Mr Earl, by invitation, by Bureaucrat

I love a good cuppa tea.  Like most tea drinkers, I like the ceremony of making a cup or pot of your perfect brew, the accessories (fancy teaspoons, strainers, etc) and that first glorious sip.  I think you have to be a little obsessive compulsive to be a tea drinker.  When I'm at home, the Lawyer just shakes his head in bemusement when I say to him that my caffeine based teas have to be served my deer or owl cups, and my herbal teas have to be served in my purple native American style zig-zag mug.  Case in point, as I write this, I'm sipping a cup of afternoon tea from my owl cup.  I'm not nuts, I'm just a tea drinker.

For those that like to try out a range of quality teas, check out Mr Earl.  The founder, Emily Stone, is a self-professed tea addict that claims that tea is not just a drink but a religion!  Emily has set up Mr Earl which is a subscription based tea shop.  For one, three or six months, you will get to sample three varieties of specialty teas which are conveniently delivered to your door.

I was quite excited to receive my special package - there's just something so thrilling in receiving something through the mail that's not a bill!  Mr Earl is not just a shop but it's an online community, where you're encouraged to connect with fellow tea aficionados by rating, reviewing and sharing your thoughts on the wonderful teas on offer.

The first tea I tried was the fresh mint tea from the Informal Tea Company.  I tend to find straight mint tea to be a bit cooling in flavour, so I was delighted that in addition to the mint, there was organic green tea, spearmint, rosemary and lavender.  It gave the tea more depth and character to it - almost slightly savoury.  While you could taste the individual flavours of the other ingredients, they didn't overwhelm the minty flavour.  Very refreshing and cleansing.  I also liked how you could re-steeped the same tea leaves for another 2-3 times.

The second tea was the premium matcha green tea powder from Kenko Tea.  I confess that I don't know much about matcha tea except that it's Japanese in origin.  Unlike the tea leaves, this was a brilliant verdant powder that was like icing sugar (you have to sift the powder when you make it up).  As I don't usually drink matcha, I don't have a particular cup to serve it in.  So for the purpose of showing you the vivid green colour, I made the tea in a small glass bowl.  The tea was very smooth in mouth feel, had a slight grassy, creamy flavour and had a little bit of foam on top. I felt better for drinking this - as matcha has 137 times more antioxidants than regular green tea!  While I'm not sure I'd drink this again as a cup of tea, I'm keen to experiment with it, as I reckon that this would be a great basis for a Japanese style dessert.  

The third tea was the No.7 French Earl Grey tea from Dietea.  This was my favourite.  The tea leaves are very pretty once they've been steeped in water, especially the blue mallow flowers.  The tea also has hibiscus flowers, sunflower blossoms, rose petals and flavour.  I just loved how all the fruity, delicate sweet aromas all mingled with each other.  Having a cup of this definitely made me feel like I was have a little luxurious treat for myself.  Needless to say, I finish this 50gm packet ahead of the other two teas!

Overall

Thank you to Emily at Mr Earl for sharing with me a range of delightful and interesting teas.  If you love tea, then you must check our Mr Earl.  Definitely high quality teas are on offer here!  Each month there are set teas on offer as part of the subscription services.  Alternatively, you can also purchase the different types of teas individually.  This is good news, since if you come across a particular tea you like through the subscription service, then it's available for purchase once that month is over.

Website: http://mrearltea.com.au/.