Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Rington’s Premium English Teas
Tea Description:
Ringtons English Breakfast Tea is a superior black tea blend from Assam and Kenya, with a strong and refreshing taste. With a medium/high caffeine content, this bright and lively blend is strong enough to help wake you up in the morning.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The first thing I have to say about this one is that it really surprised me. I don’t drink a lot of bagged tea at the moment, but it generally seems much of a muchness to me when I do. At least in the UK, the flavour profiles of “breakfast blend” style black teas seem very similar – sweet, malty, strong, and otherwise fairly nondescript. Until now. At first glance, Ringtons English Breakfast looks like your typical bagged black tea. It’s in a square paper bag, and is about half full with finely shredded leaf. The scent is typical “black tea”. I used one bag for my cup, and gave it 3.5 minutes in boiling water. It brewed up a pretty strong-looking red-brown, so I added a splash of milk.
I wasn’t expecting much, except perhaps a quality black bagged tea – an everyday sort of experience, I thought. Not at all. It’s delicious! The first thing I picked up on is the strong baked bread flavour, which I’ve never before experienced except in fairly premium loose leaf varieties. It’s sweet and malty through the mid-sip, perfectly smooth with no bitterness or astringency at all. Right at the end of the sip, there’s the tiniest hint of milk chocolate. I don’t know what varieties of tea went into this blend specifically, but I’m guessing there must be an Assam, probably a Chinese black, and something else that I can’t quite put my finger on. It’s not floral, exactly, although that was my first thought, so I don’t think it’s a Darjeeling. Maybe a Ceylon, or something Kenyan? It’s certainly intriguing!
I thoroughly enjoyed this cup. It has a real depth of flavour, and it’s almost completely unique amongst the bagged breakfast teas I’ve tried in my time. I’d happily drink this one again – I actually think it might be replacing my normal breakfast tea for a while. It’s just too delicious to pass up!
Bluebird’s Great British Cuppa by Bluebird Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Bluebird Tea Co.
Tea Description:
We’ve been around the world in 80 teas with this one! On a mission to get our nation of tea lovers, THE BEST cuppa. Good news… Mission accomplished! Fantastic with your fry up, perfect with a Paddington (marmalade on toast, obviously!) The Great British Cuppa is right here!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m feeling a little under the weather at the moment, so a straightforward breakfast-style tea is just the thing to cure what ails me. This is such a go-to kind of blend – an easy to drink, easy to brew, no fuss, crowd pleaser. I gave one teaspoon of leaf 4 minutes in boiling water, and added a splash of milk.
The resulting brew is a pretty solid example of an English breakfast tea. It combines an Assam, a Ceylon, and a Chinese Yunnan black, and the result is sweet and malty, with a hint of citrus brightness. The citrus, to me, is lemon, and it emerges primarily at the end of the sip. For the most part, this has a characteristic potato flavour, with an almost starchy element reminiscent of crispy, roasted white potato which emerges in the mid-sip. It’s hugely malty, with that wonderfully deep, molasses-like flavour that a really good malty black can take on. No sugar required here!
I’m not too surprised that I like this one – it contains my three favourite varieties of black tea, after all! It’s well balanced, with none of the three varieties dominating. Instead, it’s like each of the individual teas has contributed one of the elements which characterises it best – maltiness from the Assam, a light citrus note from the Ceylon, and a glorious potato flavour from the Chinese Yunnan. It’s such a good, solid cup of plain black tea. A no-nonsense, full-bodied blend with plenty of flavour – there’s nothing not to love here! Well done, Bluebird!
Breakfast Blend No. 1 from Lu-Lin Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Lu-Lin Teas
Tea Description:
Our unique Breakfast Tea that has been blended to LuLin Teas high standards. It has the characteristic strong taste from a breakfast tea that is not too overwhelming and tastes great with milk.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Breakfast Blend No. 1 from Lu-Lin Teas is a perfect example of what a Breakfast Blend should be! It is rich and full-flavored. It is robust and yet brisk and bright. It tastes great served straight … but would also take the additions of milk and/or honey quite well. (Or, if you prefer, a thin slice of lemon!)
The aroma of the dry leaf is earthy and sweet, with hints of leather and a very subtle note of fruit in the distance. The fragrance of the brewed tea has much of the same qualities, although I notice that the sweetness takes on a caramel-y sort of scent.
The flavor is bold yet it has an uplifting briskness to it. It’s very invigorating without tasting too heavy. It is sweet with subtle notes of malt that meld nicely with the caramel undertone. The flavor is rich and has a sort of “bake-y” quality that is reminiscent of freshly baked bread. I notice a great deal of complexity within this “baked bread” kind of flavor … I notice a roasted kind of flavor that gives off an almost “smoky” kind of essence. It is faint, but it’s there … I also notice earthy notes.
By mid-cup, I start to notice a fruity taste start to develop. It is somewhat citrus-y, and I pick up on this flavor toward the finish and it lingers into the aftertaste.
This is a very pleasant Breakfast Blend! I really enjoyed it.
English Breakfast from Butiki Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
The English Breakfast blend is robust and malty. This black tea is a blend of Ceylon, Assam, Java, and Darjeeling teas and is best served with milk or lemon.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Ordinarily when I’m ordering from Butiki Teas, I gravitate toward the more unusual blends or the flavored teas because Butiki Teas is really quite skillful when it comes to creating something not only unique but delicious. The Tamarind Pop is an excellent example of this. Truly a unique and delicious tea.
So, I find that I tend to overlook what might be somewhat common or “everyday” blends from Butiki – like this English Breakfast – and to be honest, until someone mentioned that they’d like to try the English Breakfast from Butiki Teas in our recent giveaway sponsored by the company, I didn’t even realize that they had one! I’m just so used to them being the place for more out-of-the-ordinary type of blends … I didn’t expect to see an English Breakfast in the collection of teas from Butiki!
But, I was not only surprised to find an English Breakfast, but now that I am trying it, I am surprised that I thought that this would be a common English Breakfast – it’s nothing of the sort!
This tea has some serious HEFT to it – it is robust and invigorating. It has a thickness to it, some real tooth! It is what I sometimes refer to as “chewy” … which to me means that it has a flavor and a texture that sort of reminds me of a crusty, chewy, freshly baked french bread. It’s so satisfying!
This is a blend of Ceylon, Assam, Java, and Darjeeling teas, and while they do meld together quite amazingly to create a very seamless kind of flavor, I do notice certain aspects from the individual teas as well. From the Assam, I notice a rich, malty character. From the Darjeeling, I notice that sort of crispness that helps to clean the palate in between sips so that it does not become overwhelmed by what would otherwise be a very heavy tea. The Darjeeling keeps it sort of “light” … but don’t mistake that comment to think that this is – in any way – a weak or wimpy tea. It IS NOT! But, the hint of lightness from the Darjeeling helps to keep this tea from being too heavy, and I like that, because I don’t like that weighed down feeling from a tea.
From the Ceylon I notice an evenness of tone and I notice a rich warmness and robustness from the Java. Together… these four teas combine to create a very unique Breakfast Blend that stands out from the crowd. This is no ordinary English Breakfast!
Craigmore English Breakfast FOP from Deckan Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Deckan Tea
Tea Description:
A delicious black tea from the Nilgiri Mountains of Southern India that is very fragrant, fruity and ideal through out the day.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This tea surprised me a little. When I read the label and saw “English Breakfast” on there, I thought “ok, a breakfast blend, probably a blend of Assam and Ceylon.” I figured I was in for the “usual standard fare” when it comes to English Breakfast blends. But upon closer inspection, I noticed that this doesn’t appear to be a blend at all. It appears to be a pure Nilgiri, from the Craigmore Estate, no less!
And wow! This “breakfast” tea is wonderful. It has managed to strike that balance between an invigorating “get up and go” type of tea and a “slow down and enjoy the amazing flavor” kind of tea. It is rich and robust, delicious, malty, a little earthy, and possesses that highly prized biscuit-y kind of quality, but still has a bracing, stimulating effect to help wake and refresh you.
I prefer most of my breakfast teas hot, but I think that this would be absolutely delicious served iced too. When served hot, it takes the additions of milk (or cream) and honey (or sugar) quite well, but is also delicious served straight with no additions. When served iced, enjoy it with a sliver of lemon or perhaps a sprig of mint.
An unexpectedly wonderful English Breakfast!