teabird

teabird drank Organic Breakfast by Mighty Leaf Tea

I actually just used this as the base for a custom breakfast blend this morning, but it was so good I wanted to be able to log it! (and didn’t feel like making a custom listing).

I’ve been using this as the base for a lot of things lately, because I have a big bag of it and because it’s a smooth, unprepossessing Assam, mild enough to drink plain but strong enough to give that “black tea” flavor to blends. So, today:

2 parts ML Organic Breakfast (Assam)
1 part LeafSpa Organic Irish breakfast (pure Ceylon!)
1 part Adagio Keemun Encore (…Keemun)

And it’s really, REALLY good. This is the English Breakfast tea that’s been missing from my collection. I’ve been drinking it with a dash of sugar and a good dollop of milk, and I can taste everything I put into the blend. I find Keemun Encore a bit much on it’s own, almost Lapsang smoky, but here it’s just providing that hint of smoky sweet I like in my EBs, and the Ceylon (I have no idea why they market it as an Irish Breakfast, though it is good/strong enough to drink on it’s own) contributes some high notes, and… I’ll stop gushing now. I just wanted to make a note for myself and got a little carried away!

2010-07-22 14:53:40 -0400

205 °F / 96 °C

5 min 0 sec

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Cofftea 2010-07-22 15:05:49 -0400

Too bad you didn’t have an organic Keemun on hand:(

teabird 2010-07-22 15:49:50 -0400

Ha, yeah, the two organic teas were kind of a coincidence – there aren’t many in my cupboard :( I console myself that a lot of teas are grown organically but uncertified, and keep waiting for the market to grow.

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Some notes on ratings:

I’d have separate rating scales for tea types if that were possible (probably Black, Flavored Black, Darjeeling/Dark Oolong, White/Green/Light Oolong, and Herbal) because the flavors and quality markers are just too different. A flavored black rated 100 isn’t better than every oolong I’ve ever drunk, just delicious for a flavored black.

Ratings are a combination of my enjoyment and the perceived quality – I do often demote teas a few points for artificial flavorings, small quantity of steeps supported, or weakness of flavor (requiring extra leaf).

I pay less attention to the number than the order of my ratings; I don’t necessarily keep a stock of everything rated 80+, but if two breakfast blends are rated 82 and 84 I consistently enjoy the 84 more.

And in case it’s not obvious? I am not an expert. I don’t even know what I like until I taste it sometimes, but I’m ok with that :) I like learning to like new teas, as well as enjoying the comfort of familiar ones.