English Breakfast

A tea from Madeline as US version, but again, I think it will be pretty much same as UK, or international one. Thank you!

3 minutes were suitable instead of recommended four; it was really strong and bold almost biting and bitter. And tannic. I am not really sure it has got some other qualities than strong taste and probably high level of caffeine.

As always, drank plain. Not really call it smooth as they claim to be honest. And to be honest… it’s builder’s brew for sure. Won’t call it bad, but it’s not a tea I would look forward trying when seeing it somewhere. It’s common.

Twinings English Breakfast Tea is a simple, classic, and inexpensive tea, and has everything that is needed. The tea can be served in numerous ways. My personal favorite among the possible variations is to use the tea as a base for a beautiful jar of sweetened fruit tea.

Enjoyed first thing in the morning, out of a tin enamel mug.

I had this tea before I had breakfast, since the morning was a bit rushed.

This is a very straightforward tea. A little bit of malt, but the same smoothness you would find in a solid black tea. There is some tannin on the finish, with a tasty body that doesn’t overload the senses. I brewed mine a bit strong but that’s how I like it, and for that it didn’t acquire any of the bite you might find in Scottish or Irish breakfast teas. Some people are looking for that bite however to counter with some cream or sugar.

This is a solid choice for a bagged tea, with traditional flavors. It’s limited due to that but I would have no qualms about enjoying a cup each morning.

The caffeine fix was definitely noticed within about 20 minutes, this blend is a great standard for workers and homebody’s alike.

One of my favorite breakfast teas. Nothing stands out, nothing is out of balance.

A week ago I ordered a new supply of breakfast tea, but it hasn’t been sent yet. Presumably this is to do with the pandemic and so I’m not going to pester them for the time being.

In the meantime, we bought a box of this. Emergency rations, guys. Our supermarket only carries Twinings in bagged form and Husband finds one bag for a pot of two large cups is fine. Whereas my instinct says one bag for a cup and two for a pot.

Probably as a consequence it’s rather thin. I feel like I’m drinking hot water with milk. It’s not good. I have asked him to try and make the next pot either with two bags, or with a significantly longer steep, just so we can at least find out if it really is that poor and lay the dosage discussion to rest. (I’m pretty confident in my two bag theory, though)

On a different note we are both healthy. Husband is working from home for the foreseeable, whereas I still have to go to work. (I work in a hospital lab. We are important for diagnostics, and so essential personnel.) The Outside, on my commute, is nearly deserted. Looks like I’m travelling in the middle of the night. Otherwise we are staying in and being careful. As an introvert, I feel like I’ve been training for this my whole life.

I don’t have a plain boxed black tea in my cupboard, which I really need for those hectic mornings when I have just enough time to boil a thermos of water but not the extra 2-3 minutes to steep/strain a cup of looseleaf tea to put into the thermos. Currently the only black bagged offering in my cupboard is an EG, so a plain breakfast offering is definitely needed, but I’m admittedly very picky about them. I really liked the Taylors of Harrogate one, but it isn’t sold in my local grocery, so I’m going to have to go with a different option… I’ve done well with Twinings of London as a brand on a whole in the past, and I had a single-serving teabag sampler of this that I picked up from, I believe, PDX Tea Fest 2019. So I decided to brew it this morning.

I kept to a briefer two minute steep time (as I said, I can be a little iffy when dealing with black CTC breakfast teas) but I have a nice color with some reddish tones an aroma that is very bready, with notes of malt, toasty baked bread, cinnamon, and molasses. I think my steep time was spot on for my personal tastes because the tea isn’t too strong and doesn’t leave an unpleasant astringent bite after the sip like I’ve found with many breakfast blends; the flavor starts out with a strong notes of malt, bread, and autumn leaves, with a touch of citrus and spice coming in closer to the end of the sip and lingering on the tongue.

I am enjoying this one… I believe I’d tried their Irish Breakfast at one point and it came off too strong/astringent for me, but this is just right, especially at these steep parameters. I know my local grocery carries this, so next time I have to make the grocery rounds, I will probably add a box just so I have a quick grab-and-go brewing option for a breakfast black tea.

I still had a tin in the cupboard, and having finished the Chelsea Breakfast tea I had been taking recently, I decided to finish the tin as well.
For me this is the reference English breakfast tea, with a strong malty backbone. By visually comparing the grade, I assume the tea making up this blend of Assam and Indian tea leaves is broken. E.g. on the Kent&Sussex Tea &Coffee Co website it says (of a visually similar grade) “English Breakfast BOP Tea is a popular blend of Assam and Ceylon Teas, that uses only Broken Orange Pekoe. But what does that mean? The term “broken”, as it might already suggest, means that the tea leaves have been quite literally broken into smaller pieces, which often boasts a stronger character in cup compared to that of any FOP tea (Flowery Orange Pekoe).” And indeed, this EB tea is strong in character…even when the tin has been in use for over its “best before” date.
It might well be that you´re not into these strong and malty, even bold, teas, but I quite like them, especially in the morning. The only problem they have, according to me, is their tendency to turn (too) bitter when oversteeping, or cooling down.

This is one of my favorite teas to drink with brown sugar and milk. It is strong and bright while maintaining a smooth, robust flavor. I brewed this around 10 am this morning while I read a book and relaxed by my window. It was a great start to my day without the crash I get with coffee.

This tea reminds me of my tea with my nana. Not that it was necessarily this specific tea she served us, but it was always strong black tea with milk. It could have been the Aussie icon, Bushells, but more likely it was Tetleys, because despite living in Australia from when she was 12 until she passed away at 91, she was English to the core.
Drinking black tea takes me back to times spent with her and makes me miss her a lot, but also reminds me that she is still sending comfort in the form of a good, strong cuppa.
And this IS a good, strong cuppa. Nana would have loved it!
The first thing you notice is the very dark liquor and rich aroma. I nearly always add milk to black tea because I still find it hard to drink it without. But I think in this case it works well, resulting in a strong but malty smooth taste, compared to some other EBs I have tried, which were astringent & bitter.
There is only one other EB I have tried to date that I prefer, & that is Madura Estate tea (from the north coast of NSW). But it’s a pretty close-run race…

Bought this one yesterday just because I am a big fan of Twinings and English blends in general. I am sadly disappointed. It’s hard to call it tea. It is just dusty powder, the one that you find in the cheapest teabags sold in markets. Smells and tastes like a typical, cheap Indian Assam CTC tea. What happened to Twinings? I love Gunpowder and Prince of Walles, I used to drink a lot of Lady Grey, but this one is complete disaster and shame to your company.