I haven’t been having tea at breakfast lately, as I have been wanting to savor it by itself or with a small snack. Today I wanted a little boost, and I want to reduce my tea inventory. This one drew the short straw.
It is good, but not great. I don’t ooo and ahhh when I drink it, but it serves its purpose. It was inexpensive, on sale, and organic. I probably will not repurchase but I won’t be terribly bothered about having to finish this tin. With milk and sugar it makes an adequate breakfast tea, with a very mild Assam that has light cinnamon notes mixed with a Chinese black if I am guessing correctly. Therre is almost none of the smokiness kne finds in many keemuns. It is a great deal weaker than Harney’s Supreme Breakfast or even their English Breakfast.
Since I really want to reduce the number of tins I have I am eyeballing a lot of these teas as candidates for making iced tea. That will reduce the inventory quickly! The rest of this tin just might turn into a big pitcher of iced tea.
My kids are hovering over my nearly empty tins hoping to claim them for holding their Magic the Gathering cards. I have given up six tins already. They are making specialty and themed decks and decorating the tins to match the decks. LOL! This means they are pilfering two of my hobby areas…tea and papercrafts!
I am decupboarding this one as I finished it today! I was experimenting, and I am hoping someone on here can help me because it was NOT a success.
I made a big batch of this tea, added cinnamon, cloves, and a tiny bit of nutmeg, squeezed a Clementine orange over it, and threw the peel and fruit in to simmer. I also added sugar.
This is very nearly good, yet almost undrinkable at the same time. It smells good and the sip is almost good but there is a really weird aftertaste. It was somewhat drinkable other than that while it was hot but as it cooled it was pretty terrible!
I wondered if this is bitterness coming from the orange peel?
Does anyone have a great recipe for a mulled tea that can be simmered low and slow in a crockpot? Other than the old standby of instant tea, Tang, and cinnamon?
I decided to try one iced and lightly sweetened with my lunch. It made me change my mind about what is in this blend. This actually tasted like I had added lemon to it, so I am guessing that Ceylon must be a big component in this. I thought it was great iced but youngest said it was too astringent for her. I think she was picking the lemon actually, plus I put very little sugar and she likes a lot! I will definitely be drinking this iced from now until the tin is empty!
My tasting notes are all over the place on this one, mostly because I started drinking it back in the milk and sugar days. Now that I take my tea plain, this is just meh. I think I may even add milk and sugar this morning just so I will enjoy this tea more, but I definitely won’t be repurchasing it when it is gone. There are too many really great teas to bother with meh tea.
Ah, how the mighty have fallen! Once upon a time I could not walk out of A Southern Season without tons of tea. I thought it was wonderful tea. Then as I tried more and more tea I realized that SS tea was tasting weaker and weaker, and lacked the pizzazz of same name teas from other vendors. This was one I bought a while back on sale, mostly because it was a good price and was organic. It is okay, but as the last tea at tea party today there was really nothing special I could
say about it. Without additions, Royal English Breakfast had qualities to make you take notice. All I noticed about this SS tea was that there was nothing special there for me. It is fine as an eye-opener loaded with milk and sugar.
SS does sell lots of other teas like Mariage Freres and Harney and Sons, and scads of others, but they were sold out of all the teas I wanted to try on this trip! Ended up leaving with nothing but a Brie baker!
This is what it says it is. Organic. And breakfast. When I opened the tin I smelled the assam right away. (I am accustomed to Harney’s English Breakfast, which is 100% keemun.)
With milk and sugar, this is a very drinkable tea, but nothing out of the ordinary. It doesn’t really have any of the light smoke you get from a keemun, but it has sufficient heft to make me happy. I enjoyed my pot of it this morning well enough as I really just wanted a sturdy pot of tea beside me while I read.
This is a decent breakfast tea – nothing out of the ordinary but very serviceable and went well with my “faux Mexican” food lunch. (Tortilla full of cheese rolled and squished in the Breville, then doused with enchilada sauce. See? Fake Mexican food!) So now I have had 40 ounces of tea already and have a small tea party to do on one hour! I will definitely be sloshing by 4 pm, but at least I am getting lots done with all this caffeine coursing through my veins!
A decent breakfast tea, but nothing earth shaking. I add milk and sugar to this one, but I always do with morning tea. I like the fact that it is prganic, but there is nothing in the flavor that would make me go out of my way to get this one. I would swim shark infested moats for Queen Catherine, Harney and Sons Englsih Breakfast, and Emperor’s Red by Premium Steap!
Excellent cup this morning! It is medium strength, not smoky, not astringent, full of good tea flavor. Yum!
Early today – One friend stopped by walking her dogs. Another drives over so we can do lunch later. But we all NEED tea! So youngest fixed a pot of this. So good, mellower than many breakfast blends, but smooth and good. Lots of flavor, no astringency, takes milk and sugar very well. Aaaahhhh…..
Twenty-two ounces, count them, twenty-two! Consumed with milk and sugar, accompanied by gingerbread biscotti ensconced in my wall of jasmine vines that curtains the back patio! A great way to start the day.
Good breakfast tea, just basic, nothing too spectacular to say about it except that when you are in the mood for a breakfast tea this should satisfy! Better than many, but it doesn’t beat Harney and Sons English Breakfast!
Oh boy, was this ever good today! Added milk and sugar as is my wont with breakfast teas. After having to do without the good stuff for 18 days (ARGH! Can you believe it? Eighteen days!) this went down like water in the desert. Ahhhhh. And Southern Season now has a Facebook page if anyone wants to check them out!
A nice tea, but when tasted side by side with Harney and Sons English Breakfast (the loose leaf one, not the sachets of Royal English Breakfast) I must say the Harney and Sons wins. Still, it is a very good tea, and I always feel a little more responsible when I drink organic!
