 | "This tea represents all that tea should not be. It was bitter, harsh, and just about undrinkable."
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Yikes. I just had my first taste of Harney and Sons’ Earl Gray Imperial tea, and I am actually speechless. This tea represents all that tea should not be. It was bitter, harsh, and just about undrinkable. In truth, I only managed to get down about 3 sips, before I decided that I hadn’t done anything wrong today to warrant a punishment of having to drink the whole cup. This tea promises a nice hearty brew of black tea flavored with the oil of Bergamot, but what results is a smoky-pungent and all-too-bitter tea. Bergamot usually has a pretty powerful, unique flavor, but the bitterness of the black tea masked the citrus flavor entirely. Because it is so robust and smoky, this almost strikes me as a “manly tea”, not that I really believe that teas should be assigned to a gender. Looking at the 2 other Teaview Reviews (both by males), however, it seems that this tea elicits universal disapproval. The tea bags are of the nicer variety (silken-type pyramids), but that is about the only nice thing I can say about this tea. Although pretty, the sheer silk sachet could not mask the fact that the tea inside was specks and dust, yet another representation of what good tea should not be. Keeping in mind that tea dust lends itself to being over-steeped, I only infused the teabag for about a minute and a half. The results were still disastrous. I really don’t like to be a harsh critic, but I am grappling to find a truly redeeming quality of this tea. I should mention that I am typically not an Earl Gray fan, but there have been other earl grays that I have enjoyed (for example, see my recent review of The Necessiteas’ Earl Gray La Creme). Regardless, it wasn’t the Earl Gray bergamot flavor that turned me off from the tea, but the absolute lack thereof, combined with an utterly low quality black tea base that makes powdered tea mixes seem more appealing. I can’t imagine anyone actually enjoying this tea, and certainly cannot give it my stamp of approval.
— To purchase Harney & Sons Earl Grey Imperial, or for more specific information on ingredients or the story behind this particular blend, click here to go directly to the manufacturer's web site.
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