Picking Berries With the Earl

It started out so beautifully today, with so much sun. Now it is November grey. It is better than yesterday when it rained so hard, we could hardly see and then we had sleet and finally, snow. Fortunately, I managed to be inside for all the very worst of it - good errand planning. Ha Ha.

The rivers and creeks, of which we have an overabundant share, are just roaring. But it is nice and warm inside and I have a tea that matches the picture, having pink raspberries and blue flower petals in it. It is Culinary Tea's Earl Grey Raspberry Tea. Amazing - I can remember when there was Earl Grey and then a foray into Earl Grey Decaf and now, you can hardly name all the varieties of them.

This one smells just like its name, Earl Grey with raspberries. It is a black tea and the pieces varied from about 1/2 inch to a good bit of dust. I don't know if that was from the journey here or if it was not the best quality tea. I brewed it my usual 3.5 minutes at boiling and the scent of raspberries and bergamot did a kind of a dosey-do, first one was forward and then the other. Very nice. The brew was a fairly light amber, which I was a bit surprised by, as I had made it on the strong side. Sadly, the tea itself did not live up to its aroma. It kind of tasted the way good mulch smells. Neither of us cared for it. Neither the Earl nor the raspberries could really be tasted.

Ya know, I've not had very good luck at all with flavored Earl Grey. Some I can tell are good, just not to my taste. Some are not so good, period. Maybe I should take a hint!