The only problem, if there is one, with being busy tea executives is that we’re often inundated with tea samples. Inundated, I say. I am compelled to try them, studiously, and give them a fair assessment and all that. I make notes, sometimes compose a little poem if I really like one. A real hardship, I know. There are times, however, when I just want to drink a cup of tea and not have to think about it, and at times like these I turn to trusty old favorites like Harney & Sons Earl Grey. I just finished up another big tin of the stuff (the standard grade — not the supreme) and I highly recommend it.

Like pretty much all of the teas I’ve tried from Harney this one is a solid citizen. Traditionally, Earl Grey is a strongish black tea scented with the oil of bergamot, a relatively obscure but talented citrus fruit. Many Earl Greys I’ve tried have a really cloying perfume-laden taste that I can’t stand. Even worse, some have a vanilla or “creme” scent thrown in as extra punishment. Harney’s is no such beast — the base tea is good and strong and the bergamot oil they use is bright and a little tart (as it should be) but has what I can only describe as a wide taste.  Dynamic & mellow. I’m not usually one for flavored tea but in general the goal is to find one that manages to taste like tea in addition whatever scents and headbands have been used to dress it up, and this one succeeds.

Best of all it is cheap and readily available. I usually pick it up at Williams Sonoma in and 8oz. tin for a mere $12. They make a wide assortment of higher-grade Earl Greys but I really like this coach-class bev.