Shagadelic English Breakfast

I got this as a sample with my order from The Tea Spot, and I have been wanting to try black blends like this, so I was quite content! I do believe this is the first I’ve had that is specifically labeled as English Breakfast.

This is perfect for today, with its name, because it makes me think of Austin Powers and one of my favorite F1 teams always has silly Twitter hashtags for races, so this week is #AustinPowers as the race is in Austin, Texas. My favorite is still Korea: Yeongam Style! But this is still funny to me.

And better than everyone else going with Austintatious…except that’s my nail polish’s name, seriously.

I steeped this up for four minutes, because I knew I was going to want to add milk.

So good, I am really, really loving these hearty blends of black teas on cold days. I could probably drink this one without milk, but I was really craving tea with some in there. I did try it before adding, it was malty and tasted a bit of fruits and chocolate. I loved how it tasted with the milk even more though.

And the caffeine boost was nice though I don’t think I really needed one, as I am SO EXCITED for the race! 99 minutes to go…

Thank you DHart1214 for this Sample tea!

Um breakfast tea! I love my breakfast tea!

Not being a morning person ever in my life, I need help crawling out of my beloved bed. I begin by inching towards the light at the far end of a foreboading tunnel.
My dear father ‘Bill’ used to throw open my bedroom door and do his best WWII bugle call “Time to get up Bonnie”! This would elicit evil words from my innocent mouth that I could never remember when fully awake, but were surely worthy of going to confession. Mom (Pat) would ‘rush’ (poor darling had painful rheumatoid arthritis from age 35) down the hall, “Bill, you know how she is…you can’t wake her up like that!” But dad never learned. He didn’t know that it was painful to be startled awake. I TAKE TIME! (Sure do miss them now and they sure loved each other!)

My morning tea gives me time to pull off those remaining shadowy cobwebs.

The Tea Spot packaging was perfect for a non-morning person. It looked like a big green eye on a white package screaming “Pick Me!”…so I did…since I could see it above all others.
There was a word I could make out…Breakfast…ok. I’m obedient. And a phrase…“boost your mojo!”
Mojo? Where did I put my Mojo? (I think I left it somewhere next to “I’m sexy and I know it!”)

I used a clean Finum filter and steeped this tea 4 minutes.
The scent was light, sweet and fragrant along the line of an Orange Pekoe.

I took a sip and the blend was quite mild without much smoke but having a bit of fruit, a hint of tannin (hardly any really) and medium body. Later I could feel the mojo…as though the caffeine was revving an engine in the background ready to varoom…race ahead through my day.

What black tea was used for this blend? Assam, pekoe,ceylon for sure…what else? Still…I would have thought with so much black tea variety (4 black tea’s are in this blend) there would be more smoke or fruit. Peach, yam, orange pekoe…something deeper.
The caffeine part would be good for someone who likes a kick in the backside like me though. I keep a few high voltage tea’s around for migraine control.

This was a good mid-range morning tea.

This will hopefully be my last early morning posting at Steepster for awhile. Not my last posting, mind you, just my last early morning posting. Normally at this time I’m still peacefully dreaming my fairy music dreams, but lately I’ve had quite a few early morning gigs. Today is the last one of those. I still have a few xmas gigs, but I don’t have to get up so early to play them.

This is also my last cup (at least for awhile) of Shagadelic English Breakfast. It’s a bold & bright cup, worthy of it’s name.

Backlog:

This is a fantastic Breakfast Blend. Very bold, robust, and hearty. It has a lovely strength about it, and lots of depth. Really, really good. It tastes of malt and hints of a deep, rich chocolate-y flavor, freshly baked bread (the caramelized, chewy crust!), slightly earthy tones, oak-y/deep woodsy background.

Really, this one of the best breakfast blends I’ve had that wasn’t called “LiberTEAS Breakfast Blend.”

If I can’t afford Mariage Frères’ French Breakfast Tea, this is my basic breakfast tea. It holds up well to milk and sugar. It is a nice plain tea. Sometimes even dessert craving sugar fiends like me want something plain and reliable with which to start the day and this fits the bill. It even doesn’t get too bitter if I let it steep a bit longer than usual. (I’m usually on the ball but I sometimes take 10 or 20 seconds before I attend to my tea timer.)

I recently bought a pound of this tea, flavor untasted. I’m becoming brave (or reckless) in my old age. What intrigued me about this one was that it was advertised as an English breakfast tea blend of four black teas from three countries: India, Sri Lanka, China. That all sounded good to me and worth checking out.

I opened up the pouch and the aroma that shot out was a pleasant combination of, yes, more than one tea type. Black China teas are my favorite and my sniffer could definitely detect their presence in this tea. I also perceived the existence of Darjeeling and possibly Assam, all coming together nicely in the unbrewed whiff.

I steeped the brown leaves for five minutes in boiling water. This resulted in a golden amber colored liquid with a pleasant aroma containing tea and sweet undertones.

The taste of this tea was very smooth and full of flavor. The four teas melded exquisitely into a total merger of sweet and malty deliciousness. No bitterness was discovered anywhere.

I should also add that I drink all of my teas straight up. I never add milk or sweeteners. I prefer to experience the teas on their own merits.

If a tea plantation can figure out how to create this richly combined flavor from just one tree, they will have a huge winner on their hands. But, until then, I will just appreciate this exceptional blend as it is.

Samurai TTB #19

Not going to rate this, as I got distracted and MASSIVELY over-brewed it this morning. A splash of milk saved it from being undrinkable, but I definitely didn’t get to try it at its best. Totally my own fault!

I got a sample size of this tea when ordering the Tuffy travel steeper (which is quite nice I think, though I haven’t actually used it for travel yet. It does tend to leak tiny leaves in to the remaining brew, but is compact and easily washed so I won’t be too fussy bout floaties in my cup)
As a morning breakfast tea, its just ok. I guess I brew my normal Assams and Yunnans pretty strong, so this doesn’t stand up to my brisk morning cuppa. As an afternoon pick me up, its still just ok. I’m not sure how to describe it as generic black tea with a metalic aftertaste? I guess with a name like Shagadelic I’m expecting a bit more nutty or malty or astringent taste, and its just a bit of a muddled blend.

Wait….. what do you mean I’ve reached my sipdown goal? Whhhhhhat?
Er, well, go me? To celebrate I shall have one of the teas that I have not yet tried.
So far so good! Its a nicely balanced breakfast bread, a good companion to toast, and generally pleasant.
I’m glad I feel that way, as I have an absolute ton of this.

So its mid day I have been up since 6 am done a 40 min cardio, taken the kids to school and currently at work and have already put in 13,000 steps and needed a pick me up. I quickly remember that I took my Shagadelic English Breakfast sample to work today and after all it does say to boost your mojo which is exactly what I needed.

I let this brew for 3 mins as I was anxious for my first sip and boy I was not disappointed. This is a gorgeous blend incredibly smooth taste with a hint of honey and malt with a subtle aftertaste. Oh yeah this is a great cup!