Best Earl Grey?
 

What's your favo(u)rite Earl Grey? I always liked Tazo but it tastes a little flat these days (also it is a very old box I found in the cabinet). I'm interested in both specialty brands you have to order (Tee Gschwender) or just something you can find at the grocery store.

Best? Without question from what I’ve tried is this one:
https://www.postcardteas.com/site/pr...cos-earl-grey/

Nevertheless, I usually add a teaspoon of Darjeeling to make the bergamot just a little less assertive. Makes it very economical. The extra Darjeeling isn’t necessary, but the bergamot oil is good enough and pronounced enough that it still shines through brightly anyway.

I volunteer somewhere rather chilly and like having a flask of something hot and refreshing which I’m fine with cold if I need to attend to something before I finish the cup I’ve poured. Lately I’m drinking more of this “lemon pekoe” than earl grey. It’s based on the same idea but lemon oil is used instead of bergamot. Again, I’ll often add a smidge more Darjeeling leaves for a gentler taste.
https://www.postcardteas.com/site/product/lemon-pekoe/
I love tea with fresh lemon, but this is something else. Doesn’t taste artificial at all and no need for sugar or honey.

I noticed recently that some old tea I have doesn't taste very good. It's probably too old, not your taste buds.

My favorite Earl Grey of all time is Murchies. Not sure if they are outside of Canada or not but their Earl Grey is unsurpassed IMO. The Fairmont Lot 35 is very good as well but more of a creamy EG. if you can get your hands on some Murchies, you won’t be disappointed. https://www.murchies.com/store/fine-...l-grey-tb.html

You could try this one

https://justuscoffee.com/store/product/earl-grey-carton

Bought it a Ten Thousand Villages (fair trade retail shop of your local Mennonite Central Committee) more than a few years ago. So strong that I have to dilute it. Just took a sniff of it (it's almost 5 years past its besy-by date) and still smell very strongly of bergamot.

Caveat: mine is loose leaf (never buy bagged tea and hardly drink it) and it seems it's only sold in bags these days.

The best I've consciously had is Fortnums, but I didn't think it was massively better than Twinings which is, of course, massively cheaper and doesn't require a trip to Fortnums. I don't really like the Waitrose own brand version. Incidentally I've noticed that the leaf tea is slowly disappearing altogether from supermarket shelves. I've never found an acceptable version in tea bags.

Okay, so I'm going to give you the lowdown on Earl Grey tea, because I drink gallons of it. And forget about rubbish like Twining tea bags.

I have two favourites. I particularly like Kusmi Earl Grey Polish Blend (enjoying some now), which is sometimes described as more tangy (there is some tiny amount of lemon and lime) than their standard Earl Grey Anastasia (which is also quite nice). Kusmi also has an Earl Grey Intense (maybe it was a limited edition) but I didn't like this very much. It was just too full on.

My other favourite is, maybe surprisingly, Tee Geschwendner Earl Grey No69. It's not very expensive, finely but fully flavoured, and is an excellent everyday tea. You really can't go wrong with TG's other Earl Greys, including the No938, which uses finer quality tea leaves than the 69, or the Lady Violet, though the latter is a little too light for me.

David's Tea - Cream of Earl Grey
https://www.davidstea.com/us_en/tea/...AR0012981.html

That's in the U.K. for all black teas? Certainly noticed the trend in Canada starting over a decade ago, and very evident even in very English parts of the country. I found that one of the lower-end supermarket chains (owned by the family which owns ABF and F&M) that caters to Indians carries a lot of loose leaf black tea aimed at the Indian market so you will find 1-2lb boxes/bags of Brooke Bond Red Label, Lipton Yellow Label (not bad in loose leaf, horrid in bags), and I think even PG Tips among others. I counted over 23 different varieties at a location that caters to a majority Indian clientele.

One other brand that was stocked in some stores is Ahmad Teas. The only loose leaf tea that I've found was the cardamon tea. Delicious the first time you drink it, and then it appears you become immune to the flavour and don't taste it anymore, even after months of not drinking it (still smell very cardamon-y though.

Funny you should mention that as one of my favourite “workman’s” teas is Brooke Bond Taj Majal. There was a time you could get it through some English supermarkets but you’d have a hard time finding it now. Unless a speciality store catering to Indians had it it’s mail order only. Mind you, making this in a Brown Betty is a PITA, I use a specific tea pot with a big mesh inside I can take out to deal with the leaves easily. I think most people in the U.K. just can’t be bothered and prefer strangling their infusions in little bags.

I just had a look at the newest box of BB Red Label. Actually packed by Unilever specifically for the Canadian market (english and french). I should buy better but the price (<CAD 7 / 900g - almost what some would pay for a single cup of exquisite tea - every few weeks/months) is too tempting.

The Tea Makers of London Supreme Earl Grey for me, anytime (at the afternoon - it’s a green jasmine for the mornings)

+1 on Fortnum. I actually think it's massively better than Twinings. Specifically looking at the loose leaf sold in those 250g collectible metal tins (compared to the Twinings 200g tin I have in front of me). I'm sure there's some variation if you're buying tea bags or maybe a lower grade from a discount shop though.

How does the Lot 35 compare to the old Organic Fairmont? I ordered a whack load of the old stuff when they were discontinuing the Organic line, mostly because they did not have a replacement for the Kea Lani so I ordered as much as I could of that too.

1837 TWG tea has a variety of Earl Grey teas
https://twgtea.com/teas

Tea Forté
https://teaforte.com/products/earl-grey-tea