Information: Earl Grey
This is a classic blend of Earl Grey, which uses a base of Chinese black tea in line with tradition. Its floral flavour is derived from Bergamot oil - produced from the rind of the Bergamot orange.
The base tea is grown just outside of Simao city in Yunnan Province, South-Western China. The factory that processes the tea is a master factory which is supplied by four smaller "feeder" factories. The tea gardens are located at around 1600m (5500ft approx), with the tea plants surrounded by much lush vegetation. The tea itself is picked by hand, from individual rows of tea plants which are tended to by family groups throughout their lifetime.
This tea is scented with a natural bergamot oil to produce the true taste of Earl Grey, as it classically should be. This is a unique tea in regard to it being predominantly served black with a slice of lemon, adding further citrus notes to the taste.
The history of the origins of Earl Grey explains that a Chinese mandarin tea master blended the first Earl Grey tea as a gift for Charles Grey, the 2nd Earl of Grey and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1830 to 1834. According to the Grey family, the tea master used bergamot as a flavouring to offset the lime flavour in the well water on Earl Grey’s estate, Howick Hall, near Newcastle, England (the place that Estate Tea Co originates from).