Hello dear reader, among all the interesting tea that is available in today’s market, it is nice to find a tea blend that doesn’t stray too far from the classic blends. Of course, I am talking about English Breakfast, the blend that never fails to fit my every mood. So I was more than happy to brew a cup of this English Breakfast especially when it is from a company from which I am surprised that I have never heard of for this company is 151 years old!
As I am sure is the case for most of you, this tea tastes like your typical English Breakfast blend. But that is not saying it is not good, this tea is definitely one of the best cups of English Breakfast that I have had. This tea is perfectly bold and bright with a soft dry finish combined with a perfectly sweet malty flavor. I was sad that I only had one cup to sample for my cup emptied way to fast so I will be most definitely be stocking up in the future.
Now on to the prices, a box of 15 (silk pyramid bags) is priced at $6.99 USD which will be about .47¢ a cup. For loose leaf, it would be $9.99 for a tin (18 cups per tin) that will be about .56¢ a cup and $10.99 for a bag (33 cups per bag) that is .33¢ per cup. I also don’t see any options for samples but I think spending about $7 isn’t too bad for testing a tea.
All in all, this tea is a good staple to have in my tea collection. I enjoyed my cup immensely and I see why this specific blend won first place in the 2018 Global Tea Championship in the English Breakfast category. I believe that this blend is approachable by all tea drinkers and will be a welcome addition to any tea collection
See you for the next cuppa!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Walters Bay
Description
English Breakfast Ceylon Black Tea Full Leaf Tea Enveloped Tea Bags begins with freshly hand-plucked tea leaves processed in our own Noori Tea Processing Center, in the highlands of Sri Lanka. Our Award-Winning Pekoe 1 black tea grade is meticulously processed during the Western High Grown season. This grade of tea offers a classic Ceylon signature flavor profile that is ideal as an English Breakfast Tea. It is a full bodied tea with a slight malty character and exceptional aroma. Great as a stand alone cup or with a dash of milk. Contains 15 individual enveloped full leaf tea bags. Each tea bag contains approx. 3 grams of tea
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Carrot Cake Pancakes from 52Teas
I am a carrot cake fiend. I also love me some pancakes. And before I found this magical tea hybrid of the two, I found actual carrot cake pancakes…or perhaps it was pancakes carrot cake? Basically it was a cake sold in a deli in Montreal that looked like 20 pancakes stacked, with cream cheese icing in between the layers. It always fascinated me but I never got to try it so this tea is my chance to give it a go.
The first thing I noticed while drinking this tea is that it has the nice spice that I love in a good carrot cake. The cinnamon is definitely strong, though smooth, with a touch of nutmeg and a dash of allspice. It is a nice rounded spice flavor that is kept in check by the sweetness of the carrot. With that said, the black tea has a touch of thickness in the mouthfeel that is bringing to mind a denser pancake as opposed to a fluffy/light cake.
At first when I finished the cup I was sad that there was no semblance of a cream cheese icing. With that said, I can definitely see this as carrot cake pancakes, as in pancakes inspired by a carrot cake recipe as opposed to the carrot cake that looked like 20 stacked pancakes layered with icing. So no cream cheese icing but this does taste like a pancake with carrot cake spices and some carrot sweetness. If you want carrot cake, this is not the tea to go with but if you want carrot cake pancakes, then give this a try.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
English Breakfast from The Virginia Tea Company. . . .
There are so many teas called English Breakfast, and they can be quite different. The original English Breakfast tea is said to have been pure 100% Chinese Keemun. This is the exception rather than the rule today, and you are more likely to find a mix of black tea from Sri Lanka, India, and Kenya. Modern tea tastes in the UK overall run to strong black tea that not only holds up to, but almost requires, milk and sugar – a nice, boot-you-out-of-bed tea.
Having a tender and sensitive tummy, I am cautious with breakfast blends as I don’t add anything to my tea, and with no milk to smooth my morning beverage the day can go dicey if the tea is too astringent. Also, once awake I am generally ready to go and don’t need to kick in the pants.
This fair trade tea is a blend of Ceylon, Kenyan, and Assam teas. I have put them in the order I believe them to be represented in the blend based on the taste. Far and away the top note for me is the lemony taste of Ceylon tea tingling on my tongue. This high citrus note is almost enough to make you think it is flavored! This often indicates that the tea was grown at a higher elevation of Sri Lanka. I put Assam last because I am not getting a huge amount of malty or bready flavor.
I am quite able to drink this without milk and sugar, enjoying the dry tingle of the briskness of the tea without the almost instant stomach ache some breakfast teas give me. I do believe that if milk and sugar is your thing, the tea could withstand it and wouldn’t wimp out under the additions.
If you love a good, black breakfast blend and want to upgrade to fair trade and organic tea, give it a try!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Virginia Tea Company
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!
Bold Breakfast from Dunkin Donuts
I love getting donuts at Dunkin Donuts, I’d be hard-pressed to tell you a flavor of donut that I didn’t like. On occasion, I’ll get an iced coffee or an iced tea, but usually my focus is solely on the donuts. But this is a tea blog not a donut blog! This time, I tried Dunkin Donuts’ Bold Breakfast black tea at home.
Like the best tea companies, this sample came in a silk pyramid tea bag, and there were visibly whole leaves of tea in the bag- no crushed tea powder here. I brewed it following their instructions to use boiling water and steep for 3 minutes.
The resulting brew was dark and gently fragrant. It looked like tea, smelled like tea, and guess what? It was a completely serviceable breakfast tea. It had the traditional black tea tartness and crisp mouthfeel, with plenty of flavor and caffeine to wake you up. The flavor was a bit one-note though, missing the malt or complexity of other loose leaf breakfast blends, but its one flavor is perfectly capable on its own.
Like many breakfast teas out there, when brewed black, this tea could be a tad bitter. If served iced with slices of lemon and sugar, or served hot with milk or honey, it would easily turn this tea into a more refreshing or comforting brew.
Serve this tea in a teapot on a tray, and your guests won’t suspect your tea purveyor is Dunkin Donuts. Sweeten the tea tray with some donuts and it might just be the best way to serve this tea yet. Hmm, maybe I just need a frosted donut to dunk into my mug and then this brew will be perfect!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Dunkin Donuts
Description: A blend of full-leaf black tea for a full bodied flavor
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Brisbane Breakfast from T2. . . . . .
My love of tea is obvious which means that my friends and family all know an easy gift for me: tea or teaware and I am happy. This works in my favor especially when my friends and family go traveling and bring me new things to try from all over the world. People have brought me tea from London, Paris, Sri Lanka, Kenya, South Africa, Israel and most recently Australia.
One of my friends from work traveled across the globe and returned with three specialty blends from T2 in Australia, including this tea, Brisbane Breakfast, a mango flavored black tea.
As a breakfast blend, this is brisker than the teas I usually drink but at least it is brisk with only a little astringency. The astringency that is present blends into the mango flavor, coming off a touch floral. The mango is sweet and true to the ripe fruit, which pairs nicely with the slightly malty black base.
This tea has the body of a breakfast tea that can help wake you up in the morning. Yet it also has a sweet fruity flavor that gets more pronounced as the tea cools, which is nice as a treat during the day. Flavorful enough to be captivating while remaining simple enough that one won’t easily bore. With teas like this, it is no wonder why the beverage is such a large part of the culture.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: T2
Description
This tea is not on the website but click below to see teas that are.