English Breakfast Tea

Taken with a teaspoon of sugar and half and half.

Oh BOY I think this is the best English Breakfast Blend I’ve ever had the pleasure to sip! Complex and nuanced – I feel like I can taste the slightly fruity darjeeling-ness, a bit of smoky chewy Keemun-ness, and a robust malty Assam-ness and the Ceylon is smoothing things nicely – it is an invisible binder in a way – I don’t taste it but I feel it’s doing its job. I think what is making this a standout to me is the fruitysmoky. Very unique. Very enjoyable! Very much a whole tin kinda tea!!! I’d like to take it to 5 minutes and see what I get – there was absolutely no bitterness at 4 minutes and you know I like em bold :)

Methinks it is time to start on my sampler. Here goes nothing: No. 1 of 31

Took a page from Ewa’s book: closed my eyes, thrust my hand into the basket, diddled it around and grabbed. This is what came out. (That was really fun, by the way. I intend to go through the whole thing entirely at random.)

Pretty, pretty dry leaves. Long, twisted, pointy; a cross between olive green and chocolate brown. And the smell! First, chocolate. Then, tobacco. Then, coffee. Then, something green and toasty. All mixing together and swirling around. Bizarrely, the image that came to mind was of tiny, silver, schooling fish swimming this way and that.

I used the whole packet. According to my scale it is enough for 1.5 cups, but my favorite cup for tasting teas holds 12 oz of water, rather than 8. So six of one, half a dozen of the other as my mother would say.

A golden brown, “tea colored” liquor. Lighter in color than I expected. Sweet, chocolate/malt/brown sugar aroma.

How to describe the taste? It’s smooth and gentle, completely without sharp edges. It isn’t full-bodied like the Samovar Breakfast Blend; on the other hand, it is refreshing without being thin. This seems to be the influence of the darjeeling.

It has a taste I can only describe as leafy. It isn’t particularly sweet, though it does have a hint of malt. It makes me think of fall in the Northeast US, when the leaves are falling from the trees, fresh and fragrant. This is what I’m getting more than “floral” but perhaps it’s all part of a Kingdom Plantae continuum. There’s a nice, lingering, quintessentially tea taste. It’s what tea-flavored candy tastes like without the sugar overload.

It’s lovely. I’ll definitely order it. I like Samovar’s Breakfast Blend better, but who says you can only have one breakfast blend? It would be like only having one pair of black shoes.

This smells smoky – I can definitely pick up the Keemun. Surprisingly, it smells rougher than their Irish Breakfast, which seems a bit counterintuitive to me. And actually, it does seem to be a heavier cup. The Keemun is very obvious but then I taste bright sparkles of Darjeeling – not enough to make it bitter or tart, just enough to give it a citrus-like top note of additional depth of taste. There is a stoutness to it that I don’t normally find with Keemun so I’m gonna say that’s the Assam, though I don’t taste cardboard/malty so much as feel it. I can’t really say I pick up the Ceylon, but honestly, that’s the hardest tea taste for me to pin down.

All in all, a good breakfast blend but nothing overly special. I think it would hold up really well to milk and sugar (the Assam mellows out the Keemun, making it thick enough to deal, I think but also decreasing the smoky – I’m not a fan of milk in my Keemuns). Because of that it is perhaps a better take-to-work-in-my-travel-tumbler tea than the Irish Breakfast from yesterday but in general a less exciting cup.

After reading Golden Moon’s newsletter yesterday I was inspired to try this tea today.

A very pleasant breakfast tea, well-rounded and full of flavor. It is bold but it isn’t too edgy, I am finding it quite palatable without additions. There is a briskness to it from the Ceylon, some malty tones from the Assam, and even some earthiness and spice from the Keemun. Rich and delicious.

So, I figured it was time to finish up the GM sampler. Picked blindly, got this one, perfect for breakfast!

This tea is probably one of the best breakfast blends I have ever had. You can smell the typical breakfast tea aroma from the leaves, but once brewed it releases a whole world of aroma and flavor. A robust aroma of black tea – slightly fruity and slightly smokey, definitely smells delicious. The flavor, you can actually almost pick out all of the teas in here: there is a smoothness, a malty flavor, a slight smoke and a hint of fruit. Absolutely delicious.

Infused hot, four minutes, no additives. Delicious. Second cup enjoyed with a teaspoon of sugar and some half and half. Also delicious.

So my poor attempt at budgeting just flew out the window – 3 different tea companies just got orders from me in the past 12 hours. And a fourth is probably coming since their coupon is only good through April. I must take a vow to not purchase any tea or teaware in May. This is redonkulous.

Okay, onto the tea! And we have a frontrunner on the Black Tea I will most likely purchase from GM. Yup, I shall add this to my shopping list so that it can join the Nepalese Afternoon Tea. I can’t really tell you much about this tea except that it’s smooth, complex, and what I think an ideal black tea with oomph should taste like – especially on the 2nd infusion. That’s where the sweet kicks in – not so much while it’s hot, but as it cools it gets sweeter and sweeter. Naturally all I can think of is how amazing this would be as an iced tea. NE

The scent is like Thomas Sampson eating grapes! A grape-y Thomas Sampson. Must be the Darjeeling in the mix.

The taste is kind of “thick” and malty with just a hint of sweet. I think I’ve steeped this beyond 5 minutes (close to 6!) but it’s not overly astringent or bitter at all.

This breakfast blend is pretty delicious, overall—it has plenty of body and is strong enough to hold up to milk and sugar, but I like it fine on its own. Although, If I were to change anything, I would make it just a bit stronger, add a bit more “punch”.

And it tastes more biscuit-y as it cools. Biscuit-y is always good.

OH MY GOD THE INTERNET WAS DOWN.

I am addicted to the internet. I am not ashamed to admit it. I freak out when it’s not working. This tealog was originally supposed to be posted around noon today (I actually wrote it out in Word so my impressions would be lost – NERD), but because the internet went bye-bye, it’s going up now.

Anyway…

This is an extremely intriguing tea. Once again, with Golden Moon, I’ve been trying to get through some of the more basic teas before I vault into the complex and interesting ones.

There was enough for two servings in my sampler packet. The smell that came from the little GM Packet of Joy was interesting and nuanced. I knew I was smelling good tea, but I really couldn’t distinguish any components. The leaves are obviously of a variety of varietels – some are long, some are short, and there’s a fair amount of broken bits.

This one steeped to a dark copper color, and the tea liquid was had a scent similar to the dry leaves.

On first sip, I let out a little sigh. This one is good. Very good. There are four different teas at play in Golden Moon’s blend: Assam, Ceylon, Keemum, and Darjeeling, and each plays a distinct and interesting role in the tea. Part of the fun of drinking this was trying to distinguish all the flavor components. Golden Moon really has done a stellar job of blending these beauties together so they create one complex taste with individual components. If I concentrate really hard, I can almost taste each individual tea. The boldness from the Assam, the smoothness of the Ceylon, that somewhat tart component of the Keemum, and something extra, that I could only guess is Darjeeling.

I wish I could have actually sat down and enjoyed this a bit more, but this morning was pretty hectic. Our internet is down, and everyone in the house is pretty much in a frenzy. I’m glad my sample has a bit more, that way I can have some of this tea again.

Although I don’t think that this is a beginner’s tea, I think a budding tea enthusiast and a tea expert would both enjoy this. I gave a few sips to my mom, who commented, “Wow, this is really interesting tasting. And complex.” This ain’t Liptons, baby. This is TEA.

As I’m trying to work through this sampler pack, I decided to have a cup of this with breakfast. And you know what? It’s really good! You can completely pick up on darjeeling, assam, and ceylon, with bit of keemun in there. In fact, the keemun might be the ingredient that sets this apart. I think if I didn’t already love Brattle Street as my go to breakfast cup, I’d put this in the running. As it is, I might one day have to order a tin. Right now I have more breakfast blend than I know what to do with. I’m glad for this pleasant surprise.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lauren_pressley/tags/englishbreakfasttea/

Golden Moon Sampler Tea #7 selected at random

I was glad to select a robust tea. It’s too early in the day to go in for an airy-fairy white muskmelon with breath of lilac type of tea. This English Breakfast did not disappoint me. It’s full and rich and the blend is a lovely combination. I would consider making a full purchase of this. I’d like to have a breakfast tea in stock aside from my beloved Lapchang Souchongs to offer visitors or in case my taste shifts—-and taste, as we know, can be fickle.

I’ll see if this tea calls to me in the next several weeks. Overall, a hearty recommendation.

Another tea from my sample pack. I’m not experienced enough to be able to analyze this tea and describe the subtle nuances of taste that it provides.

If I was going to high tea at the finest of tea houses, this is the black tea I would expect. Very English tasting to me. Now I have to pick between it and the Irish Breakfast. Well, when I have room for more tea, that is! Maybe the best thing would be to keep ordering the sample pack?

A very nice, very complex tea with a sweetness, a richness, a smoothness, a slight smokiness, and all the other “nesses” a delicious tea I will enjoy again.

Today’s GM Grab Bag Extravaganza winner! and this one is one. Unlike yesterday’s “French Breakfast”, about which I had no preconceptions, today’s English Breakfast has a particular tradition to live up to; which this one does nicely! A full-bodied EB that is appropriately bold with a nice mellow finish. Not too tannic and no “bite” with 3 minutes of brewing. I think I could have gone longer, but I wanted to save a bit for a second steeping. I got two 12oz carafe’s worth and unlike the French variety, the second steeping held up just fine (a third would have been out of the question).

A stalwart aroma greets me upon opening the packet – deep and toasty, and umpteen times more interesting than a regular old English Breakfast. The dry leaf is small and dark, and after three and a half minutes I’ve got a little pot of clear dark brown tea. Now I’ve got some fruity and sweet notes in the aroma, and my mouth is starting to water!

This tea isn’t shy – it’s got lots of strong flavor, and I keep thinking it tastes like Lipton (in a good way) on steroids. Now this is what EB is supposed to taste like. There is pepper, and fruit, and wood, not too much but just enough astringency – nice job! Buzz buzz buzz…pretty good caffeine content in it too, I’d guess.

After my recent spate of mediocre-to-blech tea tasting experiences, I’d say the universe owed me this. And whoa boy did she deliver. There are loads of other reviews here, from Steepsterites of whom I’m regularly in awe, that dissect this tea, that will tell you all the different flavours and notes you’ll get from it. Whether it’s my lack of experience or my underdeveloped palate, all I can tell you is that this smells like black tea and tastes like very yummy black tea. Note that I steeped it for eight minutes (my tea mug is 16oz.) and there wasn’t even the hint of bitterness. If you’re anything like me, that just might be enough information. =)

(It’s really, really yummy.)

(Really.)

Pretty strong breakfast blend. Enough to get me through the morning. Smokey and malty. Delicious with sugar and milk.

Meh. I find this tea to be bland and uninteresting.

Thanks Ricky for this tea! It smells very smokey right out of the package. Must have quite a bit of Keemun! This tea is perfect for today- I have been alone with my small kids for a few days, and I’m exhausted and also feel a cold coming on! This tea is perfect to wake me up, and also comfort. While trying to watch the kids and steep tea, I over-steeped and it was a little bitter, so I added some milk and a tiny bit of sugar (things I don’t usually do). It actually worked well! It is not astringent at all. I definitely taste the Keemun, also some Assam. I’m not a huge fan of milk in tea, but it’s working for me today. I can’t wait to try it when I don’t over-steep!

I have a longer review ready for itsallabouttheleaf.com, but this one disappointed me a little. It’s good tea—nothing I’ve tried from Golden Moon is less than excellent quality—but seemed a little too nondescript for a breakfast tea.

GM Sample 21/31
This rating is probably a little baist since I don’t particularly like black teas. Strong black tea taste with slightly floral undertones. Had to add a lot of honey to finish. Very strong blend.