Scottish Breakfast Blend (TB14)

Sample 4 in my breakfast blend quest from Upton. Truthfully, by now I am wondering if I’ll be happy with any (to the point of “love” that is). Negative attitude = not fair, so while it’s cooling a bit, I’ll adjust : )

First off, disclaimer: a wimp size amount of honey was added while brewing (tbsp).

First sip: hmmm, wow, this is not bitter at all (like the others)… shocked.
This tea is definately on the strong side, but liking it so far. Being sensitive to bitter, getting beyond that hurdle is most important. Looking back at the description, it does seem to fit: brisk, malty and definately “full flavor” (not a wimp, like me…umm, me as a tea drinker that is, not in general, lol).

This is my favorite so far. Baker Street yet to go (that one scares me).

Igor Stravinsky’s “Les Noces”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi-5mugSiX4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiazdmmZF_8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-ni8XUOqdM

“Nijinska’s Les noces is considered to have feminist elements. Les noces deserts the upbeat nature of a typical wedding, and instead brings to life the restrictive nature of a woman’s duty to marry. The dark and somber set provides the backdrop to the simple costuming and rigid movements. The individuality of the dancer is stripped away in Nijinska’s choreography, therefore displaying actors on a predetermined path, as marriage was regarded as the way to maintain and grow the community. The choreography exudes symbolism as, huddled together, the women repeatedly strike the floor with their pointe shoes with rigid intensity, as if to tell the tale of their struggle and ultimate reverence. The Russian peasant culture and the dutifulness it evokes in its people is represented in Nijinska’s piece.”

i was a dance major for half of my college life. i also was a dance major in high school. basically i danced every day of my life from when i was very young until i was 21. (yes i’m counting all those dance routines to Prince songs i made up when i was 7.)

i know Les Noces is not for everyone, first of all it’s full of the typical Stravinsky dissonance and also choc-full of operatic singing in russian, second of all… it’s weird.
but there are parts in the second act that will ALWAYS make me wanna bound around the room and dance wildly when i hear it.

this tea is dark and no frills and a little dour. but just a little.
point is. i can see it sitting and steaming on the lid of stravinsky’s piano.
and i can see the Russian peasant girls brewing it before their wedding.

Yesterday was River Shannon’s first trial (Assam + Ceylon), today this (Assam + Ceylon +Yunnan).

All I have time for now is a pretty rushed note, as I have to get to the office, but I wanted to put at least something down before I forgot what I was thinking. ;-)

That depth I remarked was missing from the River Shannon? The +Yunnan changes that. There’s a balance, too, that tones down the Assam a bit at the same time it gives the tea some heft. There’s more sweetness, more maltiness, more yum. It has a fuller body. It’s closer to what I’d consider an appropriate coffee substitute.

Pretty sure I prefer this one for most mornings. Pretty sure I’m a Yunnan fan, not so sure about Assam yet. I don’t have a firm reference point in my mind for it yet as I’ve mostly had blends so far. (I’ll have to try Thomas Sampson soon!)

One thing I have to figure out about this one is whether I need to add milk to it. It is pretty strong even when brewed at 3 minutes. If I’m not careful, it can grab me in the back of the throat when I’m not looking.

Love this blend. It is brisk as promised and leaves this sweet after taste in your mouth. I would recommend it to those that are fans of bold black teas.

This is my first Scottish breakfast blend, and let me tell you, they are serious when they say this one is a hearty one. It’s very in-your-face, but in a good way. The complexity is a nice suprise for me. Nice and malty, full-mouth feel, with some almost-fruity sort of sweetness in there and maybe a bit of nuttiness. There’s a bit of astringency there too, but it adds to the experience overall. This is a great breakfast blend.

**backlogging from a couple days ago (I’m terrible about remembering to type things up sometimes!)

I am a huge fan of breakfast teas. I like coffee every once in a blue moon, but it’s really not my thing. I’ve always preferred tea & when I had my first ever breakfast blend I was hooked. Since then I’ve loved trying out different breakfast blends from different companies & seeing what the world has to offer me for my morning cuppa.

And this particular breakfast blend is something that I absolutely adored. The Yunnan brings a malty smoothness & and adds a whole new dimension to the Assam and Ceylon. It’s hearty and had a kind of softness to it that was lovely. I added just a touch of sugar/milk as it seemed fitting and it mellowed the strong tea and made it quite ‘breakfasty’ if that makes sense (I’m sure it probably doesn’t, but it’s the only word I could think of right now lol). I did not feel the need to make something to eat after my cup as I was very satisfied after drinking this :)

The leaves were rather small- something I’ve noticed with all of my Upton teas that I recently purchased. It allowed for a slightly stronger cup of tea, but if you were to over steep it I think that the tea (not just this tea in particular) would quickly become bitter. I haven’t even considered trying for a second infusion with any of my Upton teas for this very reason.

Oh, I am liking this.

Never had a Scottish Blend before, but I love the idea of Yunnan added to Ceylon and Assam. I have a tendency to think Yunnan always means Dian Hong. Of course, this is probably just the generic Yunnan black (not sure if it has a specific name) which is used in lots of breakfast blends-which is fine, because I like it a lot. Anyhow, it’s a nice touch.

Dry leaves are small-assuming a ctc. Very dark brown with some golden tips. Dry aroma is a pleasant, general black tea aroma-sorry. Liquor is mahogany. Brisk and robust. Full-bodied, not bitter.This is better than the Irish Breakfast teas I have been trying lately. This would be a good first thing in the morning tea.

Now this is an interesting tea. Its brisk and robust without the bitterness or astringency. Its more mellow than River Shannon thanks to the added yunnan tea. This tea has plenty of malty notes. I have to agree with Morgana, she hit this tea right on the nose with her tasting note. Read her tasting note as I really can’t add any more.

Another sample of black tea from Upton {I got 14}. This is an incredibly strong and robust brew perfectly suited as an eye-opener. I can see this getting incredibly dark and gnarly if you let it steep past 3 minutes. I can imagine this as the espresso of the tea world. I brewed 2 steeps before I decided that this would make a nice iced tea. So today after the Bohea I am enjoying the rest of this and it turned out nice even after 2 steeps it remained strong and assertive.

It could be said that I have a coffee problem. Maybe. I find I cannot get going in the morning without it! I’ve found most breakfast teas to be too weak for me (though I do love English breakfast.) Still, I wanted to try to cut back on my coffee, so I ordered some breakfast blends from Upton to try out (most of my breakfast tea experience comes from bagged teas.) Yesterday was Bond Street, and today is the Scottish. Brewed for 4 minutes in boiling water. 2 tsp of tea in 16 oz of water. I have to tell you that this blend is a great coffee substitute – it’s rich and dark, with no real bitterness. It stands up to the cream and sugar that I prefer in the morning without losing any of its flavor. In fact, I think it needs cream and sugar – it was pretty intense when I tried just the tea! This is the first time I’ve had Scottish breakfast, and I think it’s my favorite so far!

Upton Sampler Buying Spree Tea #12:
Time for a break from the Earl Grey/Earl Grey-like teas!
This stuff is really fine, it almost seems ground – is it pretending to be coffee? It brewed up quite dark and very strong. I think I may have used a little too much – too used to the more leafy teas. On the other hand, this would be perfect if it’s morning and you’re running late and you forgot to leave enough time to boil water and steep your morning tea and you are in danger of going to Chinese class tea-less and WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO.
As far as taste goes, as expected it’s a strong black tea flavor. Not subtle at all, this stuff. It’s got a sort of undertone that I’ve never really been able to describe well, but appears especially in oversteeped teas – like, super-saturated tea-ness, I don’t know. Anyway, this is definitely a good morning tea, especially if you have trouble waking up. (like me!)

Screw Folgers, this is what I like to have in my cup before going out into the unpleasant outside world of traffic and other people.

I like strong, caffeinated, dark teas that are complimented rather than weakened by the addition of milk. Upton’s Scottish blend has these qualities and then some. It’s strong, but not astringent, and dark without being bitter. Caffeine is a wondrous chemical, and this wakes me up like coffee without any meltdown a few hours later.

I’ve never had a blend like this, and I want more like it. It’s gotta be the Yunnan that adds a slight Chinese delicateness and keeps the Ceylon and Assam in check. To me, it’s the perfect reward for getting out of bed.

Scottish Breakfast

Leaves: they have a distinctive fairly strong scent… that i just cant seem to identify… it just smells like something you’d imagine drinking in the morning… the leaves are pretty small while some look rolled others do not, not sure if this is intended?

Liquor: the color is dark, and it steeps very very fast… ive often overbrewed this tea… i use times dramatically short of the 3-5m prescribed times for blacks….that being said if you get it just right its very nice and worthy of everyday drinking, has that smooth(malty???) feel and if you dont overbrew it has a slight tinged taste to it? like a metallicness? or a rawness? not a bad thing just strange

overall i do like this tea(when i dont over brew it :rage:)… but i would like to try some more teas before settling( irishbreakfast teas are my staple tea )

Try 2.5 min with Heaping tsp

Last tea of the morning and I’m just not impressed. While this is certainly different from English and Irish, possibly more pungent, but still not malty, I’m not really getting the honey notes from the Yunnan and it lacks smoothness. I feel like this needs a rebrew but I’ve had too much caffeine for the morning. Sugar only intensifies the sharpness while cream does smooth it over, I don’t care for it as much as the two Irish blends. Will withhold rating for now.

Edit 2/15/12: really this is just intolerable for me but will not rate due to the fact I haven’t had another Scottish blend and I don’t care much for breakfast teas but I’d take River Shannon or even Bond Street over this any day. So much tannin, bleh! It stands up well to milk but not even that makes me want to drink it. Best thing about this tea is the gorgeous red hue of the straight liquor.