Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Product Description:
A stout robust black tea blend of February production. Superb color and very full-bodied. Irish Breakfast is excellent as a early morning tea.
Taster’s Review:
This Irish Breakfast is a bold blend of Assam and Kenyan teas, and it is indeed full-bodied. But then, I’d expect nothing less from an Irish Breakfast blend, and I’ve also come to expect excellent quality from Culinary Teas as well.
The dry leaf is a very fine cut and resembles the granules of freeze-dried coffee. But it doesn’t smell like coffee. It smells fresh and slightly earthy, and even has a slight “baked” kind of quality to the aroma.
This translates into the flavor, as I can taste that freshly baked bread kind of taste in the background. It is a very hefty tea with plenty of malty tones. It has a delicious caramel-like sweetness to it. A good, solid tea that is as delicious as it is invigorating.
This is a tea that you’ll want to take extra care when steeping. Don’t steep too long or your tea will become bitter. I find that 2 1/2 minutes is the maximum time that I steep this tea – at three minutes, the tea has some bitter tones to it. But, while it can be a little finicky, it is well worth the little extra attention. You will be rewarded with a most delightful cup of tea that takes the addition of milk and honey well, if you like your tea that way. It is also quite nice with just a little bit of turbinado sugar (I find that this really accents the caramel-y notes nicely). It is a bit “edgy” without any addition, but there are some people who like their tea that way. However you choose to take your tea is fine with me! Cheers!
