There is nothing more enjoyable than drinking a fine cup of tea. As a steadfast advocate of imported English black teas, I typically brew my own, but I recently decided to venture out into Hanover in pursuit of the finest cup of Earl Grey tea.
Before we embark on this journey together, let me describe my ideal cup of tea. When I prepare English Breakfast — my favorite — I use Taylors of Harrogate, steeped for roughly eight minutes, titrated with enough milk to bring the tea to a medium-dark brown. For Earl Grey tea, I prefer Twinings or sometimes Bigelow, steeped for about four minutes with just a couple drops of lemon.
The Works: 2/10
I headed to The Works, where they served Harney & Sons Earl Grey in a sachet. Unfortunately, a slice of lemon wasn’t available to supplement the tea. I did appreciate the fact that The Works allowed customers to pour their own hot water, which would come in handy if the tea ever became too strong. While I usually enjoy Harney & Sons English breakfast tea, I found that the Earl Grey wasn’t strong at all. I tried steeping the tea for longer, desperately moving the bag around the cup, squashing it against the side in hopes that I could open up the tea leaves and extract more flavor. All attempts were in vain. There wasn’t a particularly strong aroma, whether that be the fault of the black tea base or of the bergamot oil. There was very mild spice, and it was particularly hard to detect the citrus of the oil. I found the overall taste to be stale.
Dirt Cowboy: 4.5/10
At Dirt Cowboy, the tea came in a pillow style tea bag, and it looked like it was filled with their own tea fannings. The tea had a pleasant aroma, with traces of both citrus and spice. Unfortunately, a slice of lemon wasn’t available to enhance the tea, but they offered lemon juice instead. The tea was very mildly astringent and was smooth and silky. The tea tasted more spicy than citrusy, but I imagine a couple drops of lemon would taste wonderful. The tea wasn’t overly strong — I steeped the tea for a fairly long time, but I probably could have extracted more flavor from the leaves.
My Brigadeiro: 6.5/10
My Brigadeiro served a Steep-brand tea bag — part of Bigelow’s product line — alongside a pot of hot water and a slice of lemon. After steeping the tea for roughly six minutes, it developed a wonderful color and aroma. It was smooth and silky, with a pleasant floral quality and gentle spice. A few drops of lemon brought the tea’s citrus into perfect balance with the spice. The tea was quite astringent, but it didn’t overwhelm the smoother floral and citrus notes.
Aside from the flavor of the tea, My Brigadeiro was the best overall experience. While I am quite content with a simple mug of builder’s tea, I love having tea in my cup and saucer — with my pot for refills of course — and better yet, in a tea room with some tea sandwiches and scones. My Brigadeiro was the only place that had a pot with a cup and saucer, which was much appreciated.
Umpleby’s: 7/10
At Umpleby’s, I had Twinings tea in a pillow style bag with lemon on the side. There was a good color to the tea, and it had a citrusy aroma. Without the lemon, the tea was relatively bitter. It had a moderate citrus taste and pleasant floral tones with subtle spice. It wasn’t quite as strong as I would have liked, but was still enjoyable. I added a twist of lemon at the end, but I wasn’t able to achieve my desired results. Despite the bitterness, I actually preferred the tea without lemon.
Still North: 8.5/10
The first and best stop on my Earl Grey expedition was Still North Books & Bar. They served Earl Grey from In Pursuit of Tea in a sachet, with a generous slice of lemon on the side. Overall, the tea was fairly good even without the lemon, flavored with a fair amount of bergamot oil, a very subtle spice and moderate astringency. After steeping and adding a good twist of lemon, the cup tasted even better. The citrus beautifully complemented the spice, enhancing the tea’s complexity. It was a robust, memorable cup.
I also found the atmosphere at Still North very pleasant. It was quiet, perfectly lit and other students were working with their respective beverages. While I typically start my Sundays brewing a pot of English Breakfast in my dorm, in the future I plan on occasionally studying at Still North with a cup of Earl Grey.
Final Thoughts
As a disclaimer, my notes on the tea are taken from just one visit and of only one cup of tea. I decided to rank the teas based on my preference towards strong, robust tea with a balance of citrus and spice. Hanover’s finest cup of tea was from Still North. My second favorite was Umpleby’s, which was closely followed by My Brigadeiro, which was followed by Dirt Cowboy and then The Works.
Looking back on the last few days, this was a fun adventure into Hanover, and I appreciated all the teas I tried. In order to write this article, I was quite hasty going from place to place. While having five cups of tea within three days is not even close to a personal record, I want to go back to all the cafés to savor each sip of tea.
