bad. It wasn't ravishingly good either, but at least this compared favorably to some of the poorer-quality store-brand and food-service teas I've had, and to any other Twinings tea. The flavor still has all the imagination of Soviet apartment architecture, but it's at least more tolerable to experience.
55 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 4/5Difflugia (170 reviews) on Mar. 27th, 2017
Presumably losing the rest of the tea flavor and aroma to the decaffeination process, this tea retains a tannic hint of dry leaves. The Twinings bergamot flavoring tastes much more like sweet oranges and is less bitter than other Earl Grey teas.
I find that the sweet and bitter of the citrus complements the faint tannic astringency remaining in the tea. I wouldn't choose this over most caffeinated teas, but I find the flavor balance to be more satisfying than herbal teas when I want something without caffeine.
As a side note, I don't think that the bergamot flavor is artificial, but I think it may be a blend of citrus fruits. I can taste lemon, grapefruit and sweet orange above the bitter orange flavor of bergamot.
33 Aroma: 4/10 Flavor: 2/5 Value: 1/5spaflam (179 reviews) on May. 13th, 2013
Yech! I am not an Earl Grey fan to begin with and this one not only has synthetic Bergamot notes (Think limonene from a lab!) it is also decaf and not worth drinking. Sorry, Twinings, but this bagged tea is not my fave at all! Stash makes a better one - but I hate that, too.
Earl Grey - it's just not my bag!
57 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5Sylvia (215 reviews) on May. 27th, 2012
This tea is okay, although it doesn't have a very strong tea flavor. I added cream and sugar.
33 Aroma: 4/10 Flavor: 2/5 Value: 1/5Alex Zorach (1453 reviews) on May. 20th, 2010
Exceptionally lemony and citrusy for an Earl Grey...there's only a weak suggestion of the usual bergamot aroma. The aroma is more like candied lemon than Earl Grey tea, and it has an artificial quality to it. The black tea presence is entirely unremarkable...although this tea brews a dark color, there is little other sign that it contains black tea. Flavor is weak...this tea is primarily aromatic.
Earl Grey is one of the few teas that tends to be drinkable as decaf...yet this one was still a disappointment.
Page 1 of 1 page with 7 reviews
More Earl Grey Tea from Twinings
Earl Grey Organic & Fair Trade Certified Tea
| Style: | Earl Grey Tea |
| Region: | Blend |
| Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
| Leaf: | Teabag |
