Are you getting the bergamot flavor? Some tea brands go real light on the citrus to the point it just tastes like black tea

Honestly, get a small bag of loose leaf tea.

Loose leaf tea is outright superior to bagged tea as it contains the actual whole leaves. Commercial bagged tea is almost always made from the leftover crumbs of the process. Its why the bags have such fine mesh.

Correct me if I'm misremembering cuz its been a while since my last run thru TNG, but hasn't Picard usually been resistant to change? I feel like if found a tea he liked in the replicator and just stuck with it. Or he had it growing up and its a comfort drink, which I suppose is a similar concept. I can certainly relate to either.

There's ya problem, to quote Red Green. All bagged tea is low grade powder from second-rate leaves and therefore, low in flavor. Looseleaf tends to be higher quality from the prime part of the harvest season, not to mention they are processed and handled more carefully, so the leaves keep an attractive shape and color. Try a looseleaf Earl Gray. There are some flavorful brands that are moderately priced. I recommend Vahdam.

It depends on the blend and the quality of the ingredients. If you'd like to try a different blend, I suggest anything on this page:

https://www.adagio.com/search/index.html?query=earl+Grey

If you got it from here to begin with, then yeah there's diminishing returns on going any more expensive, you probably just don't like it 😅.

(I really like their teas and generally keep earl grey and mint on hand)

You need proper tea, not that bagged shite.

A good quality Ceylon black with just the right amount of bergamot? With a splash of milk? That's the best fukken tea you can have. Period.

Which brand did you use? I just had a talk with someone venturing into black/breakfast teas.

Twinings < Bigelow < Tazo < Harney & Sons < Harney & Sons Historic Royal

If you wanna get absolutely legit good but expensive go Fortnum & Mason. But just getting some loose leaf online will blow away anything bagged in the stores. I got some bags of loose tea from a site called the tea spot and their stuff is damn good.

Like most tea, yes.

Yep.

Tea, gyokuro, 57.4 celsius.

And the smell

I'm not far from a bakery that makes earl grey macarons, they are exquisite

You should try and Earl Grey Marteani. It was one of the first revival cocktails intended to be super likeable to get people back into drinking gin.

2oz Earl grey gin .75oz lemon juice .75oz simple syrup 1 egg white/.75oz aqua faba/a few shakes of fee foam/the foaming agent of your choice Shake and serve up. Put some bitters on the foam if its smell bothers you.

Earl grey gin is made by dumping ~5 teabags into a bottle of gin for 2-8 hours at room temp.

Literally the best tea ever. Smells like a campfire. Which reminds me — I need to order more.

It was Frank himself! Though one might argue that it was actually Mac's fault.

Reminds me of fruit loops.