Earl Grey for the Lady

As you may have noticed, I love caffeine in all of its various forms. Recently, though, I realized how addicted I was when I woke up and literally couldn’t do anything before I’d had my morning cup. I tried to go without, but the headache was awful, let alone the bitchiness. I thought for sure that Ted would ship me off to Siberia, but it turns out I had underestimated his ignoring skills.So I decided that rather than going cold turkey, I would just drink tea for a while. Usually when I do this I drink, oh, twenty cups a day or so, but I’ve been having two or three cups each day. I drink green tea, one of my favorites, and lately I’ve been on an Earl Grey kick. I really, really like the Earl Grey tea from Twinings, but alas, it’s not organic. So I set out on a quest to narrow it down to the best and most widely available organic Earl Grey tea on the market.

The three teas I chose to review were from Mighty Leaf, Choice, and Stash. I realize that there are many brands whose teas are assuredly excellent, but I chose these because they’re all over the shelves at the natural foods stores I’ve been to. When you’re a caffeine lover, accessibility is imperative.First I sniffed the tea bags, and then I smelled the tea once it had brewed (don’t laugh, the smell of a tea is just as important as how it tastes, in my opinion). And finally, there was the taste test. Here are the results:•Mighty Leaf: The clear winner. The tea bag smelled delicious, the brewed tea had a nice fruity aroma, and the taste of the tea was the most well-balanced. I happily drank this cup of tea with my breakfast.•Choice: Blah. The tea bag and brewed tea were weak in scent, and the taste of the tea was bland. I did still drink it though, because after all, it was still caffeinated.•Stash: The obvious loser. I will say that the smell of the bag was okay, but the tea was awful. It was so bad that I actually poured it down the drain.After I declared the Mighty Leaf tea the winner, I decided that it was still no Twinings. They’re the best, even though they’re not organic. But I do think that, for the organic choices, a Mighty Leaf tea bag — oh, excuse me, “artisan whole leaf pouch” — is the best organic way I’ve found to a good morning cup of Earl Grey.