26
drank Irish Breakfast by Twinings
29 tasting notes

Now normally I am a fan of Twinings for its simplicity, budget friendly nature and tea flavors… But I am a bit disappointed in the Irish breakfast line. I may have gone from several robust sensory excitements of prior teas to this and I could lend some fault to that but I think it left more to be desired overall. The mouth feel was a bit heavy, and the heaviness carried on into the taste, just felt like a gloomy cloudy morning in a cup. It wasn’t what I need in the morning to start my day. I figured maybe it was just one of “those mornings” so I gave it another try later on… Same thing, after I went to dump out the leaves, even that was disappointing, there really wasn’t. Much to them, as one of my friends refers to bag leaves, it was just “tea dust”. I’m Irish through and through, but I guess some mornings when it’s cold dank and wet a cup of tea is just something to get you going, but I think I need a bit more.

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 4 min, 15 sec
gmathis

This time of year, a cup of gloom is exactly what we don’t need. Sorry it didn’t work for you!

AnnaEA

Try 2 bags/8oz with a shorter infusion at a higher temp. I do just boiled for 1.5 to 2 minutes. Fannings tea can still be okay when the fannings are from a good base leaf, which twinings generally is. It just infuses hard and fast.

AnnaEA

Or was this their loose tea?

Josh Buteau

This was the loose tea. I looked over it again last night and realized the strength chart that Twinings adds to the side of their tins, and this obviously is meant to be a stronger cup, but I think the flavor just wasn’t there. I took the time to steep at different temps for different periods of time, still it’s just a flavor profile not the steeping time. But thanks for the inquiry.

AnnaEA

Gotcha.

Lynxiebrat

You could give Harney and Sons Breakfast teas a shot. They have several variations. And a quite extensive section of black teas in general. I have not tried any of the breakfast blends, but adore Earl Grey Supreme, Tower of London, liked Pomegranate Oolong. They have fair priced samples for the majority of their stock, too.

Josh Buteau

Thanks for the idea, I may have to give them a try for sure.

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Comments

gmathis

This time of year, a cup of gloom is exactly what we don’t need. Sorry it didn’t work for you!

AnnaEA

Try 2 bags/8oz with a shorter infusion at a higher temp. I do just boiled for 1.5 to 2 minutes. Fannings tea can still be okay when the fannings are from a good base leaf, which twinings generally is. It just infuses hard and fast.

AnnaEA

Or was this their loose tea?

Josh Buteau

This was the loose tea. I looked over it again last night and realized the strength chart that Twinings adds to the side of their tins, and this obviously is meant to be a stronger cup, but I think the flavor just wasn’t there. I took the time to steep at different temps for different periods of time, still it’s just a flavor profile not the steeping time. But thanks for the inquiry.

AnnaEA

Gotcha.

Lynxiebrat

You could give Harney and Sons Breakfast teas a shot. They have several variations. And a quite extensive section of black teas in general. I have not tried any of the breakfast blends, but adore Earl Grey Supreme, Tower of London, liked Pomegranate Oolong. They have fair priced samples for the majority of their stock, too.

Josh Buteau

Thanks for the idea, I may have to give them a try for sure.

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Profile

Bio

Just a normal guy that gave up the normal daily coffee for a healthier, more flavorful, more intrinsically complex beverage. Being a US marine and deploying on the regular makes enjoying a decent cup of tea difficult at times but shows that even the “rough” guys can enjoy a great cup of tea.

Here are my rating categories, FYI:
100-90: Absolutely awesome! I don’t know why i’m spending time typing about them instead of drinking!
85-89: pretty damn delicious, and will keep most of them in the permanent collection, but they’re not quite as spectacular as the cream of the crop.
84-80: Tasty teas that I enjoy and would drink again when i can find it, but more than likely will not make a second appearance except for freebies and samples.
79-70: Teas that I would probably drink again, but wouldn’t seek out. They don’t quite do it for me in one aspect or another; often just not quite my style
69-50: Teas that I don’t really enjoy all that much and wouldn’t drink another cup of.
49 and below: The unfortunate bottom category. This tea is just disgusting to me.

Location

North Carolina

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