I first learned of Earl Gray tea when I was growing up watching Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the show, Capt. Picard (played by Patrick Stewart) asks the ship's computer for "Earl Gray. Hot." and a cup of tea would appear. The tea we always had in the house when I was growing up was usually a cinnamon tea, as my mother liked cinnamon. My mother never drank tea (that I recall) except for this and my father never drank tea at all. I believe I was either in very late high school or already in college before I stumbled across some Earl Grey tea (Celestial Seasonings or other box of tea bags of Earl Gray tea), tried it and fell in love.
And yes, I tried it simply because it was mentioned in Star Trek. I really ought to thank the creators/producers of the show for getting me into tea, which has become my favorite drink.
Since then, Earl Gray is typically my go to tea. If I want to try a new brand of bagged tea, I'll try their Earl Gray tea. If I approve of it, I'll try the brand's other teas. This is the same, typically, of loose leaf teas: try the Earl Gray and branch out from there. Any tea order I do usually will include Earl Gray since I go through it so quickly because I drink it so often.
Earl Gray is also my "coffee". I will brew it extra strong and drink it in the morning to help wake me up or focus me, just like a lot of coffee drinkers that I know will do. Even if I brew it way too strong and the tea is bitter in strength, I still love Earl Gray.
I've just brewed up some Earl Gray, a loose leaf tea I got from a company called The Tea Box. This is what Earl Gray looks like in its loose leaf form. It has an almost spicy citrusy smell - but not like an orange or a lemon. The citrus is the from oil from the rind of the bergamot orange, a citrus hybrid from the Mediterranean area. Earl Gray tea is a Chinese black tea that is infused with the oil.
Here is the tea as it steeps in my tea pot. I heated the water in a kettle and poured the water over the tea which is in a metal strainer. Tea really doesn't need that much time to steep. Most tea box instructions (for bagged tea) advise a couple of minutes in order to steep properly, however, typically, this is too long as it will create a rather bitter tea. I've seen some loose leaf instructions advise steeping for over a minute, though once I started to get savvy with loose tea, I found somewhere (I will have to try to search for where I read this) that you only need to steep for 20 seconds or so.
The way I steep my tea is different between loose leaf and bagged, obviously. With loose leaf tea, I steep until the tea is the color I want for the type of tea I'm using. Earl Gray is a black tea, so it will be a medium light brownish color, unlike green teas which will be a light greenish or white teas which can be a pale hint of tanish green. I figured my steeping process out by experimentation and almost always end up with the perfect pot of tea. At least in my opinion! I believe I steeped this for about 45 seconds to get to the color as pictured below.
And now, to enjoy.
The citrus smell is more diluted in the final product, however, is definitely still there. It lacks the spiciness from the scent of the dried tea leaves. However, the tea is smooth with the faint aftertaste of citrus and the loveliness of black tea.
Current tea: Earl Gray
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