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New Moon Tea Co’s Cream of Earl Grey

Cream of Earl Grey by New Moon Tea Co
Black tea / Flavoured
64g

Cream of Earl Grey was given to me as a gift, as such I did not look up the price. New Moon Tea Co is a tea company located in Nakusp, British Columbia, Canada.

First Impressions

Cream of Earl Grey came in a kraft paper pouch (both sealed and resealable), with large black labels on the front and the back of the packaging with white print. Cream of Earl Grey is described as being a premium loose leaf tea, the pouch holding 64g of tea that is small batch and hand blended. Part of the reason that I was given Cream of Earl Grey is because one of my students found out that I love tea and this was her favourite blend – also bonus points of the fact that I also love Earl Grey blends (as I’ve mentioned countless times before both on the blog and on Instagram).

Cream of Earl Grey is a beautiful blend – with visible flower petals mixed into the black tea base. Cream of Earl Grey consists of: black tea, cornflower petals, orange peel, and natural bergamot. Earl Grey has a decently long history as one of the original tea blends, and typically consists of black tea and bergamot. There are lots of blends that have been inspired by the original Earl Grey blend, and also changed to suit ones needs. Cornflower petals is a common ingredient found in an Earl Grey blend, so I was happy to find it in this one as well. The bergamot aroma from the dry leaf is rich and truthfully, one of my favourite parts of enjoying an Earl Grey tea.

Preparation

New Moon Tea Co recommends steeping Cream of Earl Grey in 100°C (212°F) water for 3 to 4 minutes. I opted to follow the steeping instructions and do an initial steep for 4 minutes.

First Taste

Cream of Earl Grey steeps to a rich orange. The aroma of the tea is primarily that of the bergamot, the tea itself is smooth with a creaminess to the tea that I find intriguing, and a bergamot flavour throughout. The black tea itself has no astringency and bitterness at the steeping time at 4 minutes. There’s no sweetness to it, but I did have a cup with both some cream and sugar (hello, attempt at a London Fog) and it took to it very well.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Cream of Earl Grey, adding an additional 30 seconds for the first resteep. I found that the flavour of the tea was lacking in terms of bergamot, and it was primarily the black tea base coming through. I would recommend steeping Cream of Earl Grey for just the initial steep.

My Overall Impression

I liked New Moon Tea Co’s Cream of Earl Grey. I can see why this Earl Grey blend is a favourite for New Moon Tea Co fans! I frequently enjoy an Earl Grey blend, and found that the flavour was delicious. It’s more subtle compared to other Earl Grey blends that I’ve had in the past, in terms of the strength of the bergamot flavour. If you like your Earl Grey to have stronger bergamot, you might not enjoy this blend as much – but if you like an Earl Grey having a creamier finish with a more subtle bergamot I think you’ll enjoy Cream of Earl Grey. I personally think it works brilliantly as a base for a London Fog.

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DavidsTea’s Magnolia Oolong

Magnolia Oolong by DavidsTea
Oolong Tea / Straight
$12.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Part of an online order from DavidsTea, Magnolia Oolong comes in a familiar silver pouch with a familiar label – blue for the fact that it’s an oolong tea. The packaging lets me know that Magnolia Oolong is an oolong tea from the Anxi region of Fujian Province, China, and the tea leaves have been scented with magnolia and jasmine blossoms.

The tea leaves are a beautiful range of green – from a light spring green to a dark hunter green. The leaves are tightly bunched, with a bright floral aroma to them. They truly smell lovely and inviting – almost as if you’re enjoying a small bouquet of flowers and they’re bringing you in for a whiff.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Magnolia Oolong in 90°C (195°F) water for 4 to 5 minutes. I opted to an initial steep of Magnolia Oolong for 4 minutes.

First Taste

Magnolia Oolong steeps to a light golden yellow after the initial steep of the leaves. The tea itself is quite aromatic, with a light floral fragrance. The flavour of Magnolia Oolong is delightfully floral, the texture is smooth. There’s a floral sweetness, floral flavour, with a light creaminess at the tail end of each sip. The mouth texture is pleasant with a way of coating the mouth, and zero astringency with the water temperature that I used to steep it.

A Second Cup?

Resteeping Magnolia Oolong was a joy. I resteeped Magnolia Oolong a total of six times (seven steeps total), and added an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The colour of this tea deepens to a lovely golden yellow with a nice floral aroma and flavour. The creaminess of the tea is present through all the steeps, and becomes more buttery in flavour by the second resteep.

My Overall Impression

I loved DavidsTea’s Magnolia Oolong. The experience from smelling the leaf to steeping to drinking was a nice journey, which was capped off with the many resteeps of the same leaves until I couldn’t drink anymore. The leaves resteep beautifully and the flavour of it was excellent throughout all of the steeps. I find the combination of magnolia and jasmine to be just a pleasant experience, because it made for a light, sweet floral cup of tea.

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Dessert by Deb’s Matcha Key Lime Pie

Matcha Key Lime Pie by Dessert by Deb
Green Tea (Matcha) / Flavoured
$6.50 for 25g

First Impressions

When I spotted Matcha Key Lime Pie in my bimonthly subscription box from Dessert by Deb, I was intrigued. I mean – key lime pie? Hello, that’s a delicious dessert any day of the week.  Mix in some matcha and it’s a good day all around! I really do hope that there’s a matcha key lime pie that exists out there in the real world, because I would dig into that for sure. This Matcha Key Lime Pie comes in a metallic pink pouch with a polka dotted label. Matcha Key Lime Pie is from Dessert by Deb’s Japanese & Asian Patisserie collection.

The aroma from the dry leaf is a strong lime aroma that does make me think of key lime pie. I don’t really smell the matcha or the coconut, but lime is such a strong citrus fruit, that it really does make for a strong flavour profile. Matcha Key Lime Pie consists of: green tea, natural lime flavour, lime pieces & peel, toasted coconut, Canadian maple, and ceremonial matcha – where the coconut, maple, and matcha are all certified organic ingredients.

The matcha powder dusts over all of the other ingredients quite easily. The appearance of all of the ingredients is a similar bright spring green that is the matcha. It is beautiful though, and has a great lime aroma to it.

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends preparing Matcha Key Lime Pie in 200°F (93°C) water for 5 to 6 minutes, and also recommended to prepare it as a latte. I opted to prepare Matcha Key Lime Pie straight up with an initial steep of 5 minutes, with the plan to have Matcha Key Lime Pie as a latte later.

First Taste

Matcha Key Lime Pie steeps to a bright spring green, with a strong lime aroma. The flavour of the tea is tart – much like a key lime pie. There’s a good amount of lime flavour, with touches of umami throughout. There’s something about the lime that just sort of coats everything – the flavour of it just permeates the whole sip of tea and definitely over powers the coconut, since I don’t taste it. And I also find that the tartness of lime also takes over any sweetness from the maple that might have otherwise been in my cup of tea.

A Second Cup?

Attempting to resteep Matcha Key Lime Pie resulted in a sad cup of tea that was sorely lacking in the lime flavour, so I would recommend just one steep with these leaves.

My Overall Impression

I loved Dessert by Deb’s Matcha Key Lime Pie. I really enjoyed the tartness and strength of the lime flavour in this green tea blend – I do wish that the coconut and maple shone through more, but I still found that it reminded me a lot of key lime pie so I wasn’t put off by it. I do wish that there was more sweetness in my cup, so I would definitely add some sweetener to it to make it even more of a liquid dessert. Still delicious though, and I think it’s certainly a unique blend because I’ve never had anything like it.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.