The Earl of Grey

I do love Earl Grey teas and I am always disappointed when they don't live up to their potential.  The Earl of Grey, which I got from The Tea Spot sadly falls into that category, for me.  It is a pretty tea , black, with an attractive sprinkle of flower petals.  The aroma is heavily citrus, almost like what is considered a "Russian" interpretation of the Earl.  So far, so good.

I brewed it up for about 4 minutes with boiling water and was rewarded with a much softer scent, veering towards the creamy.  Now I am feeling a trifle confused, but I press on, my curiosity piqued about what this will taste like.

This is actually a sweet tea, the sweetness coming from the addition of licorice root and vanilla.  Hmm.  It almost tastes like creamsicles - you know- those frozen sweets on a stick composed of vanilla ice cream and orange sherbet or perhaps an Orange Julius drink.  It is quite tasty and I kind of like it, but to me, it is not Earl Grey.  Sorry, Tea Spot.  Having said that, I am sure that many will like it.

I think I am getting very tired of flavored teas.  The vast majority of them I do not like, as I can taste chemicals or they are too sweet, or taste like berries.  What I do really like is TEA.  The pure leaf.  Of course there are exceptions.  For me that includes some flowers, like jasmine or rose and some flavors in the citrus line, like Earl Grey or the one black currant I have found, blended by Tea Forte.  I think I will go back to those for a while.

We are going out for dinner on Christmas day.  We've never done that before but our local gang, those without family around, decided to get together and further decided that cooking and cleanup were low priorities.  I am really looking forward to it.

Those lovely arches are the porch of a monastary church in the German hills.

For all of you for whom this is a celebratory time, have a wonderful, happy time and don't let the inevitable stresses get to you.

By the way, a few days ago, I said we were approaching the winter equinox.  It is not, it is the winter solstice, which is today, the shortest day of the year.  Hooray, hooray, it is all uphill from here!