Pat schrieb:
> Twinings Earl Grey has always been one of my favorite teas. I was
> always under the impression that this was the definitive Earl Grey, and
> that they were using the original, unaltered recipe used by the Second
> Earl Grey himself. However, I have recently read on the web that
> Jacksons of Piccadilly claims that **THEY** and only they have the
> original recipe. Apparently this has been a long standing bone of
> contention between the two companies for a very long time.
>
> I have tried both versions and they are noticeably different. Twinings
> has a much stronger bergamot flavor, whereas the bergamot flavor in
> Jacksons' formula is very subtle indeed. I prefer Twinings.
>
> Surely there must be a way to determine who is correct in this dispute.
> Does anybody know if one firm or the other's claim to the original
> recipe has ever been validated? Which firm do you believe, and what
> is the consensus regarding whose version is better?
>
> Pat

Twinings Earl Grey use definitly NOT the original recipe, because at
Earl Grey's time tea was not harvested by machines. Also there was real
bergamotte oil and not just flavouring which is used by Twinings
(German declaration law is *very* strict on that, so based on the label
with the declaration of ingredients (Zutaten) they definitely use no
real bergamotte oil!).

The only brand I know which uses a traditional blend of Chinese black
O.P. leaf teas and real (Italian) bergamotte oil is a traditional
German brand (Teekanne). Maybe this is the closest match to the
original Earl Grey recipe.

On the other hand: does it really matter? Isn't it more important,
which taste you like most?



Dieter