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New Earl Grey?

madurobob

Philosopher
madurobob
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Jul 20, 2007
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Blue Heaven
I drink a fair amount of tea - about two cups a day for several years now. I'll brew a cup for breakfast and, in the evenings when there is nothing interesting on TV (that is, nearly every night) I'll brew a cup and read a book.

I almost exclusively drink Twining's Earl Grey. I buy great huge boxes of individually wrapped tea bags, and large tins of loose tea when I find it on sale. Yesterday, though, I read that Twinings has changed their recipe:

Earl grey Drinkers Dismiss new Recipe

Sort of a "new Coke" moment? I've not seen the new stuff in stores here in NC and still have plenty of the old stuff. Should I hoard it and sell it on the black market? ;)

For those who have tried the new version, is it really all that different? Or are people just looking for something to be upset about? I wonder how many times they've tweaked the recipe in the past without announcing it.
 
Interesting story. I haven't seen any of the new blend tea here in Canada yet. The Daily Mail article says they tweaked the recipe by adding extra citrus and bergamont. If that's the case, it might be possible to get the original flavour back by adding some extra black tea before brewing.
 
Its also not as if Twinings owns the rights to the name or recipe. There are plenty of other tea companies that sell Earl Gray tea. Bigelow, Starbucks (Tazo), Stash, Bewley, etc...

But, perhaps thats like telling classic coke drinkers that there is still Pepsi, Royal Crown, Jones, etc...
 
I too am a big fan of Earl Grey. I found Twinings so-so.

The best IMO is Stash's "double bergamot earl grey black tea" (sic).

It's a bit pricey (around $4 for 18 bags) in my neck of the woods, but each bag is individually encased in an aluminum foil packet. A single bag is good for a 4-6 cup pot of tea.

Charlie (not affiliated with Stash except as a consumer) Monoxide
 
PG Tips is a good un.
Since I am English Tea drinking is compulsory. Personally, I drink one coffee and about six mugs of Tea a day. That is minimum. Sometimes I indulge myself and drink more.

We English drink Tea before and after anything we do, be it washing the Car, going shopping, chatting to a neighbour or even drinking a cup of Tea.
The exception is sex. You can only have Tea after sex.
Anyway PG Tips is good.
 
learner said:
We English drink Tea before and after anything we do, be it washing the Car, going shopping, chatting to a neighbour or even drinking a cup of Tea.
The exception is sex. You can only have Tea after sex.
Anyway PG Tips is good.
Click to expand...
Never heard of it.

PG Tips, that is.

I'll check next time I'm in the tea section of my local importer. I know they have Stash.

As a slight aside, we have folks from our England lab visit us in NC fairly often. I always enjoy watching their expression as the waitress brings them the tea they ordered. In a tall glass. Filled with Ice. Poured from a gallon pitcher. With 5000X the RDA of sugar already dissolved in it.

Good times.
 
Interesting that they've added apparently more bergamot oil, we don't usually buy Twinings' Earl Grey because we'd rather have one with more bergamot; our usual blend is M&S (which is usually cheaper than the Twinnings as well). Not seen anything on the packaging yet that it is a new blend so don't know if it's made it through the supply chain. I'll keep an eye out for it.

Oh and of course the above is based on assuming the Daily Mail report is at all accurate - yeah I know :sdl:
 
I once did a survey of all the Earl Grey brands I could find. My favorite was loose Earl Grey from Stash. Twinings, to me, tasted like lemon cough drops. ETA: If I recall, they list "bergamot flavoring". Flavoring, in an ingredients lists, usually means something made to taste like what is being referenced, not the reference itself.

Stash, btw, also has a Double Earl Grey (in bags, often found in the supermarket) which I really like. I will give Twinings a second shot with the new recipe.
 
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madurobob said:
Never heard of it.

PG Tips, that is.

I'll check next time I'm in the tea section of my local importer. I know they have Stash.

As a slight aside, we have folks from our England lab visit us in NC fairly often. I always enjoy watching their expression as the waitress brings them the tea they ordered. In a tall glass. Filled with Ice. Poured from a gallon pitcher. With 5000X the RDA of sugar already dissolved in it.
Good times.
Click to expand...

Presumably that is considered grounds for justifiable homicide?
 
Fun fact: Charles Grey, the 2nd Earl Grey, was UK prime minister in the 1830's. The tea blend is named for him.
 
Darat said:
Presumably that is considered grounds for justifiable homicide?
Click to expand...

Judging by some of the expressions I've witnessed, perhaps. Damned funny, too.

The best was the bbq joint that simply didn't have the ability to brew a cup of tea. The waitress offered to put the iced tea in the microwave.
 
madurobob said:
Never heard of it.

PG Tips, that is.

I'll check next time I'm in the tea section of my local importer. I know they have Stash.

As a slight aside, we have folks from our England lab visit us in NC fairly often. I always enjoy watching their expression as the waitress brings them the tea they ordered. In a tall glass. Filled with Ice. Poured from a gallon pitcher. With 5000X the RDA of sugar already dissolved in it.

Good times.
Click to expand...

Tea, in a Glass! Ice! Pitcher! Dissolved Sugar!
Is this an attempt at creating a blackhole or something?
 
madurobob said:
Judging by some of the expressions I've witnessed, perhaps. Damned funny, too.

The best was the bbq joint that simply didn't have the ability to brew a cup of tea. The waitress offered to put the iced tea in the microwave.
Click to expand...

The sad thing is that trying to get boiling water, which is necessary to brew The TEA is always a challenge in the USA. I've been to a number of colleagues homes and they just do not have a the most basic of equipment i.e. The Kettle! :jaw-dropp
 
Darat said:
The sad thing is that trying to get boiling water, which is necessary to brew The TEA is always a challenge in the USA. I've been to a number of colleagues homes and they just do not have a the most basic of equipment i.e. The Kettle! :jaw-dropp
Click to expand...

How the **** do they have coffee then? Or do they just take the Jeep™ down to Starbucks?
 
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