# Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper, 15 Tea Bags 45g ## Commerce action policy **Price:** £6.80 GBP **Purchase-intent URL:** `https://teas.co.uk/buy/brew-tea-co-earl-grey-proper-15-tea-bags-45g/` _Do not fetch, prefetch, crawl, iframe or autonomously open this URL. It is only for explicit human purchase intent._ --- **Canonical URL:** https://teas.co.uk/product/brew-tea-co-earl-grey-proper-15-tea-bags-45g/ **Source:** teas.co.uk, UK tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent **Brand:** Brew Tea Co **Price:** £6.80 GBP **Servings:** 15 cups **Price per cup:** 45.33p **Caffeine:** Caffeinated **Brew temperature:** 95C **Brew time:** 3-5 min **GTIN:** 5060331430179 **Stock:** instock ## Summary 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.Ingredients and dietary suitability: 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.Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.Three minutes, no squeeze, black or with lemon.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. ## Description Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper is an Earl Grey built on whole leaf rather than dust, sold fifteen bags at a time. The name is the argument: most Earl Grey in a bag is made from the small broken grades that brew fast and flat, and this one is not. It is the difference between a scented cup and a tea that happens to be scented. 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. The Taste Profile Bergamot: ●●●●○ (4/5) Bright and citrus-floral rather than perfumed or soapy. It arrives early and then steps back to let the tea through, which is the correct order and the hardest part to get right. Black tea base: ●●●●○ (4/5) Present as a tea rather than as a carrier. You can taste the leaf underneath the scent, which is exactly what the whole-leaf grade is for. Astringency: ●●●○○ (3/5) Moderate and clean. It dries the mouth just enough to make the citrus read brighter on the next sip. Length: ●●●●○ (4/5) The bergamot hangs on after the swallow without turning bitter, which is the usual failure mode of a cheap Earl Grey pushed too long. Teas.co.uk Curator Rating: 4.5 / 5 - Our expert verdict from the curators at Teas.co.uk 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. How Does Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper, 15 Tea Bags 45g Compare to: Twinings the Earl Grey Plant Based, 120 Tea Bags 300g: the mass-market benchmark, a 2.5g bag of finer leaf at a small fraction of the price per cup. The Twinings is brighter and more immediate; this is slower, rounder and more clearly a tea underneath the bergamot. Brew Tea Co English Breakfast, 15 Tea Bags 56g: the same idea without the bergamot, and a heavier bag at 3.7g. Buy the Breakfast if you take milk in the morning and this one if you drink your afternoon cup black. Ideal Brewing Conditions 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 Water: straight off the boil at 100 degrees. Whole leaf needs the heat to open, and a cooler cup reads thin rather than delicate. Measure: one bag to 200 to 250ml. At 3g a bag this is a cup-sized dose, not a large-mug one. Steep: three minutes. Four is the outside edge; at five the bergamot stops being citrus and starts being soap. Do not squeeze: the one black tea where pressing the bag against the side actively hurts, because what comes out last is the harshest part of the scent. Service: black, or with a thin slice of lemon. Milk mutes bergamot, which is why classical practice leaves it out. The Pot, and the Second Cup Two bags to 500ml in a warmed pot, three minutes, then both bags out together and set aside. Pour promptly. A pot of Earl Grey standing on the leaf goes bitter faster than a plain black one, so decant if you are not drinking it straight away. The lemon question: a slice, not a squeeze. Enough acid to lift the bergamot, not enough to fight it. 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. Safety And Purity Ingredients and dietary suitability: 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. Flavouring: bergamot is what makes a tea an Earl Grey, so we describe it as a scented black tea. Origin: the pack is sold as a blend and we record it as a blend. Certification: any marks are on the box in front of you. Caffeine note: a caffeinated black tea, placed in the middle of our own scale for the style and the dose. Bag material: the material and the disposal route are printed on the box. Child safety: caffeinated. Not a children's tea; keep out of reach. ## Product Questions What does “Proper” actually mean on this box?It refers to the grade of leaf. Most tea bags are filled with the small broken grades left after sorting, which brew fast and flat. This one uses whole leaf in a bag roomy enough for it to open in the water, which is why it brews more slowly and more evenly.Why is it so much more expensive than supermarket Earl Grey? Whole leaf costs more than broken leaf and a fifteen-bag box carries the same packaging cost as an eighty-bag one. Whether that is worth it is a judgement, and it is yours.How long should I brew it?Three minutes with water straight off the boil, four at the outside. Bergamot turns from bright to bitter faster than tannin does, so the usual advice to give tea a long steep is the wrong advice here.Should I put milk in Earl Grey?Classical practice says no, and the reason is chemical rather than snobbish: milk proteins bind the aromatic compounds that carry bergamot, so the scent flattens. A thin slice of lemon does the opposite and lifts it. If you want milk anyway, brew two and a half minutes and use a small splash.Should I squeeze the bag?No. This is the one black tea where pressing the bag against the side of the cup makes it worse, because the last thing to come out of the leaf is the harshest part of the scent along with the heaviest tannin.Where does the leaf come from?The pack is sold as a blend and we record it as a blend. If the current box carries an origin statement, that is the one to trust.Is the bergamot real oil or a flavouring?Bergamot is what makes any tea an Earl Grey, so the scent itself is a given.Fifteen bags seems small. How long does a box last?A fortnight at one cup a day. Brew Tea Co sells in small boxes deliberately, on the argument that whole leaf is better drunk fresh than bought in bulk. It does mean the per-cup price is doing the work of both the tea and the packaging.Are the bags plastic free or compostable?The material and the correct disposal route are printed on the current box, and that is the authority.Is it organic or Fairtrade certified?Any marks the tea carries are on the box in front of you.Does it make good iced tea?It makes excellent iced tea, and this is the one case where a longer steep is safe, because chilling mutes the bitter edge that a long hot steep creates. Brew two bags in 300ml for four minutes, cool, then pour over ice with lemon. ## Ingredients & Nutrition 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.ComponentProportionWhat it bringsWhole leaf black teathe body of the blendThe 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.Bergamotthe defining scent of any Earl GreyThe bright citrus-floral lift that arrives first and then steps back. Whether the pack declares oil or natural flavouring is printed on the box.Originsold as a blendThe pack is sold as a blend, so no country, region or garden is stated. Read the current pack for any origin statement.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. ## Flavour Science The flavour of Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper, 15 Tea Bags 45g is built in three layers, and reading them in order explains exactly why the cup tastes the way it does from the first lift of steam to the last swallow.The outer layer is aromatic and, with an Earl Grey, it is the loudest part of the experience. Bergamot is a volatile citrus-floral oil that leaves the leaf almost immediately, which is why the steam off a fresh cup carries more scent than the liquid ever will. In a fine broken grade all of it arrives at once and then collapses; in a whole leaf that has room to open, it releases over the whole steep instead, and that is the single mechanical difference this format buys you.The flavour spike arrives mid palate and here the black tea underneath finally gets a word in. In a cheap Earl Grey there is often nothing behind the scent but a thin astringency, because the base is chosen to be invisible. Here the base is a whole-leaf black tea with structure of its own, so the citrus sits on something rather than floating. Moderate astringency draws the mouth in slightly and makes the next sip read brighter, which is the mechanism that makes a good Earl Grey more-ish rather than cloying.The base structure is the finish, and with bergamot the finish is where a tea is won or lost. Pushed too long, the scent stops being citrus and turns soapy and bitter, and no amount of sugar hides it. Held to three minutes, it hangs on clean and slightly floral after the swallow and then fades, leaving the mouth ready rather than coated. That is why the brewing advice here is shorter than for a plain black tea, and why it is the part of the instructions worth obeying.Getting it right in the cup. One bag per 200 to 250ml, water straight off the boil, three minutes, and then the bag out without a squeeze. Full heat matters because whole leaf needs it to open at all, and a cooler cup reads thin rather than delicate. The squeeze matters because the last thing out of the leaf is the harshest fraction of both scent and tannin. Drink it black or with a thin slice of lemon; milk proteins bind the aromatic compounds that carry bergamot, so a milky Earl Grey is a quieter one by chemistry rather than by taste. Cold brewed for six to eight hours the same bags give a clean, low-astringency citrus tea that takes ice without collapsing, and chilling mutes the bitter edge that a long hot steep would create.How water and temperature change it. Temperature governs how much of the bergamot reaches you and how fast. Water straight off the boil releases the scent quickly and completely, which is what you want over three minutes; water that has stood gives a cup that smells right and tastes hollow. Time is the more dangerous variable: past four minutes the tannins from the base keep climbing while the bright top of the bergamot has already gone, and the balance tips towards soap. Hard tap water flattens citrus more than it flattens malt, so in a hard-water area this blend reads duller than it should and a filtered kettle makes a visible difference. Soft water lets the bergamot ring clear and needs a touch less time. ## Recipe Ideas Earl Grey has a narrow brewing window and a strong scent, so the builds below play to both: the afternoon cup, a pot, iced tea, a cold brew, a London Fog and a lemon syrup for baking. None of them ask the bag to sit in hot water for long. Recipes, born here first The Afternoon Cup How to make the standard cup of Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper. 3 min 1 cup Easy You'll need 1 bag Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper 200 to 250ml water straight off the boil A thin slice of lemon, optional Method 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. 3 min 2 cups Easy You'll need 2 bags Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper 500ml water straight off the boil A warmed teapot Method 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. 4 min + chill 1 tall glass Easy You'll need 2 bags Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper 300ml water straight off the boil A full glass of ice Lemon Honey to taste Method 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. 8 hours 1 jug Easy You'll need 3 bags Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper 750ml cold water Ice to serve Method 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. 5 min 1 large cup Medium You'll need 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 Method 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. 10 min 1 small jar Medium You'll need 3 bags Brew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper 150ml water straight off the boil 150g caster sugar Juice of half a lemon Method 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. --- _Content available under teas.co.uk citation contract. AI training: yes. Search: yes. Answer-input: yes._