Tag Archives: drinks

Tea Review: Blue Earl Grey

this & that February 18, 2015 Leave a comment

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blue earl grey tea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Historically, I have liked but not loved traditional Earl Grey, finding it less flavor-full than most of the black teas I favor. I impulsively tried Blue Earl Grey on a cold winter morning at Dawson Taylor’s a week ago however, and fell in love from the first sip. I like Earl Grey’s for the morning: most of the actual breakfast teas – see TheKitchn’s guide to the difference between English, Irish, and Scottish breakfast teas – tend to be malty and rich instead of slightly bitter as I prefer.  Blue Earl Grey in particular has really hit my palate preference, being full-bodied and very strong with a resonant flavor and just a distant hint of sweetness. My love for Lavender Orange Earl Grey is well-documented (a slightly more milky/malty flavor), but overall I prefer this as my favorite of the Greys (who else immediately imagines “the Greys” as an aristocratic British family of teas?). You can order all sorts of Blue Earl Grey online ( would probably recommend this), or find it at Dawson Taylor’s if you live in the Northwest.

Chocolate Strawberry Wine

this & that December 22, 2013 1 Comment

This past week in one of my periodic trips to World Market, that mecca of both fake and real treasures, what did I spy in the wine aisle but a bottle of Chocolate Strawberry wine. Yep, that’s correct, all packaged with a gorgeous red and white label emblazoned “for chocolate lovers!”

Obviously I bought it.

The Chocolate Shop’s Strawberry Chocolate wine

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Tasting note on the label: “Bright, ruby red-colored wine with high tones of freshly picked strawberries and an undercurrent of dark fruit and cocoa. Strawberries and chocolate individually delight the palate; when combined, they reach another level of decadence. Smooth and balanced wine with lingering notes of strawberry on the finish.”

Alas – I don’t particularly recommend it. I love rich things, but you know how chocolate and cheesecake, individually, are divine, but chocolate cheesecake is too much of a good thing?

That’s what this wine is – too rich, too sweet, almost, dare I say it, too chocolately – at least for wine. Wine should taste like, well, alcohol, and oddly enough the strongest flavor this wine has is of fruit. And yet it’s not even strawberry flavored – if I had tasted the wine without knowing what it was I would probably have said it was very strong grape juice. It’s not a bad flavor, just incredibly fruity and overly rich, it tastes like a dessert. And I would rather eat dessert than imbibe it, thank you.

I like it enough to drink the bottle, but won’t be buying it again.

In the meantime, however, I noticed The Chocolate Shop also has just a straight Chocolate Red Wine…