# Blueberry Tea: Earl Grey or Orange Pekoe? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 4, 2005, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-tea-earl-grey-or-orange-pekoe/324801 "2005-10-04T23:09:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Amaranta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Amaranta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amaranta)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-tea-earl-grey-or-orange-pekoe/324801/1 "2005-10-04T23:09:56Z")
I’ve always made my blueberry tea with Earl Grey. My boss says it’s traditionally made with orange pekoe. Now, I hate orange pekoe, so I’ll stick with the EG anyway, but I had always been under the impression that EG was the traditional tea in this. So which do you have your Blueberry Tea with? The lovely Earl Grey, or Orange Pekoe? Cinnamon stick, slice of orange, or just the tea and booze? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-tea-earl-grey-or-orange-pekoe/324801/2 "2005-10-05T00:07:50Z")
Start over. What’s blueberry tea? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-tea-earl-grey-or-orange-pekoe/324801/3 "2005-10-05T00:36:49Z")
The best Blueberry tea (IMHO) is from The Republic of Tea (its called Wild BlueBerry). They also make a really good Blackberry tea (Blackberry Sage). -XT ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-tea-earl-grey-or-orange-pekoe/324801/4 "2005-10-05T00:38:10Z")
Call me crazy, but why would you ruin a good cuppa Earl Grey with blueberries. Keep the blueberries in the muffins, as God intended them… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Amaranta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Amaranta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amaranta)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-tea-earl-grey-or-orange-pekoe/324801/5 "2005-10-05T07:24:07Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Start over. What’s blueberry tea? Mmmkay. Blueberry Tea does not have blueberries at all. It’s tea with Amaretto and Grand Marnier. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-tea-earl-grey-or-orange-pekoe/324801/6 "2005-10-05T13:29:55Z")
> [@amaranta](#): > > Mmmkay. Blueberry Tea does not have blueberries at all. It’s tea with Amaretto and Grand Marnier. Interesing. I never heard of this before. Every Blueberry Tea I’ve seen is fruit-flavored tea. Where did this originate, and what part of the country features this? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-tea-earl-grey-or-orange-pekoe/324801/7 "2005-10-05T14:52:20Z")
Never heard of that. ‘Blueberry Tea’ to me means tea flavored with, well, Blueberry. For that kind of flavored tea’s the best I’ve found is The Republic of Tea…they make all kinds (I think they bottle their teas too, though I usually buy their tea packets). -XT ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-tea-earl-grey-or-orange-pekoe/324801/8 "2005-10-05T15:10:22Z")
> [@amaranta](#): > > I’ve always made my blueberry tea with Earl Grey. My boss says it’s traditionally made with orange pekoe. Now, I hate orange pekoe, so I’ll stick with the EG anyway, but I had always been under the impression that EG was the traditional tea in this. > > So which do you have your Blueberry Tea with? The lovely Earl Grey, or Orange Pekoe? Cinnamon stick, slice of orange, or just the tea and booze? Perhaps I’m wrong (there’s always a first time), but isn’t Earl Grey made with _orange pekoe_ flavored with oil of bergamot? Ah, from [About.com](http://coffeetea.about.com/cs/typesoftea/a/earlgrey.htm): > [@](#): > > Contrary to popular belief, Earl Grey is not a kind of tea at all. It’s actually plain black tea, infused with the citrus flavour of bergamot (similar to orange blossoms). > > While the term ‘orange pekoe’ is all about the quality and grade of a tea, Earl Grey tea is not necessarily a high quality tea. Since the taste of bergamot is quite strong, it is often used to mask the lack of flavour from poor quality black tea. When shopping for Earl Grey, make sure to double-check the grade of the tea before making your choice. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-tea-earl-grey-or-orange-pekoe/324801/9 "2005-10-06T03:14:57Z")
So why is this drink called Blueberry Tea if it has all this orange flavor in it?