Tea Tuesday: Lady Grey

When Bran started drinking tea he was all about Earl Grey. Why is that you might ask? Well we are nerds and he in particular is a star trek nerd. On the show Captain Jean Luc Picard is well known for ordering “Tea: Earl Grey, hot”. Personally while I might occasionally take a cup of Earl Grey the trademark bergamot is often a bit much for me and I’ll generally go for something mellower.

Enter the Lady Grey tea. This variation on the old classic was created by Twinnings in the 1990’s to appeal to a market who, like me, found bergamot to be stronger than they cared for. Like the classic Earl Grey, Lady Grey still features oil of bergamot but in lower concentrations. Plus it adds in the oil of lemon and orange.

I had gone through my own box of Lady Grey tea bags earlier this year. So when we were in Epcot and able to visit the delightful Twinnings Tea store.

The tea has an excellent strong smell. You get the distinct bergamot notes with their spicy scent plus the more familiar sharp invigorating citrus. From the smell it nearly seems that it could be overwhelming. The taste however isn’t too much at all. The bergamot, lemon and orange are certainly present but blended together with the tea it gives an overall strong pleasant taste. It’s also the type of tea that will stay with you and keep you going for a bit.

Lady Grey is a good tea. I wouldn’t go so far as to rank it among my favorites, but it does make an excellent morning cuppa.