English Breakfast

1 bag per 250mL water, bare.

So I tried this tea at a hospital cafeteria yesterday morning, thinking it simply had to be better than the ubiquitous-in-Newfoundland Tetley. (At least the Tetley bags available were the indidivually sealed ones, which do taste marginally better than the bags in the big box.) Not just Lipton tea, oh no, but Sir Thomas Lipton Tea. And not just “tea,” either, but a “robust” English Breakfast. Made from Northern Indian and Kenyan teas, sez the packet.

Ye gods.

Not even fannings but tea dust. Okay, I need to expect that. But no flavour! It was mean tea. Thin. Even after 5 minutes. Stingy. So astringent as to be almost sour. And no malt notes. No “tea” taste.

Couldn’t get more than one quarter of the way in before I tossed it.

I’d have been better off with Tetley.

I had this at a friend’s house. I had difficulty finding a description for this tea at the Lipton website. I think that it is part of their Specialty Tea Bags for their Food Service line. It did not taste like an English Breakfast but was a nice cup of black tea to sip while two friends chat.