Tesco Finest Earl Grey

Tesco what were you thinking?? I never normally write reviews but am so surprised and disappointed, I feel a duty to warn others. The weird thing is that the tea bags smell lovely, but that fragrance somehow doesn't translate into taste.

What you get instead is a Tesco value cup of tea. Not particularly strong or weak, just a bog standard builders tea.

Very weird. Out of principle I will be returning the box to Tesco. Another review on here says that Co-op Earl Grey is the best so I'll give that a whirl.

I was surprised when I looked at the ingredients on the box (Black Tea, Flavourings). After enjoying other earl greys which contained actual ingredients and not just synthetic stuff I was dubious. When I opened the foil and gave the tea bags a good sniff, I was further concerned as my nostrils were virtually burning from the stench. Not the wonderfully delicate aroma that I had come to know and love from other earl grey brands. However I was hopeful that with such a pungent tea bag, the end brew must be fragrant. Nope, just black tea and a pretty poor one at that. How on earth this it the Finest that Tesco can offer is beyond me. More like Tesco Value.

There's no flavour in this tea any more. I've been buying it for years and used to really enjoy it, but for some time now I've noticed it tastes of virtually nothing. No taste of bergamot & almost no taste of tea. And now can confirm this is true even of the tea bags from a brand new pack.

Sad.

Realise I've only been buying it from habit & will have to find a new blend.

This tea is lovely. It is lightly scented and has a excellent clean taste. I drink it with a tiny drop of milk. My husband and I are truly hooked.

Just dont buy it! none of the taste i am used to from earl grey gives a horrible after taste like they used dirt and twigs to create it

We thought perhaps we had purchased a faulty batch a couple of weeks ago so bought another box. Nope, stil vile. Has an odd bleachy after taste and no hint of bergamot.

I bought this as Tesco had no stock of the Clipper Organic Earl Grey that I prefer. I don't like Twinings take on EG so I thought I would try this. What a mistake! How can they market this stuff as Earl Grey? Absolutely disgusting - if that is their finest I dread to think what they would offer as normal or value. Come on Tesco buck your ideas up - read some reviews of your Finest Dishwater and make changes. I didn't want to give this any stars but the computer says . . noooo.

Finest? It tastes like cuppa soup and twigs…There is no way a fan of Earl Grey has tasted this for TESCO as it isn't Earl Grey….They have blatantly written the positive reviews as well as 80% are 1 star or less. No wonder their sales are down. My Grandmother bought these and can't even take them back…she thinks they are vile…Morrisons home brand ones are great.

This is not Earl Grey tea. It has no hint of bergamot whatsoever and leaves a dry after-taste in your mouth. This is possibly the worst Earl Grey tea I have ever tried and certainly will not be recommending to a friend. I chose it because it was cheaper than other brands at £1.49 but it was clear that due to skipping on price, you're also skipping on quality.

Exactly 40 years ago I was introduced to Earl Grey tea and I have drunk several cups on almost every day since. At that time there was a good choice of stockists and many towns had specialist tea (and coffee) blenders that have since disappeared. Now we are reduced to whatever the supermarkets choose to provide - such as Tesco' Finest!

At some time during the summer of 2013 they withdrew their Earl Grey and a while later replaced it with a similarly labelled product, though with a differently coloured box and a higher price. The earlier version had very small leaves and brewed strong and dark tea and it is probably this that many of these reviews refer to.

I decided to try it but my first impression was unfavourable - tasteless, colourless hot water. I then doubled my usual quantity of tea leaves in the pot and I could at least taste it, but I should never have identified it as Earl Grey!

When will the supermarkets realise that "Earl Grey" implies some sort of tradition, "finest" implies some sort of quality, and that not all of us want to buy cheap, anodyne, products?