A slice of history with Earl Grey

What is common to Jean-Luc Picard of Star Trek, Batman, criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl, Piglet, Sir Leigh Teabing from the Da Vinci Code? They all preferred Earl Grey tea. Known for its pungent punch, this light tea was first recognized in a courtroom in a complaint against a tea merchant for mixing flavors with tea. 

Earl Grey could arguably be the first flavored black tea. TeaOrb is privileged to have signature blends from an estate in Assam that produces one of the most delicious Earl Grey blends in Assam. Let us understand what Earl Grey is. 

There is no clarity over how people started calling this blend Earl Grey. One account assumes Charles Grey, the Second Earl, the 1830s British Prime Minister whose Reform Act greatly widened the voting franchise and who succeeded in breaking the East India Company's monopoly on tea imports, reducing the price and making tea popular, as its benefactor. Another recent account narrates a court battle in May 1837 in which tea merchants, Brocksop, and Company were accused of ‘lacing’ tea with bergamot oil, cold-pressed oil produced by cells inside the rind of a bergamot orange. By the early 20th century, London tea merchants, Twinings in the Strand and Jackson’s of Piccadilly claimed Earl Grey blend as their product in which bergamot oil is added to black tea for that pungent flavor. In a few years, several varieties of Earl Grey appear in the market, making it a prized tea. 

It is for the first time that our panel of tea tasters at TeaOrb sampled three different varieties of Earl Grey. Apart from a regular Earl Grey, we are also offering French Earl Grey with rose petals and Lavender Earl Grey blends. Known for its stress-busting and relaxing abilities, our Earl Greys are perfect companions for a lazy afternoon.