This robust tea is made from two simple, quality ingredients: black tea leaves and roasted cocoa beans. This tea has everything that is good about hot bold black tea, hot chocolate, and coffee. The black tea gives enough fresh tartness to keep the chocolate from being too sweet, and the roasted cocoa beans add a decadent smoothness that hints at the rich and nutty tones of coffee. No matter how long I steeped the leaves, the blend stays strong and smooth, with no bitter astringency.
Many black teas in people’s cupboards are English breakfast blends. I feel like My Morning Blend could easily be called American Breakfast, with all that Hershey chocolate flavor over the top of a welcoming tea brew (if we Americans weren’t already drinking coffee as the breakfast beverage of choice, that is).
I recently tried some cocoa shell tea for the first time, and found it to be a tasty, unique experience, a mix of sweet and salty, almost like chocolate-drizzled popcorn balls. Cocoa shells are well and good, but as a tea-lover, sometimes I just need that black tea undertone. My Morning Blend from The NecessiTeas was the perfect fix.
This blend takes milk like a champ, only growing more delicious and creamy with rich chocolate and toasty tea notes. This blend should be an essential on everyone’s tea shelf for those mornings when you want a cup that feels like putting on your favorite sweater and smells like your favorite cookies baking in the oven.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description:
If you are looking for a wake-me-up, perk-me-up cup in the morning, that’s off the beaten path of coffee, look no further. This strong black tea has the smoothness of chocolate, and the boldness of roasted cocoa beans. Doctor it as you would a cup of coffee, with milk and sugar to start off your day!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Jump Start You Day with This Blend from Adagio Teas
Jump start your car with a blast of electricity. Jump start your brain and your day with this high caffeine cuppa! For tea lovers everywhere, it’s no secret that mate tea is a powerful pick-me-up, and often cited as a great alternative to coffee. Well Jump Start blend from Adagio teas has toasted mate and so much more.
There’s not just mate, there’s traditional black tea in the blend as well, a staple of every breakfast blend around. But let’s take this caffeine level a step further: kola nuts. Kola nuts are caffeine-containing tree nuts, previously used as an ingredient in sodas, hence where we get the term “cola.” So there’s caffeine from the mate, from the black tea, and even from the kola nut inclusion. This tea should come with a warning, like roller coasters: don’t brew this tea if you have a heart condition. You’ll be rocketing out of your socks in no time!
So how do all of these ingredients taste? The toasted mate brings roasty, earthy, dry hay notes, which serve as a compliment to the more traditional boldness of the black tea. With additions like smooth, sweet cocoa nibs, and warm, spicy cinnamon bark, it’s hard not to imagine the kola nuts adding their own kind of cola sweetness. I brewed this blend black, how I take most of my tea, but it is bold enough to hold up its flavor, even if softened with a bit of milk.
This will be an amazing tea for those of you who just can’t seem to get enough caffeine. Skip your espresso-laced red-eye cold brew coffee, and just brew a cup of Jump Start instead!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black/Herbal
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Description: Mate, Kola, and Black tea make up this well-caffeinated blend to make your mornings deliciously efficient.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Pancake Breakfast from 52Teas. . . . .
I’m really excited to be reviewing a tea that is part of 52 Teas’ permanent collection! Its nice that they started this because I like having options that aren’t always Limited Edition. I never tried their Pancake Breakfast Black Tea before, but when I saw it I had to grab a sample pouch because anything that involves pancakes or waffles always peaks my curiosity.
Smelling the dry leaf of this smooth black tea blend I could definitely smell the maple syrup. Now- something that happens with a lot of teas that are created after a pancake or waffle usually end up tasting like maple. It’s hard to capture the taste of a pancake or waffle. I mean, it’s only tea after all and there are only so many options when it comes to flavoring them.
That said, if I did not know that this was called “Pancake Breakfast” I probably would have thought that it was a maple flavored black tea. However, when I think real hard while sipping I can almost taste the pancakes towards the end of the sip on the tip of my tongue. Is it really there or is it my imagination? You can decide that for yourself!
Either way, it is quite delicious and its the perfect tea for breakfast time…which as we all know, is any time you feel like it!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
Because the love for this tea is so strong, we stuck closely to the original recipe.
One difference is that we’re utilizing different teas in our black tea base. I think you’ll notice the difference and I’m confident you’ll feel this was a change for the better! We’ve made a really yummy thing even better!
Ingredients: Organic Black Teas, organic marigold petals and all-natural, organic flavors.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
French Toast Oolong from Steeped Tea. . . . .
My weakness is mystery bundles. There is just something irresistible about being surprised by mail that isn’t bills. I’m also a sucker for a sale. So when my Steeped tea lady, Nicole, told me my order qualified for a Mystery bundle of $100 worth of tea for just $20, you best believe I snatched it up! This was one of nearly a dozen teas inside!
This delightful morning blend is literally the flavors of an entire breakfast in one cup. My cousin is big on the butter in coffee trend, and as much as I’m willing to try new things, I just can’t imagine butter in my tea. Fortunately Steeped’s french toast Oolong is so tasty on its own, that it helps me continue to resist.
The scent transforms from its smorgasbord of tropical dry ingredients to a fresh-bread smelling wet leaf to the buttery, smoky rose-gold infusion.
There are layers of flavor as well. When the tea is hot, there are strong notes of maple syrup, and as it cools, more of the acidic citrus blood orange creeps out.
The after taste is spot-on, french toast-y (Kudos to the food scientists who made this happen!). It tastes of malt, with a sweet acid.
Surprisingly this is one tea that I actually preferred without sugar, even though it’s not sweet. Studies have shown that giving in to your cravings in the morning can lead to fewer cravings throughout the day. this is perfect if you already eat a sensible healthy breakfast but crave excitement. This will definitely be used to hold me over until brunch. Or until my next mystery box 😉
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Loose Leaf Oolong with dried fruits
Where to Buy: Steeped Tea
Description:
Breakfast in bed is served in this buttery mouth-watering tea.
Ingredients: Oolong tea, pineapple bits (pineapple, sugar, citric acid [acidifier]), coconut chips, lemon wedges, cranberries (cranberries, sugar, sunflower oil [anti-caking agent]), orange peels, rose buds, pomegranate blossoms, vanilla bits, prickly pear blossoms, natural flavors.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Earl Grey Le Creme from The NecessiTeas. . . . .
I’m not normally a bergamot fan, but my high school partner-in-crime, code-named Tiny Salutations is, so welcome her along on today’s adventure!
This is a delightful blend that ignites the romance at first sight, and pictures don’t do it justice. Beautiful blue corn flowers are sprinkled throughout, which is a special flower that she would grow and send to husband back when they first dated. She says she’s kind of in love with this tea before even drinking it. The dry leaves need to be cross-marketed as an air freshener!
The corn flowers float to the top as it brews and lose their color becoming translucent and elegant like dragonfly wings. That initial carmel smell mellows out as well, and the brew just smells like standard Earl Grey. The combination of small tea leaves and delicate flowers mean the brew time is quick and more caffeine is released into the light amber infusion.
There is not as much flavor as color implies, so it’s great way to get caffeine if you don’t like the bitterness of the tannins. There’s a slight milky aftertaste. It tastes like a Standard cuppa black tea, but you don’t need to add any cream or sugar! (Unless you’re an absolute sugar fiend)
Upon resteeping, the tea still has some oils to give off and it has a good earthy taste but not as much caramel flavor.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Flavored Black Tea
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Our Earl Grey Le Creme is a forgiving indulgence essenced with bergamot, vanilla and cream. Go ahead, treat yourself!
Your tea is hand packaged in an airtight tin at no additional charge.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!