English Breakfast

This is pretty mild for a breakfast blend, in my opinion. It’s a decent blend but not a wake you up type of tea. It’s a tea tea. Better than restaurant offerings but nothing to go out of my way for.

I had it this afternoon for lunch with some Graham Cracker Snickerdoodles. It was a fine accompaniment. Not quite as good as milk, but it worked. :)

http://s1165.photobucket.com/user/dagony/media/IMG_2508_zps3e278426.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

I do love Kusmi’s tins! So pretty.

And here is the recipe if anyone wants it: http://www.autumn-people.com/?p=8815

…I am a traitor.
Since last week I started drinking smoothies in the morning – my boyfriend seems to think it’s a better “breakfast” than my morning tea. He is soo wrong. I can’t eat anything before afternoon, It’s a family trait. I get sick and tired by eating too early. Like my father used to say:“It’s still in the middle of the night” at 08:00.

So this week I just walked around like a zombie to my classes. It may very well be that my better half get’s energy by breakfast (his stomach is like a acidlake 24 hours a day) but my stomach don’t work before 12:00.

I miss my morning tea!!!

sipping this tea is too smoked for afternoon…

I have had several tins of this tea in the past and got a new one for Christmas in 2020. But this time, it tastes very different from the two other tins I have had. The other tins were maybe half as strong as it is this time. It used to be a medium-bodied blend, but now it is full-bodied and almost as strong as Yorkshire Tea or Typhoo and brews to a very dark brown color (like the color of coffee almost).

This blend consists of 75% Ceylon and 25% Assam.

It has plenty of oomph and body, but is lacking a little in the aroma and flavor department in my opinion. Compared to Harney & Sons’ English Breakfast, this tea definitely has more body and briskness but the Harney version is much more aromatic and refined – and much more enjoyable. This is still not bad but I find that it’s a little too bitter/strong/brisk and not aromatic enough. There is that classic plain black tea flavor with some maltiness, a grassy flavor and a subtle hint of smoke. But the flavors are somewhat muted.

I would recommend this tea if you like a strong, plain black tea that goes well with milk and if you prefer to have body and briskness over flavor and aroma. I am not amazed by it, but it is fine. Nothing special.

Dry leaves, appearance:
Relatively small broken black tea leaves (Ceylon and Assam) with no golden tips.

Dry leaves, aroma:
There is not too much aroma here. It smells like tea with a malty and grassy aroma.

Liquor:
Very dark brown.

Kusmi Advent Day 19
I’m finding this pretty average in flavor. Tastes like an English breakfast. But, it’s drying my mouth out quite a bit, which is really unpleasant.

I got a sample from Kusmi Advent Calendar.
Bright orange wrapper is very pretty and optimistic. I guess it must look good on their tin, the colour itself will wake you up and put you in a good mood in the morning.
Living in the UK, I’ve had my fair share of English Breakfast. Each restaurant, pub, store, hotel, office will have some. And sometimes it’s the only choice you have.
I brewed it twice for about 2,5 – 3 minutes each time, and I was a bit surprised that it’s not too strong. Definitely weaker (and lighter in colour) than Twinnings or Teapigs. I personally like weak black tea, but if you are a fan of something with a bit more kick – you will be disappointed.
In general it’s nothing groundbreaking, doesn’t leave much of an impression or a memory behind. Just an English Breakfast standard middle of the road tea. You can smell a taste a hint of malt, but not too much.
I wouldn’t want a whole full size tin of it. There are plenty more interesting and memorable black tea options that Kusmi has to offer.

I like this one! It’s nice and smooth and heavy at the same time. I usually take cream in my breakfast teas, but this cup was so nice that I wasn’t willing to ruin it like I didn with an earlier cup with one of the many replacement creamers I bought now that my favorite soy creamer is not being made. I wish I knew what the different straight teas tasted like so I could identify the features I’m tasting better. It has a hint of malt, a little tobacco. There is the slightest tang that I get near the end of the sip now that my cup has cooled. Not sure I’d run out and buy this, but I’d definitely take another cup!

Kusmi Advent Calendar – Day 7

What a gorgeous sachet wrapper! It’s a bright and happy orange, perfect for a breakfast tea. :D And it helps me be a bit more excited to try it, as I’m not generally a huge fan of breakfast blends…

I quite like this, actually. I can really taste the Assam, with its malty and raisiny intensity, and hints of tobacco. There’s definitely Ceylon here as well, which I’m less a fan of. I’m not even sure how to describe it, other than tannic and somewhat acidic? Is this what people mean by “brassy”?

Anyway, it’s quite smooth for a breakfast tea, with only a little hint of pleasant bitterness, though I can imagine it taking milk well also. This isn’t something I would ever order, as I prefer specific black teas over blends, and generally I’m more partial to Chinese and Taiwanese black teas overall. But I enjoyed my cup this morning, and it’s definitely a nice way to start the day!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIgP0shgydS/

(today’s advent teas: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIgMNjsgAZc/)

FYI, I checked Kusmi’s U.S. website today and found they had teabag, muslin sachet, and large and small tins of looseleaf tea for this variety for sale. No 3.5 oz loose bags. I’m going to get some, and review.

Not a fan… this has a taste, but it is a taste that I do not like. I’ve had great breakfast tea blends and I know that this is not among that list.

I’ve had two cups of this so far today, and while I admit that I’ve been at least a little distracted while drinking them, they’ve not actually made much of an impression on me. I used 1 tsp of leaf for each of my cups, and gave it around 3.5 minutes in boiling water. I added a splash of milk. The resulting cup is sweet and malty, but it doesn’t have much to it (and certainly no depth) besides that. Assam and Ceylon are two of my favourite black varieties, so that is a little disappointing to me. I know that they can have a lot of character of their own, and I know from other breakfast blends they usually work well together.

Sadly, I don’t think this is a tea I’d repurchase once I’ve finished my sample tin. There are much better breakfast blends out there, and this one is simply too bland and one-note for me.