Twinings Changes Earl Grey Formula

Twinings Changes Earl Grey Formula

Twinings literally invented Earl Grey tea, for all intents and purposes. The origin story is a little bit muddled, but what's clear is that Twinings was the first to market the blend of black tea and oil of bergamot as "Earl Grey Tea," back in the 1830s. The formula has remained unchanged since then… until last April, when for reasons unknown, Twinings tweaked the formula and changed the name to "The Earl Grey."
It was what marketers called a "soft launch." Twinings just quietly began shipping "The Earl Grey" in place of their original Earl Grey tea. And believe you me, customers noticed. Many people tell anecdotes about assuming that their tea had gone off somehow, or that someone had accidentally given them a cup of the wrong thing.
When it came to light, thanks largely to the UK tabloid The Daily Mail, it exploded. One thing you can say for sure about the English: they take their Earl Grey tea - and their history - very seriously. You can't just go around messing with the formula for something that has remained unchanged and beloved since 1830! Not without expecting a lot of complaints. A LOT.
This new version of Earl Grey contains "citrus flavor." Which confuses me, because I thought that's what Lady Grey tea was: Earl Grey with citrus. I guess not, though, because they're still selling Lady Grey as a separate line.
As far as most people are concerned (myself included), if it isn't just black tea and bergamot, it isn't Earl Grey. It can be some other delicious tea, but you can't call it Earl Grey. You just can't. And the fact that Twinings does is nothing less than an affront to the very foundations of tea-dom.
Americans are still a little sore over the New Coke fiasco. In the late 1980s, Coke decided to change their formula, too. After a few years of rapidly declining sales and customer outrage, they finally phased out New Coke in favor of Coke Classic. Except for one change: now instead of sugar, it contained corn syrup. A lot of people (myself included) think that the whole thing was part of their plan to wean people off sugar and slip in the less expensive HFCS. (While keeping the soda the same price, of course!)
I can't see how Twinings might be planning something like that, but I wouldn't put it past them. Sorry, England: I guess now you have your own New Coke story to tell through the ages!