When you need a tried-and-true pick-me-up in the morning, many of us reach for a cup of English Breakfast black tea. But each tea company has a little different take on this style of tea. English Breakfast from the Virginia Tea Company is robust in scent, taste, and texture.
This tea is full and malty, almost chewy, with toasty tones of baked bread. This tea is strong enough to have flavor after being mixed with milk and sugar, and to hold up on its own against the savory flavors of your breakfast.
The first scent and taste are the rich and complex flavors like roasted wheat or leather, followed by the little crisp bite of black tea that we come to expect. There is a hint of earthy smoke at the back of each sip, along with the the less bitter black tea tannins and thicker mouthfeel.
This is a black tea that makes you feel strong and invigorated, while also giving your palette a full-bodied flavor experience. For those mornings where it is hard to get your head on straight, be sure to brew up a strong cup of English Breakfast from the Virgina Tea Company and get back on track.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Virginia Tea Co.
Description:
This organic tea is perfect for pairing with your morning meal. The full-bodied flavor can be blended with milk and sugar to create an even better drinking experience.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Golden Wheat Head from Red Leaf Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Red Leaf Tea
Tea Description:
Golden Wheat Head Handcrafted Tea is woven into the shape of stalks or grains of wheat, a truly universal symbol of prosperity. This might seem odd for a nation famous for subsisting on rice, but the Chinese have longed enjoyed the making and consumption of bread, just like every other culture on the planet. The “grains” are little braided strands of green tea leaves! You’ll be delighted by the look and feel of these tiny threads as they fill your cup with a beautiful golden brew of green tea. Our Handcrafted Teas have a deep and delicate flavor, remarkably sweeter than most green teas, and the feel of the “wheat” flowing through your fingers is unforgettable!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
These little hand-shaped tea leaves are really cool! They look like little braided leaves that have been shaped into grains of wheat. The leaves look more like white tea than green tea to me, as they are very pale in color, almost silvery. But the taste is almost like a combination of the two … then again, it’s quite unlike any tea that I’ve encountered.
The tea brews to a very light golden color. The flavor offers notes of hay and a sweet, wheat-like flavor. There is very little grassy taste to this. Well, I guess, technically, wheat is a grass (isn’t it?) so I guess I should say there is very little green-grassy taste to this. There is even a trace note of malt to this!
What this green tea doesn’t have is a strong vegetable-like taste or a kelp-y, seaweed-ish taste. So, if you often find these notes to be ones you don’t favor in green tea, this is definitely a green tea you should try. And, if you do happen to like those strong vegetable notes (I’ve come to acquire a taste for them!) … it’s nice to taste a green tea like this with something different to offer the palate.
I steeped this in my gaiwan and managed four very flavorful infusions. Up until the third infusion, the braids remained intertwined; after the third infusion, I noticed the leaves finally beginning to open up. I noticed also that the flavor changes slightly from my first cup (infusions 1 & 2) and my second (infusions 3 & 4). With the first cup, it was exactly as I described above. The second cup was a little more “green” tasting, but not a grassy taste, but more of a slight steamed vegetable taste that melded beautifully with the wheat tones.
A very unique tea, indeed – and a very enjoyable one at that.
