Earl Grey is a famous premium tea blend with a distinctive flavour and aroma, both of which can be attributed to the addition of an oil extracted from the rind of the bergamot orange. Earl Grey is named after the 2nd Earl Grey, the British Prime Minister throughout the 1830's, who is believed to have received diplomatic gift of tea flavoured with this bergamot orange. Another theory or legend is that a Chinese Mandarin presented the tea to the Earl in 1803 after his son was saved from drowning by one of the Earl's men. Jackson's of Piccadilly claim that they originated the tea in 1830 after Earl Grey passed the recipe to George Charlton, a founding partner of Jackson & Co. According to Jackson's the original recipe has been in constant production ever since that year. Of course, Earl Grey has always traditionally been consumed in loose leaf form and not in teabag form, this article will talk you through the finest Earl Grey Teabags and not the finest Loose Earl Grey. The traditional and oldest Earl Grey tea was a black tea, which are those featured on this hub, however you can now get other varieties including Earl Grey Green Tea. For those that wish to avoid caffeine, it is possible to buy Decaffeinated Earl Grey.

For those that prefer the ease and convenience of using tea bags but still wish to sample the finest teas, Twinings Earl Grey tea bags provides a perfect solution. I have tasted both the Twinings Earl Grey Loose Teaand the bagged version, and believe that - unusually - they taste almost identical. Normally a bagged tea will be a little weaker and slightly less authentic; not in this case. Twinings have been producers and distributors of the finest gourmet teas since 1706, almost three centuries, and have been offering Earl Grey since the 1830s. Twinings still operates from England and owns its own tea plants in North Carolina and Calcutta. Twinings had worldwide domination confirmed when in 1972, and again in 1977, they won the Queens award for Export. Twining is also the best value Earl Grey on this list at just 10 cents per cup.

Taylors of Harrogate is the recipient of the British Tea Councils Best Cup of Tea Award, ensuring a quality brew for all of their tea products. This product is the bagged version of their loose tea but, like the Twinings equivalent, maintains the gourmet taste. Taylors have been making tea since 1886 and retain the traditions of being a family business based in the Yorkshire dales. There is very little difference in taste or quality between Taylors and Taylor's, although I believe that their loose tea offers better value at the quoted Amazon price.

Whilst there are numerous English loose Earl Greyteas imported, there are just two English firms exporting Earl Grey tea bags to the USA. I guess that is because they would like to promote their more traditional and historic products. For that reason, I have selected a tea provided by an American company. Bigelow is of course a Boston based tea company. I have selected this particular company as, in my personal opinion, it provides the closest possible substitute to a genuine English Earl Grey. I would still choose Twinings or Taylor's over Bigelow, but if your determined to buy from an American business....... then Bigelow is the only one that I can personally recommend.