It's alarming that the staff at the Liverpool store know me by sight. Such is my medical need for B&B teas.
"We've had 4 new Earl Grey in since we last saw you! Thought you would like the smoky one!"
Cue me enthusiastically nosing my way through giant stainless steel tins of goodness. The Smoky Earl Grey won.
All B&B teas are delicious. Some are flamboyant. Some are classic. Some are weird and wonderful. This smoky Earl Grey is both demure & mindful. It's beautiful. It's not massively overpowering; it's refined. Elegant even. I'd imagine us having long autumnal walks where I'd try to forget the reasons for the failure of my latest poetry anthology, wondering how we are going to pay the rent. In that moment, I would turn solemnly to the children and tell them that it's time to return to the mines.
"But Daddy! Could we not use some of the tea money to keep us?"
"No son. The tea money is sacred."
The tea money will be spent on the Smoky Earl Grey. It's really very good. I've been loyal to the Roobios Earl Grey for so long, but this could sway me. If I were being extremely critical, I'd like a stronger bergamot hit. But I just brew it that little bit longer. Lovely