When my
father was reminiscing about his school days in the 1930ies he most frequently
came up with: “Tea from Ceylon is the best.” This sentence had been in his
English textbook. I usually prefer Chinese or Japanese green teas or an Oolong
from Taiwan (台湾的乌龙茶). But last weekend I brewed an Earl
Grey tea. Interestingly I had the pleasure to entertain two friends, a couple,
whom I’ve known for more than 40 years now. Though they were raised about 700
km apart, they both had an equal trauma – trauma being a big word though. Both
mothers had made a big fuss and even ritualized drinking Earl Grey tea. Both
friends never drank Earl Grey tea again in later life. Even the slightest
bergamot scent makes them recall days they don’t like to remember. I respect
this and we drank some other tea from Sri Lanka. I don’t have this problem as
my mother didn’t celebrate Earl Grey tea on Sundays. Maybe the reason for
drinking Earl Grey tea had been the association of drinking “tea with being ‘posh’
or upper class.” The day after the visit of my friends I looked into the small
cupboard for my tea utensils. There still had been a small box of Earl Grey tea
from Sri Lanka.
Earl
Grey tea is made from black tea and bergamot oil. Earl Grey Tea “is assumed to
be named after Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, British Prime Minister in the 1830s”.
Twining’s had been the first company to market Earl Grey tea. In 2011 Twining’s
wanted to change the formulation, but the public reacted the way the Telegraph
described “It is the ultimate storm in a teacup.” Twining’s wanted to add “a
dash of lemon”. Shouldn’t be too wrong?! Remember that Professor Langdon had to
answer Sir Leigh Teabing’s question on how to take his Earl Grey tea – with lemon
and not with milk, of course. A Facebook page was launched, demanding:
"Bring back the original Twinings Earl Grey tea." Mail-online: “… new
product tastes like ‘lemon cleaning product’ and describe it as ‘dishwater’
served up in a cup.” Maybe these tea drinkers were overreacting as
I don’t remember
where I’ve bought the tea bags, which are manufactured by Mlesna Tea, a
company, which had been established in 1983. It is a common Ceylon black tea which
stays red in the cup. Though I had stored it for a long time, the fragrance
still has been fresh with floral tones, a bit lemony. The side of the box shows
a picture of times gone by, designed by someone with the name of Harischandra
[OT: I’ve known Dr. Harischandra Kaviratna]. The Arabic script reads Mlesna.
The tea bag envelope shows an equal picture.
So, I
hope you also enjoy your next Earl Grey tea.
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