Irish Breakfast

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Assam Melody, Ceylon Sonata
Flavors
Cocoa, Drying, Malt, Metallic, Sweet Potatoes, Caramel, Cardboard, Sweet, Wet Wood, Wood, Bread, Fruity, Honey, Smooth, Spicy, Astringent, Tannin, Orange Zest
Sold in
Loose Leaf, Sachet
Caffeine
High
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Michael
Average preparation
Boiling 4 min, 15 sec 3 g 12 oz / 349 ml

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169 Tasting Notes View all

  • “I’m back to the top of my black tea list! I sipped down one last week & added 2, so now I’m at 19 unflavored blacks, with a few more on their way. As far as breakfast teas go, I’m enjoying...” Read full tasting note
  • “Whee! Fun updates! Looks great, Steepster Overlords! (Now if we could just edit the comments we make….) I spent my drive to work this morning pretty much doing three things: listening to OK Go,...” Read full tasting note
    84
  • “I threw in a little Irish Breakfast on top of yesterday’s leftover Keemun Concerto. Yum. This tea is comforting and heavy…malty and smokey. Fantastic for a cold, rainy and generally yucky day. ...” Read full tasting note
    80
  • “It’s wednesday, my regular day off and I’ve taken the rest of the week off as well. (This, btw, has nothing to do with illness, it was already planned, so no worries there). After the restorative...” Read full tasting note
    87

From Adagio Teas

Our Irish Breakfast combines hearty black teas from Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Assam (India) to get your morning off to a bright start. As its name implies, Irish Breakfast black tea blend is an ideal accompaniment to a morning meal. It seamlessly blends the citrusy notes of a high-grown Ceylon with the malty underscore of a pungent Assam. Spicy and jammy aroma on the leaf, malty and deep flavor with a brisk and ‘buzzy’ mouthfeel. Rounded sweetness in the finish. May be enjoyed plain or with a drop of milk. Irish Breakfast is one of Adagio’s most popular teas.

Ingredients: Ceylon sonata tea & Assam melody tea

Steep at 212° for 3-5 minutes.

About Adagio Teas View company

Adagio Teas has become one of the most popular destinations for tea online. Its products are available online at www.adagio.com and in many gourmet and health food stores.

169 Tasting Notes

3294 tasting notes

I’m back to the top of my black tea list!
I sipped down one last week & added 2, so now I’m at 19 unflavored blacks, with a few more on their way. As far as breakfast teas go, I’m enjoying this one today. It’s bold enough, & there’s a bit of a sweet fruity aftertaste I didn’t notice before.
Did Colin Farrell wink at me from across the table & ask for a sip? No…sigh…
So, I’m on the lookout for other Irish breakfasts (scottish, canadian) that people really love. What are your favorites?

tea-sipper

I haven’t had many breakfasts yet, but English Tea Store has a nice Scottish Breakfast.

Terri HarpLady

Good to know!
I haven’t ordered from them yet… :)

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84
911 tasting notes

Whee! Fun updates! Looks great, Steepster Overlords! (Now if we could just edit the comments we make….)

I spent my drive to work this morning pretty much doing three things: listening to OK Go, trying to ignore that I need to get gas (it’s literally freezing outside… I am not mentally prepared to stand out in that to pump gas) and trying to figure out what it is that this tea lacks.

I’m not saying this is a bad tea. Far from it. I quite enjoy it. I even caught a whiff of cinnamon today from the dry leaves. I tried to find that taste while drinking it, too and decided that maybe there is a hint of it on the tail end. Maybe. But anyway, I like this tea. Stout, wakes me up, but isn’t mean about it. It’s a 4/5 star for me. It’s just missing… something. Something that would give it just that little extra depth of flavor to push it into a 5/5 star tea (I am horribly stingy with 5 star ratings – out of the literally hundreds of teas I’ve tried, maybe 25 have gotten a 5).

Also this morning, I think I’ve fully figured out what malt tastes like. Others have done a great job describing it but going from acknowledging what it should taste like and really understanding what it tastes like took a few tries for me. Anyway, to me it is what comes across as a combo of bake-y and cardboard. Today I got more cardboard from this tea, but not bad cardboard. Gourmet cardboard. Not the licking-the-dirty-and-already-used-cardboard-shipping-box in-your-face-ness that I get from ROT’s Lucky Irish. This was good, clean, nice quality cardboard.

I promise, it’s not a bad thing.

But yeah. I like this tea but can’t quite love it (though it will definitely be a go-to tea for me until I find a 5-star Irish Breakfast). Now that I’ve had a chance to get to know this tea, I think I enjoy Assam Harmony more so I’ve dropped the rating just a hair to reflect that.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 30 sec
TeaEqualsBliss

WHOA…I’m drinking this now too…CHEERS!

Auggy

Haha – I just saw that. Yay!

LENA

“Gourmet cardboard”…nice! I’m a fan of this tea too, but it’s not perfect. It needs more cowbell.

Auggy

Hehe! What would cowbell taste like? Bakey? Cardboard? Perhaps it would it taste 5-star worthy if served by Christopher Walken?

Marie

Love nod to gourmet cardboard. :) Definitely looking for a 5-star Irish Breakfast too! I started out with my Irish Breakfast Twinings bag tea this morning, and wondered were ALL the kick went? Disappointed was an understatement – I think I might double up next time.

LENA

@ Auggy – I don’t know what needs to be added but we need to discover it! ANYTHING would be 5-star worthy if served by Christopher Walken.

Auggy

Hahah – the secret to perfect tea – Christopher Walken!

Where can I order him?

teaplz

Essence of Christopher Walken Tea. Would we want this?

I don’t get a cardboard taste from maltiness, but yay! I am glad you’ve found that flavor! I find it to be similar to a bitter flavor, but not really bitter. If that makes any sense.

Auggy

It’s not bad cardboard and probably not like actually eating cardboard but there’s a dryness and a… sturdiness to it that just brings to mind the smell of a cardboard box. Weirdly. I’m guessing that my dry sturdiness is your not bitter but bitter taste. Hehe. I think taste is very hard to describe and translate because associations play into it a lot but it is fun trying!

Why do I think Christopher Walken Tea would smell like Old Spice?

Jason

Gourmet cardboard and bake-y…with the potential of cowbell too! I’m sold. Some of the more interesting words I’ve heard used to describe tea, good job :)

We will never let you edit your comments. You will be forever mocked for your poor grammar and lack of proofreading…bwaahahahah (evil laugh)…na, it’s on the list and coming soon. I just can’t stay mad at you :)

Auggy

@Jason, Yay!!!!

Suzi

adds ‘gourmet cardboard’ to the file of words that must be used in future tea reviews

Carolyn

Wouldn’t “cowbell” flavor be a term to apply to pu-erhs with their strange leather/compost flavors?

teafiend

I just want to say I love you guys. And Christopher Walken, but maybe not Christopher Walken tea.

Auggy

@Carolyn, I was thinking something more… metallic maybe. So maybe leather and metal… and Old Spice. ;)

Jillian

And bake-y, don’t forget that Auggy. ;D

Auggy

Bake-y! The Christopher Walken Cowbell Special must be bake-y, leathery and have a hint of metallic taste and the scent of Old Spice.

Sooooo… we’re talking pu-erh here yes? :)

teaplz

Nah, Auggy, cause then you’d need to throw in FISHY.

Auggy

takgoti has shared 2 pu-erhs with me (that I have yet to try but will!) and there was no mention of fishy in them. So I hold out hope for pu-erh. And Christopher Walken. :)

(Is it bad that I’m hoping the tea tastes like sweet hay and dirt? This doesn’t seem to be something I should WANT in a tea).

takgoti

This entire thing makes me laugh.

Christopher Walken is a strange nut. Loved him in the SNL census skit.

Shanti

Never before has cardboard sounded so delicious! smile

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80
161 tasting notes

I threw in a little Irish Breakfast on top of yesterday’s leftover Keemun Concerto. Yum. This tea is comforting and heavy…malty and smokey. Fantastic for a cold, rainy and generally yucky day. Taken with milk and a little Truvia. Does anyone else have an opinion on this Truvia stuff? I came across it by way of my local tea shop. They have packets out on their tables with the Splenda, raw sugar, etc. Just curious if this is the latest and greatest in the world of sweeteners.

denisend

Truvia – supposed to be more pure form of Stevia. I’ve not had Truvia but I have had Stevia, and it has a horrible aftertaste. Theoretically, the processing that Truvia undergoes gets rid of the aftertaste.

How was it?

LENA

not too bad in a splenda-like way. i didn’t use very much in this cup, so i’m not a very good judge yet.

Danielle

i usually use Agave nectar in my teas…but if i ever use sugar i use Truvia. I never had a taste for splenda…i thought that it had that funny after taste. So when i use Truvia, i only use a half a packet and i think it tastes fine. I dont notice a yucky after taste like in splenda.

Cofftea

@Danielle, your 1st sentence is contradictory. Sugar is not stevia. You are right in only using half a packet. Stevia is 2x as sweet as sugar.

teaplz

Cofftea, I’m pretty sure she just meant sweetener, instead of sugar in that first sentence.

Jillian

Whenever I use a sweetener I prefer to go natural, usually with honey. I try to avoid artificial sweeteners if possible because many of them contain aspartame which is a bit dodgy health-wise.

Cofftea

@Jillian, absolutely. Aspartame is notoriously known for making depression worse for those who suffer from it. I go w/ stevia because it’s the only natural calorie free option… although honey is very healthy for you. I’d love to try ROT’s honeys w/ tea in them.

kat

@cofftea, is it your mission each day to get on here and piss on and irritate people on purpose? I have read sooooo many of your comments to people that are just rude. Does this make u feel good or what?

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87
1353 tasting notes

It’s wednesday, my regular day off and I’ve taken the rest of the week off as well. (This, btw, has nothing to do with illness, it was already planned, so no worries there). After the restorative power of yesterday’s Assam, I felt like giving this on the that TeaEqualsBliss sent me.
I didn’t really find any aroma to speak off, but my nose feels a bit like it’s considering acting up a little bit, so I don’t fully trust my sense of smell. I don’t think it’s all there at the moment.

The flavour, however, reveals the cardboard-y note of Assam. I probably wouldn’t really have picked that one out so easily if it hadn’t been for yesterday’s Assam and the revelation that was the cardboard note. (Sometimes I feel like I’m nicking all of Auggy’s words, but they’re such good words!).

It also has a surprising sweetness. Smooth, almost creamy. I’m not the sort of person to put milk in anything, even if it is recommended to me. I always try it plain first, and usually that’s the way I’ll drink it. Milk is an added occasional luxury. Maybe that’s why, to me, it doesn’t take very much for a tea to taste like it already had a drop of milk in it.

Maybe it’s some sort of phantom flavour. Like phantom pains where a patient may still feel the sensations of the amputated limb. I can almost taste the flavour that isn’t there. Or something.

It’s not really something that I would connect with a Ceylon, though, so I think that’s because of how the blend is coming together.

Funny thing is that if I were to break this apart and have the Assam on its own and the Ceylon on its own, then I don’t really think I would be more then fleetingly impressed with either of them. But together it’s a different story and they come together quite well.

I have a good amount of this and it could easily become one of my stable teas, but I have put the Irish Morning Tea from A C Perch’s on my shopping list for when I run out. The European Adagio shop carries the Irish Breakfast, but I thought it would be nice to get some comparison and some
different perspective on it. (Besides A C Perch’s is probably quicker and cheaper for me, what with being a danish company. Especially since I’m shopping there anyway)

Of course I had to add the A C Perch’s blend to the site first, and then I unleashed the full force of OCD on the A C Perch’s teas already in the database. They all have pictures and proper descriptions now, except the one that I couldn’t seem to find. (I hope I didn’t accidentally step on anybody’s toes with this) I even discovered that the genmaicha I had from them wasn’t their genmaicha at all, but a variation. The things you learn…

Anyway, this Irish Breakfast. Quite surprisingly yummy. I don’t know what’s going on with that, I’m supposed to prefer Chinese!

Auggy

Nick away! It makes me feel loved! :) Lena sent me some of this a while back (sadly all gone now) and I really liked it. It’s a good blend, I think – and soooo much better than Republic of Tea’s IB (at least for me) – and is the one that made me feel daring enough to start getting more into stout breakfast blends! (Though I still love my Chinese blacks)

Angrboda

I saw your Scottish one. :) I seem to recall having seen a French and a Russian one around the place a while ago. It would be cool if someone would do a breakfast blend sampler set. I haven’t tried RoT yet, except I think possibly a single bag from swaps and such, so I can’t compare there. Once upon a time I had a few bags of IB from Twinings, but they were bagged, and I can’t really remember what they were like. Also that was before I learned to properly taste what I was drinking.
I hope A C Perch’s can live up to this one.

Auggy

Ooh, I like the breakfast blend sampler set idea. I don’t know why I’ve become such a sucker for breakfast blends but I have. I thought Golden Moon’s Irish Breakfast was particularly yummy. And Samovar’s English Breakfast was good, too. Most breakfast blends I’ve run across though tend to be on the meh side of good. But there are good ones out there (like this IB!) so I hope AC Perch’s will be one of the awesome ones!

Angrboda

I haven’t yet managed to find a truly yummy EB. Shame AC Perch’s doesn’t offer samples. I have to get 100g minimum from them. They have, however, been fairly consistently a good experience for me. GM and Samovar are both out of reach for me, so I can’t try theirs. But hey, maybe I’ll get lucky when the TTB returns to me. ;)

Auggy

Me either, actually, as far as not finding a truly yummy EB. But I will keep looking! (And that’s probably half of the fun!)

Angrboda

True. :) This one made me about ready to start searching properly. I wish I had the opportunity and means to get a sample of a load of different ones and set up an entire sampling array of EBs. I’d have to buy a load of tiny teapots too! What’s not to love?! :D

LENA

This one is a totally decent IB. I have been in a Breakfast tea mode too! Irish, English, 2 different types of China Breakfast…
I’m waiting on my Samovar order to try their Breakfast blend. I have high hopes.

Angrboda

Maybe that’s the newest trend? Breakfast Buffet? I had one, Auggy had one, JacquelineM had one and you’re in the mood for it too. And I’m currently having the genmaicha-that-wasn’t-the-genmaicha, which is almost breakfast-y. :)

What goes in the China Breakfast blend typically?

LENA

I think China Breakfast is just strong Yunnan black teas.

Angrboda

Cool. Yunnans, that’s another category I want to explore. I should make notes of this, because when I’m buying I always seem to end up having my head turned by OOOH Shiny!

Auggy

Lena, I’ve only broken into Samovar’s Breakfast blend once but I keep craving it so I think it’s pretty good! (I’m trying to stretch it out a little though and get rid of some other teas, thus just the one visit with it so far).

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85
176 tasting notes

I’ve been drinking this for the past few mornings. I took a leap and bought the 3oz bag, having never actually tasted it before. It’s good, but it’s not the greatest Irish Breakfast that I’ve had.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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73
260 tasting notes

I got some of this from ever-awesome Lena in a swap and I decided to start my morning off with it. However, I’m going to have to leave a rating off of it because my morning also involved reading for a class and, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to pay very much attention to the tea.

I’m going to try it at a shorter steep time next go round because this was a little bitter for me. It had a slight smokiness to it and an even slighter sweetness at the finish. In some aspects, it nearly reminded me of coffee, but the flavor wasn’t as full and it didn’t have that roasted quality that I usually get from coffee. I also didn’t get any maltiness from it, which I was expecting to at least get a hint of.

But anyway, this could all be for nought because I really wasn’t doing a good job of paying attention and, let’s be real, if acoustical wave forms are actually able to hold my attention in the morning I need to let that ride.

What I can say with certainty is that the caffeine didn’t take very long to kick in and I was feeling antsy before long, which began to disrupt my reading kick a bit so I didn’t finish the cup. Caffeine jitters and being snowed in do not mix very well – especially when you’ve been cooped up in the house for almost a week.

No, wait, it’s actually been a full week now. I have literally been stuck in the house for an entire week. Our street still hasn’t been plowed. The tea I was supposed to get in two days ago has been delayed yet again because of “adverse weather conditions” [this being the order that includes my greatly anticipated Caramelized Pear]. Steepsterites, I am going to lose my mind if these roads do not become drivable very soon.

So thanks for the tea, Lena! Sorry this entry bites pretty hard. I’ll try to get some better thoughts down next time. In the interim, have some snow pictures.
http://bit.ly/aHprnD

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 30 sec
Shanti

Sorry about the weather! For some reason, Cambridge hasn’t been hit at all, except for a little rain yesterday.

sophistre

Oooh, hooray for photos with punchy colors! The palettes in your shots are always such eye candy. Hope you get a chance to wander out of the cave soon though!

takgoti

@TeaEqualsBliss Doing my best!

@Shanti Yeah, it’s pretty, but a bit of a bummer as the plows are too tied up to do a lot of the residential areas. Too much snow – no place to put it! Government’s been shut down a few days…craziness.

@sophistre Thanks so much! I like color, so I usually end up overcompensating a tad in post-processing. Hee. I hope I get to escape, too, for the sake of my dwindling mental health!

Jillian

Oh noes, it snows! Just break out some boots and a thick coat and go out for a walk, girl! ;P

Dan

I know what your going through. Here in Maine we have had many storms like you have experienced over the past week. Stay in and drink more tea. We didn’t get any snow at all from the storms and we are equipped to deal with it. Go figure.

Heyes

(I was calling us “Steepers”)
Now you begin to learn why New Englanders are crazy, grouchy, and hospitably in the strangest of ways. We get a whole of of weather, hot cold, wet, dry, all crazy.

Glad you had some company to keep you less crazy.

LENA

Awww…it’s ok. You stay safe and warm inside. If you aren’t opposed to it, adding some milk and sugar to this one is pretty tasty.

takgoti

@Jillian Oh, I have! Trust. Broke out some boots that were made for stomping. Even went sledding with the kids the other day. It’s just not the same! http://bit.ly/c1CgFN

@Dan Haha! I think that this article hilariously sums up how well we deal with snow. http://bit.ly/a5lDYm

@Heyes Haha, Steepsterites, Steepers, Steeps, Steepsters…I think they all work! Maybe we can start four very confusingly named gangs. When you’re a Steep, you’re a Steep all the way. And the New England weather is exactly why I’m not planning on moving any farther North than here. And it gets too muggy for me in the South. Guess I’ll have to go out West! OH WELL!

@Shanti HAHAHA you just got my giggle of the day.

takgoti

@LENA Thanks, I’ll do that! Maybe I’ll do that now, actually.

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74
576 tasting notes

Upped the rating on this one. As tomorrow is St. Paddy’s Day, and I am full-blooded Irish (maiden name is Fitzpatrick), I thought this was apropos. This is a brisk wake-up cuppa, which I need on this grimy gray day.

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75
60 tasting notes

Not so much a tasting note, but this is the tea in my cup at the moment.

Should have seen it coming- one child gets a stomach bug & the other is bound to get it as well. Especially when they’re attached at the hip. Our 3yr old spent all yesterday throwing up, so it looks like I’ll be putting off trying the rest of my tea samples for at least a couple more days. At least until I can get the carpets thoroughly scrubbed and the apartment back to smelling clean and fresh >.< Can’t properly sample tea if you can’t smell it!

Hesper June

Wishing things will be puke-free for you very soon!

Bonnie

eeeuuu the beauty of being grandma is that I’ve been there and now can walk away! Sorry! Not fun!

Michelle

Oh no! My dog has been sick lately too – I’ve been coming home to find messes on the floor. I hope everyone in your family gets well soon <3

Tawny Kira

Thanks you guys :) Danny seems to be feeling much better (I guess it was just a one time thing… I hope?) If all goes well tonight I think that we might just be out of the woods with this stomach bug!

Ninavampi

Yay! Hope the worst part of the storm of tummy flu has passed!

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15019 tasting notes

sipdown!

this is a very middle of the road average ordinary every day tea. Nothing much going on, but nothing to offend either. I’d drink it, but i wouldn’t order it since there are many more fabulous irish breakfast teas out there that make for a little more OOMPH in my day :)

BoxerMama

I feel like you exclusively do sipdowns! lol

Sil

boxermana…these days it’s a little of that lol mostly because i have so many small samples from terriharplady. I try to mix them up with the occasional none sipdown as well though. IE the other week when i did butiki teas heh

BoxerMama

lol! I when I was digging for chamomile I found sooooo many samples that I didn’t know existed, including ones on my shopping list!

Sil

LOL see i don’t have that trouble yet. 200 ish teas and i know where everything else and what i have.

BoxerMama

Not I! lol

Sil

some non sipdown posts just for you today…followed by some sipdown posts as well since i promised myself at least one a day hahaha

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74
735 tasting notes

Finally got around to making a pot. I haven’t had this tea in several years, and I feel like my tastes have matured since then. But naturally, I’m going to like an assam/ceylon blend.

It’s a good tea, don’t get me wrong. It’s strong and a little bitter, but it just doesn’t have a lot going on. I guess I’m starting to lean more toward Chinese black teas? Or maybe I’m just having an off night. I’ll give it another try before I consider my rating final.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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