DAVIDsTEA’s Earl Grey Rooibos | Tea Review

Tea provided

A few weeks ago, DAVIDsTEA kindly sent me another care package with some teas and teaware. The Earl Grey Rooibos sounded like a lovely blend to unwind on a cold winter day.

The DAVIDsTEA care package arrived with 3 teas, a glass mug, a perfect teaspoon, and a handwritten postcard. I received Nepal Black, Jasmine Black Pearls, and Earl Grey Rooibos. Despite drinking DAVIDsTEA for many years (and the reason I started my tea journey!) there are still teas I haven’t tried yet. I decided to drink the Earl Grey Rooibos during the afternoon and at night time before bed since it is caffeine-free.

Description: “Sometimes when that midnight craving hits, nothing will do but a nice cup of Earl Grey.”

Instructions: 1-2 Perfect Spoonfuls | 16 oz/475 ml |  95℃/200℉  | 4-5 minutes

Review: When opening the pouch, the classic Earl Grey smell of bergamot and citrus wafted in the air, with an underlying floral smell. The dry blend was comprised of a reddish browns from the rooibos and rosehips. After infusing, the wet blend had an earthy and musky smell, interlaced with the classic smell of bergamot and citrus. The liquor was a lovely reddish hue with a bergamot, citrus, and woodsy herbal smell from the rooibos.

After a 4 minute steeping, the liquor had a nice mellow classic Earl Grey taste with forward notes of bergamot and citrus and some woodsy notes from the rooibos. Since the blend does not have the traditional black tea base, it does not have some briskness that some black teas can bring. Once cooled, the tea had a stronger classic Earl Grey taste.

Since the blend was mellow at 4 minutes, I wanted to see how it tasted after a 5 minute infusion and if the liquor would have a more intense flavour. The citrus and bergamot were stronger, but not overpoweringly so and lingered around the mouth. Once the liquor was cool, the rooibos was more forward with a mellow underlying Earl Grey taste and dryness at the back of the throat.

Since the website mentioned that the blend was “great on its own or with a splash of milk and sugar,” I thought it would make a nice London Fog, which is an Earl Grey Latte. I used Lu Ann from The Cup of Life’s London Fog (Earl Grey Tea Latte) Recipe which was simple and quick to make! I didn’t have any vanilla at home, but Lu Ann mentioned you could use vanilla flavoured oat milk, which I had. My latte sadly didn’t have any fluffy foam at the top but that might be because it was a shelf stable version, which seems to affect the oat milk’s ability to foam. That being said, the latte did make for a nice afternoon treat paired with some matcha cheesecake! As a latte, the vanilla oat milk brought out the nice floral note and toned down some of the bergamot.

Overall, I sometimes find Earl Grey teas with black tea blends can lean very brisk or overwhelmed strong, since it is customary to add milk and sugar, but this one was relaxing and soothing. While I may not always reach for Earl Grey, I did personally find this very comforting. I don’t tend to have a lot of caffeine-free options, but I should consider getting more in the future. I paired the blend with a savoury ravioli dish and some salted almond and dark chocolate and it was lovely with both (3.5/5 rating).

Lastly, I ended up brewing the Earl Grey Rooibos blend in my new glass mug, which retained its heat for up to 30 minutes (with the lid on) and the liquor was pipping hot. This is my second care package from DAVIDsTEA after meeting some of the staff at the 2020 Toronto Tea Festival! So, thank you for thinking of me, DT fam!

The question of the post: How do you prepare you Earl Grey tea?