Help. Our Favourite Tea is Discontinued!

[Earl Greybeard]

My wife and I are lifelong **** Grey drinkers, where **** = Earl, Lady, Duchess, Empress etc.

Our favourite for some years has been Empress Grey, sold by Marks and Spencer in the UK. But they have stopped selling it. What a blow.

Does anyone know of a decent equivalent tea please? Empress had the usual bergamot, but also a citrus element, along with a tea that did not brew up too strongly to overwhelm the taste. Perfect balance.

So, we are now working our way through all the **** Grey teas we can find to try to discover one we like as much as Empress. Any advice gratefully received. Otherwise, I will just report back on our findings.

Best wishes.

[Ragamuffin]

It's been a while since I've drank an Earl Grey, but Andrews and Dunham's "Mount Grey" used to be my favorite .http://www.damnfinetea.com/mount-gray/

Also Harney and Sons has several Earl Grey variations that are supposed to be good.

[Earl Greybeard]

It's been a while since I've drank an Earl Grey, but Andrews and Dunham's "Mount Grey" used to be my favorite .http://www.damnfinetea.com/mount-gray/

Also Harney and Sons has several Earl Grey variations that are supposed to be good.

That's really useful. I will have a look at those. Many thanks.

Ray

[Earl Greybeard]

It's been a while since I've drank an Earl Grey, but ...

Ooops. I actually live in the UK, so I think those companies aren't practical for me. Apologies for that. I did put my location in the signature, but it doesn't seem to be appearing on my posts.

Best wishes,

Ray

[Victoria]

Ooops. I actually live in the UK, so I think those companies aren't practical for me. Apologies for that. I did put my location in the signature, but it doesn't seem to be appearing on my posts.

Best wishes,

Ray

Welcome to the forum Ray. For your location to appear below your avatar when you are posting, go to User Control Panel/ Profile/ Edit Profile and put your location in there. Signatures are disabled on the forum; viewtopic.php?f=2&t=108

[Victoria]

Have you tried Harney & Sons? Their earl grey is good, it’s a family run business. I’ve tried their blends at their store in Soho, NYC and various tea festivals in LA.

[Earl Greybeard]

Welcome to the forum Ray. For your location to appear below your avatar when you are posting, go to User Control Panel/ Profile/ Edit Profile and put your location in there. Signatures are disabled on the forum; viewtopic.php?f=2&t=108

Thanks Victoria. I'll give that a shot.

[Earl Greybeard]

Have you tried Harney & Sons? Their earl grey is good, it’s a family run business. I’ve tried their blends at their store in Soho, NYC and various tea festivals in LA.

Many thanks for the recommendation. I did look at their website, but I guess I am looking for a UK-based company.

At the moment I am working my way through various teas, and will post my finding here.

[NPE]

The news was a shock to me as well because M&S Empress Grey is my go-to tea while in the office. I have found two other teas that could be quite palatable replacements: Twinings Lady Grey and Kusmi Tea Anastasia (check out https://int.kusmitea.com/our-teas/russi ... ckaging=56)
Good luck!

[Victoria]

Have you tried Harney & Sons? Their earl grey is good, it’s a family run business. I’ve tried their blends at their store in Soho, NYC and various tea festivals in LA.

Many thanks for the recommendation. I did look at their website, but I guess I am looking for a UK-based company.

At the moment I am working my way through various teas, and will post my finding here.

It is sold at Selfridger’s in London, and probably other venues too.

[Earl Greybeard]

The news was a shock to me as well because M&S Empress Grey is my go-to tea while in the office. I have found two other teas that could be quite palatable replacements: Twinings Lady Grey and Kusmi Tea Anastasia (check out https://int.kusmitea.com/our-teas/russi ... ckaging=56)
Good luck!

I have since contacted M & S, and they have replied that E.G. is not discontinued at all, despite what we were told in the store. It is just being 'redesigned', which may be as little as a new box! So, all we have to do is ride out the storm until the new stock arrives (and hope they haven't changed the recipe).

We live in hope

[Earl Greybeard]

It is sold at Selfridger’s in London, and probably other venues too.

I may have a look then. Thanks Victoria.

[Earl Greybeard]

Just to update, I have contacted M & S, and this was the reply (please excuse the grammatical errors):

Thanks for getting in touch about our lovely Express grey tea. I'm unsure where you have been given this information but I'm happy to confirm this lovely tea is not be discontinued.

I've had a little look on our systems and can see that it's currently in re-development. This can mean we'll be making improvements anywhere from the packaging to improving the flavour so they taste even better than before.

When an item is being developed, we may still be selling it in a handful of store and unsure how long the re-development will take, so I would certainly keep your eyes peeled when your next shopping.

I can see we've not sold any in our Chilwell Store recently, however our Nottingham City centre store has sold this tea in the last week. However when your next vistsing you local store, I would certainly ask our Food Merchandising Teams if they have any further updates on when it may be coming back to your local store.

Thanks again for getting in touch. I hope I've been able to help and you and your wife get to try this lovely tea again very soon.

[NPE]

I have since contacted M & S, and they have replied that E.G. is not discontinued at all, despite what we were told in the store. It is just being 'redesigned', which may be as little as a new box! So, all we have to do is ride out the storm until the new stock arrives (and hope they haven't changed the recipe).

We live in hope

Ohh, good news! I hope that the tea will just be re-packaged as I also would like the taste to stay as it is. This is the only bagged tea that I am using as the bags are very convenient in the office and it's the only tea that still tastes good after having left it on my desk for the duration of a meeting
I am keeping my fingers crossed!

[Earl Greybeard]

I now how some Empress Grey. Oddly, it doesn't seem so nice as before. Just a bit dull. I served it to my wife for 2 days, and she didn't even notice.

I suspect we have just got used to it and need a change. So, I am now exploring my local blenders. We have a new one in Nottingham which looks good,and also Imperial teas of Lincoln, who seem to have about 20 variations of Earl Grey. All mixed in store of course. Let's see how we get on. I do seem to have moved away from bags except for travelling!