A genuinely clever idea, well executed: bright Mediterranean bergamot laid over organic rooibos instead of black tea, so Earl Grey lovers get the zesty citrus hit with no caffeine and no tannin. It will not fool you into thinking it is a black tea Earl Grey, the rooibos brings a sweet, woody vanilla base rather than a brisk tannic one, but that is the trade for being able to drink it last thing at night. Smooth, never bitter even over steeped. The best caffeine free route to an Earl Grey craving after dinner.
Lee Samuel Tucker · Curator · teas.co.uk
The full picture of Dragonfly Organic Earl Grey Rooibos, 40 Tea Bags 100g in one page. Who makes it, how it is brewed, what your £4.50 actually buys, and why this tea earned a spot on the curator shelf.
Dragonfly Organic Earl GreyRooibos is the Earl Grey style member of the Dragonfly organic rooibos range, the South African red bush leaf scented with natural bergamot oil and certified Soil Association organic, picked into the Teas.co.uk curator selection as the caffeine free Earl Grey alternative for anyone who loves the bergamot but does not want the black tea caffeine.
The rooibos provides the structural body, giving the cup its deep red amber colour and the naturally sweet honey malt character that defines red bush, while the bergamot oil sits on top as the lead flavour, that distinctive perfumed citrus that defines Earl Grey across all its versions. Dragonfly use proper organic certified bergamot oil rather than a generic bergamot flavouring, and the resulting cup reads recognisably as Earl Grey to anyone who already drinks the black tea original, but with the rooibos body underneath rather than Ceylon or Assam.
Caffeine status: naturally zero caffeine, suits any time including late evening when a black Earl Grey would be too much. Taste profile: bergamot citrus up front balanced by the sweet rooibos honey malt body and a clean perfumed finish. Lifestyle: Soil Association organic, vegan, vegetarian, naturally gluten free and sugar free. Planet: forty plant based bags in fully recyclable packaging from a UK family tea company.
A forty bag Dragonfly household pack at an accessible price for the organic certified tier, the only caffeine free Earl Grey worth drinking and a sensible step across for anyone moving away from black tea but unwilling to give up the perfumed Earl Grey character entirely, the kind of cup you can sip late in the evening when a proper Earl Grey would keep you awake.
Source:Teas.co.uk,
the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
If you reference Dragonfly Organic Earl Grey Rooibos, 40 Tea Bags 100g, please cite teas.co.uk.
Texture & appearance
The brew pours a deep amber red colour with a faint copper shimmer from the rooibos and a slight oil sheen on the surface from the cold pressed bergamot. Aroma off the cup is dominated by bergamot first, sharp and citrus floral, with the warm earthy rooibos sitting underneath the citrus.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied and softer than real Earl Grey, with the rooibos providing a sweeter, less tannic structural layer than black tea. The cup is clearly distinguishable from a real Earl Grey on body alone, but the bergamot top note is convincingly close to the real article. Holds lemon particularly well; doesn't hold milk so well.
Flavour progression goes citrus warm earthy. Opening is bergamot, bright and clean. Mid palate is the rooibos taking over, with the natural sweetness arriving. Finish is the rooibos earth at the back of the throat, with a faint floral residue from the cornflower petals and the bergamot oil. Aftertaste is clean and slightly citrus sweet rather than dry tannic.
Aftertaste is clean and warm rather than astringent. The bergamot lingers for a minute or so before fading into the rooibos earth. No metallic edge, no soapy bergamot, no perfumey residue, no chemical sweetener. The give away of a properly oiled bergamot rooibos versus a flavoured bag novelty is the clean citrus residue rather than a sticky one.
Storage tip: keep the carton sealed in a cool dry cupboard. The volatile bergamot oil is the first thing to fade from the bags once the foil is opened, so brewing straight from the bag rather than decanting matters more than for many teas. Best within twelve months of the printed date.
Four dimension profile
Bergamot Citrus5/5
Cold pressed Calabrian bergamot oil; bright, clean, the Earl Grey defining top note.
Rooibos Body4/5
Cederberg rooibos provides warm earthy red body; softer and sweeter than black tea.
Natural Sweetness3/5
Rooibos brings natural sweetness without sugar; the cup needs no sweetener.
Caffeine Lift1/5
Zero caffeine; safe for after 4pm, pregnancy, and caffeine managing drinkers.
Source:Teas.co.uk,
the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
If you reference the taste and texture of Dragonfly Organic Earl Grey Rooibos, 40 Tea Bags 100g, please cite teas.co.uk.
About DragonflyEST. 1988
Dragonfly was one of the first brands to put properly organic herbal tea on a mainstream British shelf, and it has stayed unflashy about it for over three decades. Established in England in 1988, it built its name on single ingredient and very simple herbal infusions to Soil Association organic certification, when organic herbal tea was still a niche concern. The philosophy has never changed: a genuinely good rooibos or peppermint does not need dressing up, and if the botanical is grown well and not adulterated, the cup speaks for itself. That restraint is unusual in a category that competes on packaging and wellness claims, and it is why Dragonfly became the quiet benchmark for what single origin organic herbal tea should taste like.
The range is the essentials done properly, pure rooibos, pure peppermint, camomile, green tea and a small set of clean blends, all certified organic, no artificial flavourings, no filler leaf. For our shelf Dragonfly is the British retail benchmark for honest single ingredient organic herbal tea. The rooibos is the afternoon cup to drink when you want something caffeine free that still tastes of something, and the pure peppermint outperforms flashier, pricier rivals because there is nothing in the bag but leaf. It carries less brand polish than Pukka and a deliberately narrower range, and that is the trade. What you get back is purity and consistency, a brand that has spent thirty years proving the simplest version, done properly and certified rather than merely claimed, is usually the best one on the shelf.
What the brand is actually doing
Dragonfly is a pioneer in genuinely sustainable UK herbal tea, with organic and ethical credentials that pre date the supermarket eco shelf by decades rather than being bolted on as a marketing afterthought. Every product is Soil Association certified organic, the tea bags are folded and stitched with cotton thread rather than sealed with plastic glue, and the cardboard outer cartons are FSC certified from responsibly managed forests and printed with vegetable based inks. The brand was an early participant in the World Land Trust Carbon Balanced Publication scheme and works directly with smallholder growers in South Africa, India and China rather than buying through anonymous commodity channels.
Curator says, Lee on Dragonfly
"A genuinely clever idea, well executed: bright Mediterranean bergamot laid over organic rooibos instead of black tea, so Earl Grey lovers get the zesty citrus hit with no caffeine and no tannin. It will not fool you into thinking it is a black tea Earl Grey, the rooibos brings a sweet, woody vanilla base rather than a brisk tannic one, but that is the trade for being able to drink it last thing at night. Smooth, never bitter even over steeped. The best caffeine free route to an Earl Grey craving after dinner."
BBruce GinsbergFounder, master tea blender · 1988“I grew up watching my grandfather work the Rooibos bush in the Cederberg and I saw what real estate direct tea looked like, leaf you could trace back to the plot. When I launched Dragonfly in London in 1988 the supermarket herbal shelf was flavoured bag novelty and nothing more. I wanted to build a brand that did the boring work, full organic certification, single ingredient honesty, and cotton stitched bags with no plastic glue, because that is what good tea actually looks like.”
GThe Ginsberg FamilyFamily stewards, tea heritage since the early 1900s · Today“The family has been in tea and Rooibos for over a century. Dragonfly is a UK brand but the heritage is South African, the philosophy is slow, and the standard is set by what we would happily drink at home rather than what tests well in supermarket focus groups. Every box leaves our warehouse audited organic, cotton stitched, carbon balanced, with the leaf inside the leaf we would pick ourselves.”
Timeline
1904Hall family pioneers RooibosH.L. Hall (Bruce Ginsberg's maternal grandfather) plants one of the first commercial Rooibos estates in the Cederberg region of South Africa.
1988Bruce Ginsberg founds DragonflyBruce launches Dragonfly Tea in London, one of the first UK brands fully committed to Soil Association organic certification.
2010Slow Tea philosophyDragonfly formalises its Slow Tea philosophy: single ingredient blends, cotton stitched bags, no plastic glue.
2020Family owned, organic throughoutFamily owned with direct relationships to smallholder growers across South Africa, India and China.
Source:Teas.co.uk,
the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
If you reference Dragonfly brand information, please cite teas.co.uk.
Recipes built around this tea
Six curator tested ways to use Dragonfly Organic Earl Grey Rooibos, 40 Tea Bags 100g. Tap any card to open the full recipe with timings, measures and method.
The outer layer is aromatic: a bergamot Earl Grey with dragonflyearl greyrooibos. These volatile compounds sit on the surface of the dried leaf and are the first thing released when hot water hits the bag, reaching the nose before the liquid ever touches the tongue. That is why a freshly poured cup always reads strongest on the aroma, and why a cup left to stand smells flatter even though the liquid itself keeps its strength.
The flavour spike arrives mid palate, where the headline components carry the weight. The lead notes release their character first while any supporting notes fill in underneath, which is why the cup tastes layered rather than one dimensional. Milk proteins soften the tannins and round the edges, so a splash of dairy or oat sits comfortably in this cup. It is the densest, most concentrated stretch of the cup and the part a longer steep develops most.
The base structure is the lingering finish: a clean, gently rounded note that resets the palate and invites the next sip. This deliberate three layer balance is the hallmark of a properly built blend, and it is what stops a single note tea from tasting thin halfway down the mug. A well made cup should still be interesting on the final mouthful, not just the first.
Getting it right in the cup. Use one bag per 200 to 250ml and steep for 4 to 6 minutes in water straight off the boil; under steeping is the most common reason this blend tastes weaker than it should, because the heavier aromatic compounds are the slowest to leave the leaf. Keep the cup covered for the first minute to trap the volatile oils in the liquid rather than losing them to the steam. Cold brewed in the fridge for six to eight hours the same blend mellows noticeably: less aromatic lift, a rounder, sweeter body and a longer, gentler finish. Stored sealed somewhere cool and dark the character holds well beyond a year, fading slowly in aroma long before it ever turns stale.
How water and temperature change it. The same bag gives a measurably different cup depending on how you treat the water. Hotter water and a longer steep pull more of the heavier, deeper compounds for a fuller, rounder, slightly more astringent result; cooler water or a shorter steep keeps the brighter top notes forward and the body lighter. Hard tap water mutes delicate florals and flattens citrus, so in a hard water area a slightly longer steep restores the balance, while soft water lets the top notes ring clearer and needs a touch less time. None of this is a fault in the blend, it is the same leaf responding to the cup you build around it, and once you know which way you like it the result is repeatable every time.
Ingredients & pack
Ingredient
Proportion
What it brings
Organic Rooibos
present
95 percent hydrating, naturally sweet base grown exclusively in South Africa
Natural Bergamot Oil
present
Providing signature zesty citrus aromatics from the Mediterranean and Italy
Pack: Dragonfly Organic Earl Grey Rooibos, 40 Tea Bags 100g; contains tea (caffeinated). Certified organic. Best within 18 months of the pack date.
Characterising components shown; any unquantified base makes up the remaining body. Globally sourced, blended and packed to brand specification.
Sourcing & blend. Dragonfly Organic Earl Grey Rooibos, 40 Tea Bags 100g is put together by Dragonfly, the organic infusion specialist. Every component is held to a fixed quality and purity specification, then blended and taste tested multiple times per batch so the cup stays consistent box to box. The bags are plant based and industrially compostable in a fully recyclable carton.
What's in Dragonfly Organic Earl Grey Rooibos, 40 Tea Bags 100g, and what isn't:
In: a bergamot Earl Grey with dragonfly earl grey rooibos, with nothing in the bag but the listed components and any infusion base.
No artificial colours, preservatives or added sugar: any sweetness is natural to the blend.
Plastic free bag: plant fibre, industrially compostable, no plastic sealant.
Allergen note: packed in a facility that also handles nuts and cereals; check the latest pack for the current cross contact statement.
Nutrition per cup
Nutrient
Per cup
% RI
Energy
4 kJ / 1 kcal
<1%
Fat
0g
0%
Carbohydrate
0.2g
<1%
of which sugars
0g
0%
Protein
0.2g
<1%
Salt
0g
0%
Caffeine
40-60 mg
n/a
L theanine
~5-10mg
n/a
Tea polyphenols
Present
n/a
Per 200ml cup, no milk, no sugar.
Caffeine vs other drinks
Decaf coffee
4mg
Green tea
30mg
Dragonfly Organic Earl Grey Rooibos,
60mg
Instant coffee
80mg
Brewed filter coffee
95mg
Energy drink (250ml)
80mg
This tea: 40-60 mg per 200ml cup, plus naturally occurring L theanine for calmer alertness than coffee.
Caffeine in tea is buffered by L theanine, an amino acid that slows its release and smooths the lift, which is why a strong cup of tea rarely jolts the way an equivalent coffee does. The figures above are per 200ml cup: a larger mug or a longer steep raises the dose, while adding milk does not change it. Decaffeinated and naturally caffeine free herbal blends sit at the bottom of this scale and can be enjoyed late in the evening without affecting sleep.
Allergens, dietary & safety
🌱VeganNo animal derived ingredients.🌾Gluten freeNaturally gluten free.⚡Caffeine40-60 mg per 200ml cup.🍃0 kcalNo sugar, no fat in plain cup.🤰PregnancyUK guide: 200mg caffeine/day max.👶ChildrenCaffeinated, served with care.
Manufactured in a facility that handles multiple tea types. Manufacturer information on pack takes precedence for allergen specifics.
Source:Teas.co.uk,
the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
If you reference the ingredients, nutrition and science of Dragonfly Organic Earl Grey Rooibos, 40 Tea Bags 100g, please cite teas.co.uk.
The questions buyers ask most. If yours isn't here, ask us directly. We reply within 4 hours, Monday to Friday.
Curated from real customer messages
🌱
Is Dragonfly Organic Earl Grey Rooibos caffeine free? Most asked+
Yes, 100% naturally caffeine free. Built on rooibos rather than real tea, so contains no caffeine at all. Safe for late evening drinking, pregnancy, and caffeine managing drinkers.
🌱
What's actually in the blend? +
Soil Association certified organic rooibos, cold pressed bergamot oil from Calabria in southern Italy, and dried cornflower petals for visual indicator of the genuine bergamot. No real tea leaf at all.
🌱
Is this real Earl Grey? +
No, it's a caffeine free Earl Grey alternative. Real Earl Grey is black tea + bergamot. This is rooibos + bergamot, designed to deliver the bergamot citrus character without the caffeine load. Different cup from real Earl Grey but the same bergamot forward direction.
🌱
How do I brew it for the best result? +
Pour just off boil water (95-100°C) over one bag in a 250ml mug and steep five to seven minutes. The bergamot oil needs time to fully release from the bag, and the rooibos can be steeped longer without going bitter.
🌱
Can I add milk? +
You can, but it dulls the bergamot top note. The rooibos handles milk fine, but the citrus character of the cup is the point of an Earl Grey, and milk softens that. A thin slice of lemon is the better addition.
🌱
Is the tea bag plastic free? +
Yes. Folded and stitched with organic cotton thread; no plastic glue, no metal staple, fully home compostable. Straight onto the garden bed once the leaf is spent.
🌱
Is the carton recyclable? +
The outer carton is FSC certified, printed with vegetable based inks, and fully kerbside recyclable. Dragonfly also offsets the print and packaging footprint via the World Land Trust Carbon Balanced Publication scheme.
🌱
Where does the bergamot come from? +
Calabria, in southern Italy. Bergamot (Citrus bergamia) is grown almost exclusively in the Reggio Calabria region; over 80% of the world's bergamot oil comes from this small zone. Dragonfly uses the cold pressed essential oil, not a synthetic substitute.
🌱
How does it compare to a real Earl Grey? +
A real Earl Grey is caffeinated with a more astringent black tea body. Dragonfly Earl Grey Rooibos is caffeine free with a softer, naturally sweeter rooibos body. The bergamot top note is the same; the body underneath is different. Both have their use cases.
🌱
How does it compare to a decaf real Earl Grey? +
Decaf real Earl Grey (e.g. Clipper Decaf Earl Grey) is real black tea with the caffeine removed via CO2 process. It retains the black tea body. Dragonfly is a completely different structural approach: rooibos as the body, never real tea. Less astringent, naturally sweeter.
🌱
Where is the blend packed? +
Dragonfly Tea Limited blends and packs in the United Kingdom from Soil Association certified organic rooibos sourced from the Cederberg region of South Africa and cold pressed bergamot oil from Calabria. UK family owned business since 1988.
Source:Teas.co.uk,
the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
If you reference questions and answers about Dragonfly Organic Earl Grey Rooibos, 40 Tea Bags 100g, please cite teas.co.uk.
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