![]() ![]() Or a tea master may decide to give a bold, sharp black tea a hefty kick of bergamot to stand up to the bold flavor profile of the tea leaves.īlack Tea Processing: Withering → Rolling → Oxidation → Firing Depending on the flavor of the base tea, a tea master may decide to use a subtle amount of bergamot flavor so as not to cover up the delicate flavor of the tea leaves. The art and style of the tea master will define not only which type but also how much bergamot is used in a particular Earl Grey blend. But one thing is for sure: While the 2nd Earl of Grey abolished slavery and reformed child labor laws in England during his political leadership, he will be most famously remembered for the beloved tea he helped introduce to the world. Exactly which English tea merchant marketed the first Earl Grey tea blend is somewhat of a debate in the world of tea. It proved so popular with London society, she asked tea merchants in London to recreate it. Earl Grey’s wife, Lady Grey, loved the tea so much that she entertained with it exclusively. According to the Grey family, the tea master used bergamot as a flavoring to offset the lime flavor in the well water on Earl Grey’s estate, Howick Hall, near Newcastle, England. One history of the origins of Earl Grey explains that a Chinese mandarin tea master blended the first Earl Grey tea as a gift for Charles Grey, the 2nd Earl of Grey and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1830 to 1834. From fragrant jasmine flowers and wild rosebuds to bitter oranges and sweet lychee fruits, Chinese tea masters infused all kinds of fragrance and flavor into their teas during processing to create distinctive and highly drinkable beverages. Early Chinese tea masters constantly experimented with ways to make their teas more exotic, not only to capture the attention of the reigning emperors of the time but also the business of worldwide trade merchants looking to return home with the unique flavors of the Far East. Scented and flavored teas are uniquely Chinese. While Earl Grey tea was popularized by the English, it was not an English invention. So how did England and the rest of the world come to fall in love with this citrus and floral infused black tea? Today’s cultivar of the bergamot orange is believed to be a hybrid of the bitter Seville orange native to the Mediterranean and a sweet lime/lemon native to Southeast Asia. ![]() This quintessentially British tea is typically a black tea base flavored with oil from the rind of bergamot orange, a citrus fruit with the appearance and flavor somewhere between an orange and a lemon with a little grapefruit and lime thrown in. ![]() Flavored teas include any type of tea-white, green, oolong, black-that has been scented or flavored with fruit, flowers, spices, oils, extracts, and natural or artificial flavors.Įarl Grey is one of the most recognized flavored teas in the world. It falls into the category of flavored teas. Just like cookie dough goes with vanilla ice cream, peanut butter goes with chocolate, and lime goes with tequila, bergamot goes with black tea to create one of the world’s most beloved teas: Earl Grey.Įarl Grey tea, believe it or not, is not its own category of tea. ![]()
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