Ingredients: direct trade black tea, organic red rose, organic bergamot oil
Earl Grey is a go-to for black tea drinkers, and with that intoxicating citrus bergamot scent, who can blame them?
We didn’t start out offering an Earl, but our customer base asked for it again and again. Coffeeshops and cafes wanted to serve it, and folks wanted to sip it cozy at home.
So when we thought about making a tea that would make you happy while staying true to ourselves, we came up with something new: high-quality, single-origin black tea infused with Italian bergamot oil blended with a bit of red rose.
Because we love flowers. We add them to almost everything we blend (even our tulsi has blossoms included). They're delicious, and they have that feminine energy we bring to everything we do.
So if we were going to offer a tea like Earl Grey, we would need flowers – and she’d have to be a woman.
An epic love story in a cup
There's something about black tea with bergamot that calls up reading a book in an antique plush chair by the window, with rain tapping outside. Romantic, right? Well, Edith Grey takes that romance all the way.
Our Edith Grey is made for romantics. Hand-blended with red rose and single-origin black tea from our friends at Satemwa family tea estate and infused with Italian bergamot oil (the real stuff, because we would never add an artificial flavor). An epic love story in a cup.
All of our teas come from a true place of health, and Edith Grey is no exception. Here’s her story.
The history of Earl Grey
Black tea with bergamot wasn’t called Earl Grey until the 1880’s. Before that, "Grey's Tea" started appearing in England in the 1850’s. Naturally, there are several competing origin stories for this tea.
The blend is named after 2nd Earl Charles Grey, a British Prime Minister in the 1830’s who allegedly received a diplomatic gift of tea flavored with bergamot oil. There are some (honestly pretty goofy) stories of Grey’s soldiers saving a Mandarin boy from drowning and being presented with this gift in thanks… even though bergamot wasn’t used in tea in China at the time, and Grey never visited China.
However, this tall tale is likely based on the person behind the tea. According to the Grey family, the water at their family seat in Northumberland had so much lime in it, the taste of tea (and likely all of their food) was skewed. So a tea was invented for them by a Mandarin immigrant, who thought of infusing bergamot's heady oil into the tea leaves.
Whenever Lady Grey served it to guests or in London, everyone loved it and asked for more. Tea company Jacksons of Piccadilly claims the Greys passed the recipe exclusively to them in 1830, and that they’ve blended it the same way ever since. Over a hundred years later, the Nordic market wanted a milder version of Earl Grey with less bergamot, so “Lady Grey” was invented.
But we don’t think ladies have to be mild. And we love that fragrant, citrus-y bergamot in our cup. Edith Grey is her own lady, full of flavor and character.
And Edith Grey is more than tasty.
Good-tasting, and good for you
Berga-what?
Bergamot is actually a teeny, tiny, cute little citrus – a tropical citrus that is likely a hybrid between lemon and bitter orange, with juice milder than a lemon but more bitter than grapefruit.
The name itself is worldly. It comes from the Italian bergamotto, which originally came from Turkish for a crop that was originally from Southeast Asia. Today, the majority of them are grown on the Calabrian coast of Italy. It’s typically extracted as an oil for flavor, like in tea or in desserts. Turkish folks make marmalade with it, and Mauritian folks drink its fresh juice!
So far, there hasn’t been much research on the potential benefits of bergamot – even though it does contain bergamottin, a promising antioxidant. All we really know for sure is that it smells and tastes divine.
Benefits of Rose
Rose has been beloved by, like, literally everyone, forever. It must be written in our DNA at this point. We all love it — the sight, the scent, the flavor. Herbalists and artists of all kinds have been inspired by rose for centuries.
But the health benefits of rose got us like, whoa.
Rose:
- soothes skin, throats, and stomachs
- is anti-inflammatory
- is full of antioxidants (you've seen how easy rose petals "bruise" — those are antioxidants rushing to the source of air!).
- can also be used topically as a safe, gentle pain reliever.
Even the smell of rose has proven medicinal properties. Studies have shown that rose oil, when inhaled or used topically, can help with depression, anxiety, and sexual dysfunction, as well as aid in the psyche’s ability to relax.
Benefits of Black Tea
Green tea has a lot of health benefits, but what about black tea? It's the exact same plant, just processed a little (a lot) differently so it would make sense that it’s good for you too, right? Right!
Similar to green tea, oolong and white tea, the antioxidants in black tea are there for you. The astringency that you get from a cup of tea is largely from polyphenol, an antioxidant found in tea leaves (theaflavins and thearubigins in black tea).
In the body, polyphenols:
- work to prevent neurological diseases
- reduce of risk or severity of chronic conditions like (asthma, diabetes, and hypertension)
- work to heal chronic inflammation and oxidative stress.
Big Heart's Black Tea
Our black tea is single-origin and direct trade from our partners in Malawi — Satemwa Tea Estate. It’s pesticide-free (which is pretty uncommon for tea) and from a family-owned farm that puts people and planet at the forefront of everything they do. The result is a fresh, bright, citrusy black tea from land and farmers that are respected and cared for.
So, with rose and Satemwa tea dancing together in your cup, enjoying Edith Grey on the daily has more benefits than making you feel like a dreamy love letter-writer. Good quality black tea is a great friend, with less caffeine than strong coffee and heaps of healthful compounds.
Yeah. We blended Edith Grey with intention. This is a cup of black tea that will romance you back.
The Tea.
Edith Grey makes a gentle, caffeinated start to the day, or a lovely way to wind down with a book and a kiddo or pet by your side. Luxuriate in red rose petals and real, organic bergamot oil blended into single-origin, direct trade black tea.
Brewing hot:
- Measure 5 g loose leaf tea (or 2 heaping tsp) per 10 oz water
- Steep in 190°F for 1 minute
- Strain and serve
Brewing cold:
Here are cold brew instructions for any of our teas. Bergamot can be strong after a long brew, so adjust the to your taste!
Earl better look out.