TB05: Mincing Lane Breakfast Blend

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Assam Black Tea, Yunnan Black Tea
Flavors
Earth, Malt, Spicy, Caramel, Nutty, Smooth, Smoke, Tea, Tobacco, Floral
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Rumpus Parable
Average preparation
Boiling 4 min, 30 sec 6 g 19 oz / 566 ml

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46 Tasting Notes View all

From Upton Tea Imports

For this blend, we paired a hearty Assam with a smooth and flavorful Yunnan, for a cup that is highly enjoyable. The invigorating liquor has a full mouth feel, subtle spicy notes, and a lingering aftertaste. While milk is recommended, it is enjoyable plain.

About Upton Tea Imports View company

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46 Tasting Notes

80
14991 tasting notes

Sipdown sipdown lalalala

Small cup of this before the rest goes out in a swap :)

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82
985 tasting notes

My morning tea. I love the punch in this one. It definitely is not like anything else I have (I have mostly Keemuns and Fujian blacks). This is a Yunnan and Assam blend, so it must be the Assam? I have not had much Assam, so I might have to look into other varieties. Anyway, this is great for waking up. But I think it is time to move on to something a little more mellow. I hear my Keemun Mao Feng calling…….

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec
Uniquity

I prepared an Upton tea order for myself last week..I’m just waiting to get my teas from you so I can be sure I want the things I think I want. : ) By the way, I’m hoping your package will arrive soon as it’ll be two weeks on Monday. I was getting worried with the potential Canada Post strike, but so far they haven’t decided to strike. Yet! : )

SimplyJenW

I hope your package shows up soon, too. I don’t think I have had one to Canada go missing, yet. (But there have only been about 4 or 5.) Nothing here, either, but I am not surprised. Canada Post across the boarder can be a builder of patience….not that you want to have to perfect that skill!

teawing

This sounds very good.

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84
6768 tasting notes

Okay…I Googled…so sue me…lol…

Mincing Lane is a street in the City of London, stretching from Fenchurch Street south to Great Tower Street.

Its name is a corruption of Mynchen Lane – so-called from the tenements held there by the Benedictine ‘mynchens’ or nuns of St Helen’s Bishopsgate (from Minicen, Anglo-Saxon for a nun; minchery, a nunnery).1

It was for some years the world’s leading centre for tea and spice trading after the British East India Company successfully took over all trading ports from Dutch East India Company in 1799. It was the center of the British opium business (comprising 90% of all transactions), as well as other drugs in the 1700s. 2 It is mentioned in chapter 16 of Charles Dickens’ Our Mutual Friend, where it is briefly described:

“[Bella] arrived in the drug-flavoured region of Mincing Lane, with the sensation of having just opened a drawer in a chemist’s shop.”

In 1834, when the East India Company ceased to be a commercial enterprise, and tea became a ‘free trade’ commodity, tea auctions were held in the London Commercial Salerooms on Mincing Lane. Tea merchants established offices in and around Mincing Lane, earning it the nickname Street of Tea.3

A notable building is the Clothworkers’ Hall (the current building, opened in 1958, is the sixth to stand on the site; the fourth was destroyed in the Great Fire of London, while the fifth was destroyed during the London Blitz).4 A modern landmark partly bounded by Mincing Lane is Plantation Place, completed in 2004.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mincing_Lane)

Anyhow…
Here’s my review…

This is a gift from LiberTEAs…thanks girl!!!
This smells like a black tea should! Nothing more…nothing less!

It’s dark brown in color – Very deep, very rich in color!

This has a very dark taste as well!

It’s interesting because I can taste BOTH the Assam and Yunnan characteristics separately but at the same time…it’s hard to describe! It’s like they are in a fist fight with each other but end up hugging at the end or something!

PEACE, LOVE, and TEA!!!

Cofftea

Googling is better than ignorance:) I would have totally wikied it. Yay for being passionate enough about tea to do research!:)

TeaEqualsBliss

Well, I googled…and ended up at Wiki! LOL :P

Cofftea

LOL touche- I swag search and end up at wiki (by choice).

TeaEqualsBliss

Wiki RULES!!! I LOVE Wiki!!!!

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2888 tasting notes

I love the deep dark Assam taste paired with the brassier Yunnan. Nice match, and the combination is stout enough to take ice really well. Huge improvement over the from-the-tap restaurant tea I had earlier today.

gmathis

A caveat, however: two large glasses of this stuff following two restaurant ice teas following a big morning-long mug of Golden Monkey can over-caffeinate to the point of hamster-heart adrenalin. I think tomorrow may have to be an herbal detox day…

teawing

LOL, I would have to stay pretty close to the men’s room myself… :)

gmathis

Well…

teawing

The bright side is you were highly hydrated, these days, that is no easy task.

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3294 tasting notes

Good morning Steepster! Happy first day of May!!
Ms Theresa printed up our “Tea Collection” list this morning. It looks like my total teas is 243 (256 if I count straight out herbs like Astragulus, Elder Berry, etc, but we’ll leave those off the list.)
Of course, some of those are samples, & I’ve decided I need to get through the samples & quit hoarding!!
This one came from Sil, & it really is a tasty blend of yunnan & assam, somehow allowing the tastiness of both to shine in a really nicely balanced way! I have truly enjoyed it, & someday when I’m allowed to order tea again (today I have 12 days ‘clean’), it’s on my list to order from Upton! Thanks Sil!

Terri HarpLady

Oh, & that’s a Sipdown, so now my total is 242!

Sil

Lol I’m winning the race so far!

Terri HarpLady

Yes you are, but I’m finally getting serious about sipdowns! Now that I drank the cinnamon apple coffeecake, I’m at 241.

Sil

also you’re not about to come into 10 swaps anymore

Sil

er that i’m aware. my brain hurts.

Terri HarpLady

LOL, nope! I have no swaps in the works at this moment, although I have talked to a few people about swapping, uhh…Az, Tasty, & a few other, so I probably should get that ball rolling, right?
I mean, our little race is sort of a 2 way race: to have to more teas (which I’m winning, LOL) & to have less (which you’re winning). So we’re both winning!! :D

Sil

LOL YAY! we’re both winning and um yes…swap with tasty! I actually have to do another one with her soon…jsut as soon as i have teas to temps her with. lesigh

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89
421 tasting notes

Trying some of this sample this morning as I’m feeling poorly. Went to bed feeling so/so. Woke up with a fever and feeling like an elephant is sitting on my chest. So I wanted something strong. This is quite good. malty with a hint of spice. I like it. I’m sure I’ll like it more when I’m feeling better. Today is all about tea, couch, and past seasons of Downton Abbey.

Hesper June

Feel better soon!

Sil

i hope you feel better. I kind of wish i could get sick one of these days to just sit at home, drinking tea and watching downton abbey. I need to get caught up :)

ashmanra

Oh no! Take care of yourself, and I hope you feel better quickly.

IllBeMother221B

Thanks all. Trust me I wasn’t thrilled to wake up feeling gross either. But tea, Downton, and now a cat trapping my legs…it helps. :)

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80
429 tasting notes

Yunnan and assam, how much better can it get. This is an excellent blend of the two. To me, the yunnan mellows out the assam into a very smooth robust tea.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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1220 tasting notes

I decided to have some different breakfast blend this morning. This sounded interesting so I ordered a sample.

I steeped it for four minutes, and added a little milk. I’m not entirely sure I like it compared to just the Yunnan tea I’ve been having the past couple of days. I like it and I like Assam but together it’s just not a flavor I really would go for.

It comes off kind of smoky, not in a lapsang sort of way at all, I feel like this might be the spicy notes mentioned in the description. It is a pretty smooth, bold tea other than that note that is just a bit too strong for me. And I steeped it for a minute less than the bag called for, next time I might try 3. Or maybe the 5 min is the way to go, somehow.

I feel awake though so it does its job as a big, robust breakfast blend.

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96
216 tasting notes

D&D&Tea, day 1, roll 3: 13

“So,” Rabs said, holding out a new scroll and quill for Cait to take, “ready for the last one for today? Then you’ll probably need to rest up a bit.”

“Sure!” Cait said gamely. “Bring it on!”

Rabs held cupped hands up to the innkeeper, who was still watching them with amusement. “Care to pick again, m’lady?”

She tapped her fingers together for luck and poked downward. “There!”

“Ah!” said Rabs, and Cait braced herself. “Shall we see if thirteen proves lucky?”

“I’m ready!” Cait said, but her words were drowned out by the clatter of a six-legged carriage stomping down the street. Another one rumbled behind it, and a faster two-legged machine raced between them and was away before Cait could blink. All around her, people swarmed in and out of tiny shops carrying tiny parcels; the smell of spices, shocking after the bright floral notes from the jungle, suddenly washed away as if they had never been. A scarf flew by in the rising wind, then a bonnet, then most of a penny dreadful, and the shoppers around Cait fled before the cold cutting air.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cait_tea/4689410824/in/set-72157624121434691/

The sky darkened — no, the sky filled with a flock of birds, cawing in strange grating voices to each other. One swooped down at Cait, who dodged it. Three more followed, and Cait paid for a strike which knocked one from the air with a slice across her shoulder. The bird hit the cobblestones with a metallic crunch, and Cait stared as it burst apart and spilled wires and cogs into the street. More birds were wheeling about, and Cait raised her club and set her jaw.

“Over here, lassie!” someone yelled, and Cait sprinted for the open door. The inside was dark and warm, and as the door slammed shut behind her she could hear birds strike it with tinkling crashes. With a rasp, a lantern on a table flickered into light. “Now then,” said her rescuer, “why were you standing out there like a fool?”

“I didn’t know what they were,” Cait said. “I still don’t.”

Her rescuer, a big woman with her shirtsleeves rolled up and three different hammers stuck through loops in her belt, didn’t look impressed by this ignorance. “And what are you doing running around in robes? Are you some kind of cultist, then?” Cait clutched at her steaming-teapot taliman and drew breath to explain that she was a cleric, but the woman suddenly barked out a laugh. “Ah, one of those tea-worshippers! You lot are okay. Go on downstairs, then.”

Cait followed her gesture left, seeing a dark doorway that might lead to steps, and turned back only to find the room empty again. She opened her mouth, closed it, and took the lantern. Through the doorway and down the stairs, down, down, and down. The walls sometimes seemed to vibrate softly with the hum of some machinery, hopefully something that was keeping them safe from those mechanical birds. Finally she reached a low, dark cellar that seemed to stretch out endlessly into the earth. Along the near wall were hearths with chimneys drawing upward, and in each hearth was a cauldron.

“All that steam has to come from something, doesn’t it?” said a voice, and Cait jumped, seeing the same woman suddenly beside her again. Although, at a second glance, she might be carrying different hammers. “Here,” she said, holding out a hand for Cait’s mug and scooping liquid from the first cauldron into it. “I think you’ll find this one suits.”

“Thank you,” Cait said, but the woman was already gone again. With a sigh, Cait bent her head over the mug and breathed deeply. This was pure essence of tea, wonderful to smell, and Cait was sure its steam could power any number of marvels. The first sip was thick without being heavy; it felt round and full on her tongue. Cait set the lantern down and wandered with her mug, letting the soft earthiness of the tea meld with the warmth and darkness of her surroundings and the arcane hum of the machinery. Each sip lingered, warm and comforting, and the last cooling drop was as good as the first had been.

When her mug was empty, Cait drew out the scroll and quill and let the runes flow: the crosshatched earth, the glowing embers, the soft curves for subtle sweetness like honey combined with the strong posts that could support so much. Then, peacefully, she snapped the quill.

“You look satisfied,” Rabs said from her seat by the fire.

“I am,” Cait said, and she made a bow to the wizard. “Thank you very much for this adventure.”

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 0 sec
Rabs

I have to admit that at this point I’m grinning like an idiot, and still overwhelmed by how utterly awesome this is! Thank you so much Cait!!!!!

Cait

::grins like an idiot right back at you!::

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83
4843 tasting notes

I ordered several samples from Upton a while ago, and the package arrived as I was sick so I had to put off trying them… and I’m just getting around to trying the first of them now…

Hmm… Breakfast Blend at 7:20 in the evening. OK!

I tried it first without any sweetener or milk… and it’s really good like that, but, I think I prefer it with a little milk and honey. Without the milk and honey: wine-like quality to it, hints of black currant. Also a woodsy note as well as a deep, yet subtle spicy tone.

With milk and honey: much nicer! the spicy notes come out to play a little more, the woodsy note seems to have been replaced with a molasses-y, honey-ish sort of characteristic. The wine note is less discernible but still present in the finish. It has a very tannic quality to it.

Nice! Now, I’m off to the TRB to submit a review of it!

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 30 sec
TeaEqualsBliss

OooooO! Interesting!

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