A blend built for the Grand Hotel in Brighton, this take on Earl Grey leans into citrus rather than treating bergamot as background seasoning. The cup pours a vibrant copper and carries full-bodied orange and lemon character alongside that classic bergamot lift — brisk and bright rather than heavy, with a thickness to the liquor that keeps it from tasting thin despite the citrus edge. It draws on a blend of teas from Tinsukia in Assam, Darjeeling, and Keemun from Anhui province in China, picked to a Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe grade during the mid-season harvest — a mix that gives the citrus something sturdy to sit on rather than floating on top of a plain black base.
Bergamot has a long history in Chinese traditional medicine as something reached for to help ease anxiety and low mood, though that's folk use rather than a settled fact about the tea itself. As for drinking it: serve it black to let the orange and bergamot notes carry, or add a slice of lemon if you want to push the citrus further rather than compete with it. Steep with freshly boiled water for around four minutes — Tea & Coffee suggests three to five depending on how strong you like it — using roughly one heaped teaspoon per cup. Keep it in an airtight container once opened, since the citrus oils that give it its lift are also the first thing to fade if the leaf is left exposed to air.
