"A top-notch Earl Grey... without a doubt this will become a regular re-purchase for me." Stephen’s Teaview: 8/10 Your Reviews: 5/10 2 reader reviews | Add your review »

A few weeks ago I was struck by a particularly unique Earl Grey blend being sold by a local cafe. It turned out they were serving Stash Earl Grey. It wasn’t the best Earl Grey I’ve ever had, but it was darned good and had a unique character about it, so I decided to splurge and try some of Stash’s other offerings.

The one I just had to try was their “Double Bergamot Earl Grey,” though I’ll admit to some heavy reservations. Bergamot oil is just about one of my most favorite scents/tastes in the world, but I’ve been burned in the past by Earl Greys that were just absolutely overpowering from the overuse of it. (Adagio’s Earl Grey Bravo comes to mind). And of course I’d already tried Stash’s Earl Grey, in teabag form, and found that it was perhaps just a fraction too heavy in the bergamot department for my tastes. Still, I put aside these reservations and gave their “Double Bergamot Earl Grey” a try.

And I’m sure glad I did!

Surprisingly, this tea is not overpowering at all but is rather quite nicely blended to suit my tastes in Earl Grey. In fact I’d have to say there seemed to be a more powerful (slightly too much so) bergamot flavor in their “regular” Earl Grey tea bags. It could be that the oils percolate differently through the tea bag than through their loose teas, but whatever the cause, I enjoyed this blend immensely. The loose leaves also result in a much cleaner, crisper brew than the tea bag version - which is to be expected, since most teabags use smaller grade tea bits (mostly dust and shavings) which can easily bypass the filter and become suspended in the drink.

Stash’s Double Bergamot Earl Grey will absolutely become a regular purchase for me. This is the first blend I’ve come across that can hold a candle to the (sadly) discontinued Jackson’s of Piccadilly Earl Grey. At $6.75 per 100g package, its also quite reasonably priced (roughly 30 cents per brew).

I’m not quite sure about Stash’s packaging, though. They come in these “resealable pouches” which have easy-pull strips to open but the whole process seemed unnecessarily difficult. First off, the “easy-pull” strip doesn’t fully tear off the top, so I’ve had to take scissors to the tops of each pouch in the end. And while the resealable strip (similar to a ziploc bag) seems to work, it doesn’t have quite enough tactile sensation through the thick coating of the pouch to let you know that you’ve truly got a tight seal before you tuck it back into your tea cabinet. I’ll probably end up just emptying my pouches into some emptied tea canisters for convenience.

Ah well… I’d still buy the stuff even if they sent it wrapped in tissue paper, its that good!

Stephen Teaviews.com Reviewer » Read more about this reviewer on Stephen's profile page. » Find a list of recent posts by Stephen.