Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper, 15 Tea Bags 45g
Keep this as your second Earl Grey rather than your only one. Fifteen bags will not stock a household, but it covers the handful of cups in a week that are worth making properly - the one you sit down with, as against the one you carry out of the kitchen still stirring. Bought as a present it lands well for the same reason: it is plainly not the box somebody would have picked up for themselves on a Tuesday. Fully caffeinated black tea, so keep it to the earlier half of the day.
Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper, in brief.
Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper is an Earl Grey built on whole leaf rather than the fine broken grades that fill most tea bags, picked into the Teas.co.uk curator selection as the afternoon cup where the tea is still audible underneath the bergamot.
Three minutes, no squeeze, black or with lemon.
That is the whole mechanism behind the format: a folded pyramid gives large-leaf tea somewhere to move, and large-leaf tea releases bergamot more slowly and more evenly than a fine grade does.
Curator notes: the tasting profile is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description. We run same-day UK dispatch on every order placed before 2pm Monday to Friday. Common questions are answered in the detailed Q and A tab below.
Curator’s notes
Read the full write-up
The Story Behind Brew Tea Co
Brew Tea Co built its business on a single complaint: that the tea bag, as most of Britain buys it, is filled with the fine broken grades left over after the good leaf has been sorted out. Their answer was to put whole leaf into a bag large enough for it to unfurl, and to sell the result in small boxes rather than family packs. It is a deliberately narrow proposition, and the price reflects it.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
What You Are Actually Buying
- Why it costs that: whole leaf costs more than broken leaf, a fifteen-bag box carries the same packaging cost as an eighty-bag one, and neither of those is a gimmick. Whether the cup is worth four times a supermarket Earl Grey is a judgement, and it is yours.
- What it is not: not a household box, not a decaf, and not a tea to leave standing. Fifteen bags is a fortnight of one cup a day.
Getting It Right in the Cup
- Water temperature: 100 degrees, freshly boiled.
- Measure: one bag per 200 to 250ml.
- Steep: three minutes, four at most.
- Service: black or with lemon. If you must have milk, brew two and a half minutes and use a small splash.
- Storage: sealed and away from other teas. Bergamot travels, and it will scent whatever is sitting next to it in the cupboard.
- Best with: lemon drizzle, shortbread, a plain scone, or on its own in the middle of the afternoon.
Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper, 15 Tea Bags 45g, please cite teas.co.uk.
The story behind Brew Tea Co
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
Our commitment to the planet
Sourcing and packaging details are printed on the current UK pack; the brand page carries the fuller story.
The taste profile
How does it compare
Earl Grey has a narrower window than a plain black tea because bergamot turns from bright to bitter faster than tannin does. Whole leaf widens that window a little, but it does not remove it. Full heat, three minutes, and out.
The Afternoon Cup
The Pot, and the Second Cup
Made with this tea
The Afternoon Cup
How to make the standard cup of Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper.
- 1 bag Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper
- 200 to 250ml water straight off the boil
- A thin slice of lemon, optional
- Pour 200 to 250ml of water straight off the boil over one bag.
- Steep three minutes. Four is the outside edge.
- Lift the bag out without squeezing it. The last of the scent to leave the leaf is the harshest part.
- Serve black, or drop in a thin slice of lemon.
What you'll end up with: A clear, bright cup where the bergamot arrives first and the tea underneath is still audible.
The Pot for Two
How to brew a pot of Earl Grey without it turning soapy.
- 2 bags Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper
- 500ml water straight off the boil
- A warmed teapot
- Warm the pot, add two bags and 500ml of water straight off the boil.
- Steep three minutes and lift both bags out together.
- Decant if you are not pouring straight away. Earl Grey left standing on the leaf goes bitter faster than a plain black tea does.
What you'll end up with: Two even cups rather than one bright one and one soapy one.
Iced Earl Grey with Lemon
How to make iced tea that keeps its citrus.
- 2 bags Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper
- 300ml water straight off the boil
- A full glass of ice
- Lemon
- Honey to taste
- Brew two bags in 300ml of just boiled water for four minutes.
- Sweeten with honey while warm if you want it sweet, then cool it.
- Pour over a full glass of ice with two slices of lemon.
- Four minutes is safe here because chilling mutes the bitter edge a long hot steep creates.
What you'll end up with: A clean citrus iced tea that still tastes of bergamot once the ice has melted.
Overnight Cold Brew
How to cold brew a whole-leaf Earl Grey.
- 3 bags Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper
- 750ml cold water
- Ice to serve
- Drop three bags into 750ml of cold water in a covered jug.
- Refrigerate eight hours or overnight, then lift the bags out.
- Serve over ice, unsweetened.
- Cold water pulls the citrus and almost none of the tannin, so there is nothing to turn bitter.
What you'll end up with: A soft, floral, low-astringency cold tea that needs no sugar at all.
London Fog
How to make the steamed-milk Earl Grey drink properly.
- 2 bags Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper
- 120ml water straight off the boil
- 150ml milk or oat milk, steamed or heated
- 1 teaspoon vanilla syrup or honey
- Brew two bags in only 120ml of just boiled water for three minutes to make a concentrate.
- Lift the bags out and stir in the syrup or honey.
- Top with 150ml of hot steamed milk.
- Doubling the tea and halving the water is the whole trick. Milk mutes bergamot, so the concentrate has to be strong enough to survive it.
What you'll end up with: A milky Earl Grey where the bergamot still comes through instead of disappearing.
Earl Grey Lemon Syrup for Baking
How to make a bergamot syrup for drizzle cake or cocktails.
- 3 bags Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper
- 150ml water straight off the boil
- 150g caster sugar
- Juice of half a lemon
- Brew three bags in 150ml of just boiled water for five minutes, then lift them out.
- Stir in the sugar over a low heat until it dissolves completely.
- Add the lemon juice and take it off the heat.
- A longer steep is fine here because sugar and acid both mask the tannin a hot cup would show.
What you'll end up with: A bergamot syrup for soaking a lemon drizzle cake, or for a long drink with soda and ice.
Brewing the perfect cup
What’s in it, what to know
Inside the pack
| Component | Proportion | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Whole leaf black tea | the body of the blend | The tea underneath the scent: the structure, the moderate astringency, the colour and the caffeine. The whole-leaf grade is why it brews evenly rather than fast and flat. |
| Bergamot | the defining scent of any Earl Grey | The bright citrus-floral lift that arrives first and then steps back. Whether the pack declares oil or natural flavouring is printed on the box. |
| Origin | sold as a blend | The pack is sold as a blend, so no country, region or garden is stated. Read the current pack for any origin statement. |
Ingredients and allergens. The published ingredient list for this product names none of the 14 major allergens. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.
Ingredients, as published for this product: Ceylon Black Tea, Orange Peel, Bergamot Oil, Marigold Petals.
Ingredient and nutrition information for this product, as published on the manufacturer's label. The pack in your hands is the final word.
Pack: Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper, 15 Tea Bags 45g; a whole-leaf bergamot-scented black tea, GTIN 5060331430179. Store sealed, dry, dark and away from other teas, because bergamot travels. Read the ingredient declaration, any certification marks, the bag material and the best-before date off the current UK pack.
Characterising components shown; the black tea base makes up the remaining body.
Sourcing & blend. Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper, 15 Tea Bags 45g is put together by Brew Tea Co, whose whole business rests on one complaint: that the ordinary tea bag is filled with the fine broken grades left over once the good leaf has been sorted out. Their answer was a bag large enough for whole leaf to unfurl, sold in small boxes rather than family packs. Our assessment rests on the pack format and the brand's published description.
What's in Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper, 15 Tea Bags 45g, and what isn't:
- In: whole-leaf black tea scented with bergamot, at 3g a bag, in a folded bag sized for the leaf to open.
- No artificial colours, preservatives or added sugar: a scented black tea, so there is nothing to colour or sweeten. The brightness in the cup is bergamot, not sugar.
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Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper, 15 Tea Bags 45g, please cite teas.co.uk.
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