Page 1 of 2
Help. Our Favourite Tea is Discontinued!
Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2018 9:22 am
by 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.
Re: Help. Our Favourite Tea is Discontinued!
Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2018 2:42 pm
by 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.
Re: Help. Our Favourite Tea is Discontinued!
Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 3:53 am
by Earl Greybeard
Ragamuffin wrote: ↑Fri Jul 27, 2018 2:42 pm
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
Re: Help. Our Favourite Tea is Discontinued!
Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 3:56 am
by Earl Greybeard
Ragamuffin wrote: ↑Fri Jul 27, 2018 2:42 pm
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
Re: Help. Our Favourite Tea is Discontinued!
Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 5:02 am
by Victoria
Earl Greybeard wrote: ↑Sun Jul 29, 2018 3:56 am
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
Re: Help. Our Favourite Tea is Discontinued!
Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 1:13 pm
by 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.
Re: Help. Our Favourite Tea is Discontinued!
Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 3:19 am
by Earl Greybeard
Victoria wrote: ↑Sun Jul 29, 2018 5:02 am
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.
Re: Help. Our Favourite Tea is Discontinued!
Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 3:20 am
by Earl Greybeard
Victoria wrote: ↑Sun Jul 29, 2018 1:13 pm
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.
Re: Help. Our Favourite Tea is Discontinued!
Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 9:30 am
by 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!
Re: Help. Our Favourite Tea is Discontinued!
Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 11:39 am
by Victoria
Earl Greybeard wrote: ↑Tue Jul 31, 2018 3:20 am
Victoria wrote: ↑Sun Jul 29, 2018 1:13 pm
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.
Re: Help. Our Favourite Tea is Discontinued!
Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2018 2:39 am
by Earl Greybeard
NPE wrote: ↑Tue Jul 31, 2018 9:30 am
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
Re: Help. Our Favourite Tea is Discontinued!
Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2018 2:40 am
by Earl Greybeard
Victoria wrote: ↑Tue Jul 31, 2018 11:39 am
Earl Greybeard wrote: ↑Tue Jul 31, 2018 3:20 am
It is sold at Selfridger’s in London, and probably other venues too.
I may have a look then. Thanks Victoria.
Re: Help. Our Favourite Tea is Discontinued!
Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2018 2:44 am
by 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.
Re: Help. Our Favourite Tea is Discontinued!
Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2018 10:43 am
by NPE
Earl Greybeard wrote: ↑Mon Aug 06, 2018 2:39 am
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!
Re: Help. Our Favourite Tea is Discontinued!
Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2018 12:48 pm
by 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!