New to Tea: Where to start with Earl Grey?

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Apr 29th, '10, 13:41
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New to Tea: Where to start with Earl Grey?

by TLHeille » Apr 29th, '10, 13:41

I've recently been introduced to this whole tea things by some insistent friends who've been nudging me for a while now to try the stuff.

Well, I've been hooked now ever since I had my first cup of Earl Grey. I visited a nearby Teavana store (It seems like this may not have been the best decision? Teavana seems to get a lot of negative feedback?) and bought myself 2 oz. of their Earl Grey with Creme and a stainless steel strainer.

I've loved being able to make my own tea and I'm really happy with the Earl Grey with Creme, but as I mentioned, I'm wondering if Teavana tea was really the best place to start. Is there a standard Earl Grey that is high quality and a good place to start as a newbie to all of this?

Apr 29th, '10, 20:00
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Re: New to Tea: Where to start with Earl Grey?

by Amandaveranda » Apr 29th, '10, 20:00

I started my obsession through Teavana as well. I haven't heard any negative feedback although I don't have too many friends that share the tea hobby with me.

What kind of negative feedback have you heard?

As for your Earl Grey question, I'm sorry, I can't help. I'm in love with the fruity teas myself...

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Apr 29th, '10, 20:06
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Re: New to Tea: Where to start with Earl Grey?

by Chip » Apr 29th, '10, 20:06

We have everything on TeaChat including a Teavana rant topic.

http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=7509

There are actually a bunch of topics on Teavana.

WELCOME to TeaChat to both of you, and ...

Drink what you like, like what you drink. :mrgreen:

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Apr 30th, '10, 02:05
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Re: New to Tea: Where to start with Earl Grey?

by aya_s » Apr 30th, '10, 02:05

I'm with Chip on this one- everybody will have an opinion on what the best tea is, but it's very important that first and foremost you enjoy what you are drinking. (:

To paraphrase from Michael Harney's "The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea", buy teas that make you smile. If you break into a grin when you drink it, it's a good tea.

(That said, I've enjoyed both the Earl Grey from Harney & Sons and a mix called Mélange Anniversaire from Hediard that is a blend of smoky black tea and various citrus.)

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Apr 30th, '10, 14:28
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Re: New to Tea: Where to start with Earl Grey?

by Poohblah » Apr 30th, '10, 14:28

Teavana's teas are as good of a place as any to start, it's just an expensive store with pushy staff. The leaf quality is not so good either so they flavor the hell out of the teas to compensate.

Personally I like Rishi's Earl Gray and I use a tablespoon of leaves in a 200mL pot. Hardly tastes like an Earl Gray at that point though.

If you like Earl Gray you should try a high-quality keemun.

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Apr 30th, '10, 14:51
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Re: New to Tea: Where to start with Earl Grey?

by teaisme » Apr 30th, '10, 14:51

Earl grey is what first sparked my interest in black teas, and I still enjoy a good one very much, its a hard tea to get wrong. Very comforting. Good tea to sit down and drink causally while reading a book.

endless exploration awaits you ! Here are some vendors and prices. I have never ordered any though, e gray took a back seat because of so much else out there.

Dragon tea house : 100g $10 regular , $12 premium
Floating Leaves Tea : 28g $3 (organic)
Imperial tea :113g $8.75 (with or without lavender)

If you would like to explore more types of black tea jing tea shop, teaspring, thunderbolt tea, lochan tea are all great places to start. I've also heard good things about silk road teas. No earl grey from these vendors though.

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Apr 30th, '10, 16:12
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Re: New to Tea: Where to start with Earl Grey?

by Poohblah » Apr 30th, '10, 16:12

churng wrote:Earl grey is what first sparked my interest in black teas, and I still enjoy a good one very much, its a hard tea to get wrong. Very comforting. Good tea to sit down and drink causally while reading a book.

endless exploration awaits you ! Here are some vendors and prices. I have never ordered any though, e gray took a back seat because of so much else out there.

Dragon tea house : 100g $10 regular , $12 premium
Floating Leaves Tea : 28g $3 (organic)
Imperial tea :113g $8.75 (with or without lavender)

If you would like to explore more types of black tea jing tea shop, teaspring, thunderbolt tea, lochan tea are all great places to start. I've also heard good things about silk road teas. No earl grey from these vendors though.
I never realized those vendors sell EG. I'll have to check them out sometime. Thanks!

May 2nd, '10, 10:40
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Re: New to Tea: Where to start with Earl Grey?

by TLHeille » May 2nd, '10, 10:40

Thanks for the tips! I'm looking into each of the companies recommended.

May 6th, '10, 02:41
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Re: New to Tea: Where to start with Earl Grey?

by russbear3 » May 6th, '10, 02:41

A couple of years ago I fell into in period when I was drinking a lot of Earl Grey. One of the best and smoothest EG's I found was Harney & Son's Earl Gray Imperial. It did not have the harsh "bergamot bite" like so many other teas.

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May 7th, '10, 01:33
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Re: New to Tea: Where to start with Earl Grey?

by entropyembrace » May 7th, '10, 01:33

I drank a lot of Earl Grey for a while...but I tried to get ones with the most Bergamot possible xD

I´m one of those crazy people that eats lemon garnishes too :roll:

I kinda stopped drinking Earl Grey when i got into higher grade oolongs and black teas though....now if I want citrusy tea I mix pure lemon or lime juice into my tea :)

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May 25th, '10, 21:05
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Re: New to Tea: Where to start with Earl Grey?

by Crafty_Mom » May 25th, '10, 21:05

My husband and I drink quite a bit of Mountain Rose Herb's Earl Grey. My opinion of Teavana is it may be an OK place to start, and they do get a lot of people hooked on tea, but there is better stuff out there for better prices. Personally, I didn't like their tea and found it lower quality than what I was used to, but it is a step up from grocery store.

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May 25th, '10, 22:06
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Re: New to Tea: Where to start with Earl Grey?

by kymidwife » May 25th, '10, 22:06

In general, I am not a lover of Twinings or any grocery store tea. But Earl Grey is the one exception. My personal favorite is the Twinings loose leaf Lady Grey. It has a softer flavor, very bright and fresh, makes spectacular unsweetened iced tea, and a really nice hot cup too. I can find the teabags in my local grocery, but not the loose leaf... but I pick up a tin every time I travel and find it... or you can order it online.

Welcome to Tea Chat!

Sarah

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