Thursday, February 23, 2012

Adagio Rooibos Earl Grey

I've come to the conclusion that I love Earl Grey tea.  Just wanted to set the record straight.  I love the taste & that smell of bergamot.

Earl Grey tea is commonly a black tea with bergamot oil.  According to my on-line research, thank you Wikipedia, bergamot oranges are grown commercially in Italy.  They have a dstinct flavor, often used in teas.

There are various varities of Earl Grey teas...
Lady Grey -
     Lavendar Lady Grey is flavored with lavendar.
     Citrus Lady Grey is flavored with Seville oranges.
London Fog is Earl Grey with steamed milk & vanilla syrup.
French Earl Grey is flavored with rose petals.
Russian Earl Grey is flavored with citrus peels & lemongrass.

Earl Grey Green is obviously green tea leaves with bergamot.

Rooibos Earl Grey is Earl Grey with red tea (or South African herbal tea) & bergamot.

And that brings me to tonight's tea...Rooibos Earl Grey from the wonderful people at Adagio.

Oh Earl Grey how I love your warm wonderful flavor.
And rooibos tea always calms me down.  
I love a good cup of rooibos at the end of the day when I want to unwind & settle down before going to bed.  Rooibos has a way of relaxing me & helping me drift off to sleep.....

Tonight I'm excited about brewing this pot of tea.  I'm using my new cast iron teapot.

Since I started my obsession with loose leaf tea, I have been looking for the perfect cast iron teapot.  After much on-line research & searching high & low for the perfect teapot, I will stumble across one at a favorite store....V&T Supermarket in Hempstead.  I luck out & find some great deals there on tea accessories.

Nothing overly fancy...in fact, it's quite plain.  And you would probably expect me to want something over the top exotic, but I went for something simple.  Something functional.

Here it is....

Simple...but functional.
For the record, the teapot warmer is also cast iron.  Found on Amazon for a mere $11.

I will 'wash' the pot before I brew my tea tonight.  By washing it, I merely run boiling hot water through it.  I will take the time to care for this pot.  No soap.  Just hot water to clean it.  And I leave it air dry on the drain board.  Let's hope I can keep it clean & not get any rust.

After I wash the pot, I open the bag of tea.  I love the smell.  It's definitely a strong orange scent that first greets you.  But then there is something behind it.  I can't quite place it, but it's wonderful.  It lets you know this tea is going to be delicious.

Adagio lists this tea as rooibos tea with citrus peels, blue cornflowers & natural Earl Grey flavor. 

Here is what the tea looks like in the bag....

You can see those lovely blue cornflower pieces.  They offer up a wonderful floral note to compliment the citrus.

I am now faced with the decision of which teacup & saucer to use.  I seem to have amassed quite the collection of teapots, teacups & saucers since the loose leaf tea obsession has taken over.  I seem to find new stuff that I MUST HAVE!

Hey Anthony....call Hoarders now!  I expect to be found burried in a large mass of teapots!

Tonight I will use a new addition to the collection.  Found for a mere $6 at Home Goods, I lucked out & bought two of these...

I love floral patterns on teacups.  I also love solids & funky designs....but floral patterns will always grab my attention.  I lucked out at the Home Goods in Hempstead recently & found these.  I have seen them on Amazon for $50 for a set of four....so I was glad when I found the two for $6 each.  Ahhh....Home Goods.  Have I mentioned how much I love that store?

So tonight I am relaxing.....sipping this wonderful cup of flavorful deliciousness.  Warm citrus with that light floral hint....it's perfect.

 

Such a great flavor filling my mouth....I let the citrus & floral notes entice me into finishing the entire pot....which I will gladly do. 

I am amazed at how long I will linger over this pot. 
I don't want to rush it. 
Tonight I want to relax & savor the flavor. 
I want to let the tensions from work roll away. 
I need to destress.

Sometimes I wonder if the people who grow these teas realize at how much I enjoy their teas!

So thank you Adagio for this wonderful flavor.

For the record, yes, I would share this lovely pot with others....just not tonight.
Tonight, it's all mine.

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