Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Harney & Sons
Tea Description:
We have been the tea supplier to famous Dorchester for over seven years. Over that time, we have learned the taste preferences of the British. We know they like their tea strong, and that is what this tea is.
Learn more about this Breakfast Blend here.
Taster’s Review:
I have to be honest and admit that I was kind of surprised when I opened the packet of my loose leaf sample of this Dorchester Breakfast Black Tea Blend from Harney & Sons and saw how small the leaves were cut. This is a very fine CTC blend! I guess I’m just used to larger leaves from Harney. But, I didn’t let that dissuade me from brewing up a cup of this tea and I’m glad it didn’t, because mmm! This is really good.
The dry leaf aroma is faint, but I noticed hints of earth and sweetness. Once brewed, the fragrance seems to become even more faint, with more subtle notes of sweetness. As for the earthy tones I noticed when the tea was dry, I notice next to none. Just a barely there whisper of sweetness wafting from my cup.
And the aroma does an injustice for the flavor that awaits the palate, in my opinion, because this is a really rich and delicious cuppa! This is definitely the kind of tea that I’d be more than happy to wake up to each morning. It is a good, strong cup of tea – very bold! This has what I need on those mornings when I need a little more than a vigorous shake to wake me.
There are rich malty tones to this cup as well as a touch of a freshly baked, cake-y kind of quality. It is a strong tea with an astringent finish, but I’m not finding the astringency to be too much. There are hints of a bitter bite to this as well, and had I steeped this longer than the 2 1/2 minutes that I did in my Breville One-Touch I suspect that I might have had a bitter cuppa. As it is, I am not bothered by the hint of bitterness, as I find it to be an appealing complement to the sweeter notes and the caramel-y undertone to this tea.
This tea definitely has an edge to it, so it’s perfectly alright to add a drizzle of honey to this if you want to smooth out the edginess, or perhaps a splash of milk or cream might be more to your liking. This tea can stand up to either or both! Me, I’m liking it straight up – that edge is giving me the wake up call I need today!
