Irish Breakfast Tea - Special Reserve

…and this lovely, finished!

Made a giant, hearty milk and sugared mug for homework doings. Stout but a little mellowed by time. Just tasting a hint of raisiny stone fruit flavors. I think this tea is at least two years old – it’s held up remarkably well! I enjoyed every pot — this was the first Irish Breakfast I tasted with complexities, and I would be pleased to find it in my cupboard at a future date.

For me, this tea is fresh bread. The kind of bread that is dense, hints of yeasty, is almost sticky in the middle and has little bits of chopped nuts and seeds in it? Yeah, that kind of bread. It’s flavorful and smooth but with good texture though not quite chewy – it is an Irish Breakfast and it tastes like it, but it’s a classy, well-rounded, full-flavored Irish Breakfast.

Yep, quite glad I got a tin of this one. Even though it is making me crave fresh bread. Fortunately, I’ve got to run to the store today so I bet I can dig something up.

I drank this tea all day at work today. ifjuly sent me a generous sample, and I spent the day with it.
I don’t have much to say about it. It was great, nice smooth blend. I really enjoyed it. Some blends are too this or too that – I found this to be really well balanced for my tastes. Really enjoyed it.
I’ve been really happy with the Golden Moon Tea samples that she sent me. This is a company that I would like to explore further, if I ever get my cupboard under control.

It’s gray and peaceful outside but warm and comfy inside. I had the previous cup of malty assam and it left me wanting something more, something maltier and more great flavor. I reached for this tea. It’s an amazing cup that’s a blend no less. Not all blends work well but this one is a mix that has a “wow” factor for me. It’s got a sweet malty pow that stands out and not in a sharp astringent way at all. It’s a bold flavor that with some sweetener really hits the spot. This is a really fantastic tea and will remain on my restock list for likely a long time. If you find something better that has a similar description let me know. For now I will sit back and enjoy this wonderful cup of flavor.

Doulton’s Shakespeare: A Tasting Note in 5 Acts
Act IV scene 1

Have more than thou showest,
Speak less than thou knowest,
Lend less than thou owest,
Ride more than thou goest,
Learn more than thou trowest,
Set less than thou throwest;
Leave thy drink and thy whore,
And keep in-a-door,
And thou shall have more
Than two tens to a score.
King Lear, Act I scene 4

When I received Doulton’s box and eagerly pawed through it I remember seeing this baggie and thinking, “Oh, I’ve tried that — I think it’s one I really liked.” and then continued rummaging. Well, this morning I wanted a Shakespeare tea and I wanted one that would get me going. This is the one I chose. I started drinking it and it was sooo perfect and yummy. Then I hopped on Steepster to see if I had indeed reviewed this before.

My jaw dropped.

This is the tea that I had my mini-meltdown of “why oh why can’t I appreciate black teas?!?!? Waaah!” and ~lauren had given me some encouraging words. This was about a month ago. My oh my, how things have changed! I think the highest contributing factor to my current enjoyment is my new electric kettle. Seriously. I have found that I love most black teas when the water’s heated to 205. Anyone new to tea who happens to stumble across this note: have a way to get accurate temps for your water. It’s not even funny how much of a difference this makes. Seriously. My original rating was 47 and M.

Enter The Fool from King Lear. Such a wonderful character (even though he does disappear) who’s the only sane one in this play. I wrote an epic paper in my Shakespeare course all about Lear and the verbal abuse going on within it. Christopher Moore’s The Fool is also a book that’s been on my “to read” list since it was released. Know that for me to name this tea The Fool is a high compliment. I also feel foolish for my earlier Note where I howled like Lear. I feel like this tea just gave me a talking to and set me straight. Yum. It’s just a great Irish Breakfast tea with a very subtle plum note. NE

I’m sampling this today with much gratitude to Auggy. I’ll need to invest in a full-size. It’s certainly the best Irish Breakfast I’ve had in…well, in forever, I would guess. Although I’m not picking up on the delicacy of prunes or hints of truffle or whatever else is promised, I do have a good strong cup of flavorful, malty, fresh caffeine. I liked it better with the addition of some sugar and milk, but I’m a milk/sugar addict. Or a milquetoast? Or a milksop? I must consult dictionary.

Very smooth, just slightly astringent, this is helping me to wake up on a lazy Friday morning that is now approaching 2 PM.

Thank you, Auggy. You send out the best and most beautifully packaged samples.

My 125th tasting note!

TTB #8

My husband and I woke up to an insanely snowed in driveway. He couldn’t get out of it even with 4WD, so we had to shovel some of the snow out of the way. I knew my modest lil’ car would never make it, so I had to call off work. Not happy about it but OH WELL… I guess I will stay and taste some tea instead.

It seemed right to start off with some breakfast blend. Travelling Tea Box offered two Golden Moon ones (yay!): English Breakfast and Irish Breakfast. When I have a choice between these two, I always choose Irish. It could be the loyalty of coming from a tormented-by-history country, I guess ;)

The only Irish Breakfast blend I had before this one was Twinings’ bagged one. You can all take an educated guess that this is going to be the better one of the two ;D The color is deep, deep malty-red. And the smell… Here is the only point in common with the Twinings Irish – the sweet, grassy smell that reminds me of early afternoons at our cabin (alas, not a log cabin!) in the woods where we spend most of our time off from spring to autumn… Ah, it feels like we haven’t been there for ages!

Back to the tea though, the flavor is amazing! Pretty bitter, but not too much, it doesn’t need sugar or any other sweetener in my opinion. It sure gives you a solid kick and could replace any Colombian coffee any time (not that I care, I haven’t had coffee for months – and do not miss it). I also detect some very interesting undertones of cherry perhaps? Some kind of tart fruit.

As it cools down, it starts to taste really creamy. Delicious.

First of 31 :D
It’s my work tea for the day.

I intended to steep it for 3 minutes then forgot a bit – so it was probably like 5 minutes or so.
Color is well black tea typical – more brown than red. It’s bit bitter for me. Quite strong. I even taste a little earthiness that reminds me of pu-ehr’s.

Think it would be great with milk. Gonna try it in a bit.

Oh it got better colder. Nice flavor.
Note – yummy with milk.

Quite good this one is. Yeeeesssss :D

Golden Moon sample No. 13 of 31. Have been eyeing this since I pulled it out of the basket a couple of days ago and waiting for work from home Wednesday when I have all my necessary tea accoutrements near me to give it a go.

I’m pretty sure this is my first Irish Breakfast. So I don’t have anything to compare it to on that score. Also, I think this one should probably steep a bit longer than I steeped it for full effect. That said…

They weren’t kidding about “the beautiful golden tips highlighted against deep black leaves.” Though I’d say the leaves were more brown than black and straight in shape, the tips are huge and an amazing contrast in color as well as in texture. The nose of the dry leaves is roasty, even slightly smoky, and seriously malty in a Guinness Stout sort of way. I am guessing that that is what characterizes Irish Breakfast, though I haven’t yet looked it up.

The aroma after steeping is sweet, sugary, definitely malty and interestingly complex. Maybe I’m just suggestible today, but they told me there were cherries and I found cherries, they told me there were prunes and I found prunes, they told me there was honey and I found honey. I didn’t really find hazlenut, though there was something I could call nutty. In addition, I detected a chocolate note and a caramel note. The liquor is a very lovely deep tawny red-orange-brown.

The flavor is smooth, sweet but not too sweet, with some deep, fruity notes. I definitely tasted prunes, which made me smile. The maltiness isn’t as great in the taste as in the aroma, but it is definitely the backdrop. I’d like to steep it stronger and see what that does. I was a little distracted by work (heavens to betsy!) as I was drinking, but since this is definitely tasty enough to enjoy again, I’m looking forward to exploring its mysteries further.

If breakfast blends are to tea as black is to shoes, soon my cupboard will be mimicking my closet. I don’t even remember how many pairs of black shoes I have. [hangs head in shame]

Another one for future full review on www.itsallabouttheleaf.com. General first impression: While rolling around possible adjectives for this tea, stout and robust didn’t make the list at all, but there’s still enough character for it to stand up to the “breakfast” category. No milk needed, but a.m. additives don’t weaken its taste or personality.