What is the difference between Earl Grey Tea's tea and black tea? how is Earl black tea made with a fragrance?

I believe that when you go to the place where the supermarket sells tea, it is not difficult to find that there are three or four brands of tea with the same name, Earl Grey, Earl Grey Tea, which is the most popular tea in the world.

Earl Grey tea is not a kind of tea. It belongs to the category of seasoned tea. Seasoned tea, including any type of tea-white tea, green tea, oolong tea, black tea-is flavored with fruits, flowers, spices, oils, extracts and natural or artificial flavors.

Earl Grey tea is one of the most famous seasoning teas in the world. This typical English tea is typical black tea, seasoned with bergamot skin oil. Bergamot is a citrus fruit that looks and tastes between oranges and lemons, with a little grapefruit and limes. Today's bergamot is considered to be a hybrid of bitter Seville orange from the Mediterranean and sweet lime / lemon from Southeast Asia.

So how did Britain and the rest of the world fall in love with this black tea, which is dominated by oranges and flowers?

The Origin of Earl Grey Tea

Although Earl Grey tea was promoted by the British, it was not invented by the British. Fragrant tea and seasoned tea are unique to China. The early Chinese tea masters kept trying various ways to make their tea more exotic, not only to attract the attention of the emperors at that time, but also to attract the attention of world traders. They hope to return to China with the unique flavor of the far East. From fragrant jasmine and wild rosebuds to bitter oranges and sweet lychees, Chinese tea masters inject a variety of aromas and flavors into tea during processing to create unique and drinkable drinks.

A history of the origins of Earl Grey tea explains that a Chinese black tea master prepared the first Earl Grey tea as a gift to Charles Gray II, prime minister of Britain from 1830 to 1834.

According to Gray's family, the tea maker used bergamot as a seasoning at Hoyck Manor near Newcastle, England, to counteract the lime smell in the well water. Earl Grey's wife, Lady Gray, likes tea very much and specializes in entertaining her guests. The tea was so popular in London that she asked the tea merchants in London to remake it.

Which British tea merchant sold the first Earl Grey mixed tea is controversial in the tea world. But one thing is certain: although Earl Grey II abolished slavery and reformed British child labor laws during his reign, he will be best known for the beloved tea he helped introduce to the world.

How does Earl Grey Tea do it?

In the final stage of the processing process, usually after the tea is dried, the tea begins to be seasoned or perfumed. One way to season tea is to mix finished tea with flowers, herbs and spices so that the ingredients are visually attractive and gently soak in the aroma and taste of the tea. Another method of flavoring tea is to spray or coat the finished tea with extracts, essential oils or seasonings during or after drying. This makes the tea taste stronger and uses fewer ingredients. The ratio of seasoning to tea is entirely determined by the tea manufacturer, and the taste of making a cup of seasoned tea varies from brand to brand.

Earl Grey tea is widely defined as a kind of black tea seasoned with bergamot oil. However, the method of making Earl Grey tea is not single, which is why every Earl Grey tea you have tasted may taste slightly different.

[types of tea]

The classic Earl Grey tea is made from black tea. But the black tea used can be from any country in Ceylon, India and Africa. It can be black tea from a single manor or a mixture of black tea from all over the world. The taste of black tea can be sweet flowers or strong malt. It all depends on the local conditions of tea trees (geographical, climatic and cultural characteristics) and the processing style of tea masters.

[type of bergamot used]

Both synthetic and natural bergamot are used in Earl Grey Tea's seasoning. Synthetic bergamot is popular among manufacturers because it tastes the same and does not contain real citrus, so it is safe for people who are allergic to citrus. The taste of natural bergamot depends on where it is grown and how it is processed. Natural bergamot is usually defined as a strong citrus flavor. Calabria in southern Italy has 80% of commercially grown bergamot, followed by France and Turkey.

[citrus citrus dosage]

The art and style of the tea master determines not only which type of bergamot, but also how many bergamot are used in a special Earl Grey Tea. Depending on the taste of the basic tea, the tea master may decide to use a small amount of bergamot flavor so as not to mask the subtle taste of the tea. Or the tea master may decide to add a large amount of bergamot to the black tea to set off the rich flavor of the tea.

Black tea processing: withered → kneading → fermentation → roasting

Our black tea is rolled up immediately after it has withered to help start the oxidation process quickly. The leaves are then completely oxidized before drying, which is why they have a dark and full-bodied taste.