Tuesday 10 March 2015

Northern Tea Merchants: Earl Grey

(Northern Tea Merchants Earl Grey. Deliciously dark and aromatic).

Sometimes I can completely surprise myself with the things I do - or in this case - don't do.

I am absolutely hooked on Earl Grey and it's one of those blends that I'd be lost without. The thought of never again experiencing Earl Grey is just too horrible to comprehend.

When I visited Northern Tea it dawned on me that I had never tasted their Earl Grey. As horrifying as this may sound, it wasn't till a couple of weeks ago that I actually tried their take on the world famous blend.

So, when arriving at the shop I was asked what tea I'd like. Giving a mere half a second of thought I replied "Earl Grey, please". And I enjoyed a really lovely cup of tea. When visiting the shop I brought a 125g pack of their loose tea and today thought I'd review it.

When I reviewed Northern Tea's gorgeous Rose Congou I explained that floral and Earl Grey tea's are some of the hardest to get right, and I still stand by that statement. The quality of Earl Grey can swing from lovely and flavoursome to awful and oily dependent not on price but quality. I've purchased some relatively cheap blends and it's been lovely and some really expensive ones have been foul.

When I first started drinking tea, nearly five years ago, I stepped into the tea world amid a rambunctious tea storm. Twinings had changed the recipe of their Earl Grey and had renamed it THE Earl Grey. I was quite surprised that (what I thought) the quaint tea world was actually up in arms. I know, due to the change in recipe, Twinings lost lifelong Earl Grey drinkers, whilst many purchased the Twinings International Earl Grey Classic blend, turning their back on what was available in the supermarket. It seemed that Earl Grey had it's devotees - and they are loyal to the blends they love.

And I, in turn, have found the ultimate Earl Grey in Northern Tea Merchants wonderful blend. And it's one I'll stick with. Quite simply, nothing in the supermarkets seem to match up to it.

(Northern Tea Merchant's strong, powerful and utterly gorgeous Earl Grey).

First of all I love how the tea looks. A strange thing to say, I appreciate. However, I firmly believe that tea should be experienced by ALL the senses. Not only taste and smell but touch and sight, too. I love feeling tea leaves, rolling them in between my fingers. And this tea is a wonderful, dark, black colour. And also there are splashes of colour too!

The aroma of the tea is light and fruity.

This Earl Grey infuses to a light, golden colour. The first thing that struck me upon taking my first sip was the tea had a well balanced citrus flavour which is refreshing and brings a feeling of spring to your life when drinking this blend.

All Earl Grey blends contain bergamot in on form or another. Some contain bergamot flavouring whilst others use oil of bergamot. And it's the bergamot that makes all the difference in my opinion.

In some of the worst Earl Grey's I've tried the oil of bergamot is present in a oily substance that sits on top of your tea and gives that perfume like texture to the blend. But with Northern Tea's it's completely natural feeling and is very evenly balanced, too.

The base tea is extremely high quality black tea which is strong, robust and very, very gorgeous. Northern Tea's black tea's are just fab pure and flavoured, such as in the case of Earl Grey.

I loved how natural and fresh this tea tasted, and I added a slice of lemon to the second cup I had which made it even more tasty.

This tea is perfect to be served with lemon drizzle cake or a light Victoria sponge.

I brought 125g's of this tea from Northern Tea and the pack is HUGE. You get a lot of tea and it only cost's £3.55.  You can pay that now for 50 teabags in your supermarket but what you don't get is the quality you get with Northern Tea. Its' as simple as that.

From now on Northern Tea will be my go to company for Earl Grey. It's just about the nicest blended, gorgeous Earl Grey about.

Their Earl Grey is also available in teabags if you prefer them for convenience. The only difference is that a Kenyan tea is used instead of Chinese tea. (Small leaf tea is used in teabags, whereas in this blend, large leaf tea is used).

Northern Tea Earl Grey is a delight to drink and anyone will enjoy this wonderful tea.

And, to the Earl Grey obsessives out there ... and I know there are a lot ... you won't get any better then this!




2 comments:

  1. THANK YOU LAURA FOR THIS BRILLIANT BLOG. I AM A EARL GREY OBSESSIVE AND HAVE FOUND IT REALLY HARD TO FIND A BLEND SINCE TWININGS CHANGED THEIR RECIPE. YOUR SUMMISING OF THE SITUATION IS CORRECT AND NOW I HAVE TO RELY ON THEIR INTERNATIONAL BLEND TO GET ANYTHING CLOSE TO THE ORIGINAL. HOWEVER, I AM INTERESTED IN THIS BLEND AS I'M LOSING PATIENCE WITH THE COURIERS TWININGS USE. SO IT'S TIME TO TRY SOME OTHER BRANDS. THANK YOU FOR THE ADVICE LAURA.

    ONE QUESTION I DO HAVE IF IT'S OKAY. WHAT DO YOU PREFER THE LOOSE CHINESE TEA OR THE BAGGED KENYAN BLEND?????

    RICHARD JONES
    BIRMINGHAM

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    Replies
    1. Good evening, Richard.

      Thank you for the comment.

      Sadly, I've not tried NT's bagged Earl Grey so I can't comment but if their track history is anything to go by I'm sure it's a great blend. But I can only really say about the loose blend which is gorgeous.

      Hope this helps.

      Laura

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