Bond Street English Breakfast Blend (TB10)

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(This was the last of my Bond Street blend, which means I am out of breakfast tea! Noooooooooooooes! My main feelings upon drinking it were: “this is nice, I miss Scottish Breakfast, though.” So…guess I’ll order more of that!)

CRAP! I thought I already reviewed this one! SOrry! I just had two cups but will try and again soon for official tasting notes!

Tiny tiny little CTC leaves. Once steeped, they don’t look like fun GrapeNut tea bits. Instead, it just looks mushy. So unfun CTC + Upton? Yeah, I anticipated lots of not greatness. So I used a generous teaspoon of sugar and a good sized dash of half & half in my 12 oz…. and it was good. Like, really good. The tea wasn’t covered up by the milky or the sweet, instead it was a great breakfast tea with just a bit of astringency hanging out at the end of the sip (but not so much as to make it feel bitter – though that could be the glop of half & half I put in).

Now, I can’t say how this is without additives (yet) and honestly, I’m a little nervous for it, but with? This blend makes for a nice stout and uncomplicated breakfast tea.

This is the first in the Upton British Blend sampler, and I was having a feeling of deja vu when I read what’s in it. River Shannon Breakfast Blend, also an Upton tea, though not part of the British Blend sampler, is also a mix of Ceylon and Assam. I was wondering how they’d be different. Proportions? Estates? Both? Neither?

When I looked at the Bond Street, I discovered one difference. It must be CTC, as the leaves look like coffee grounds. Or very tiny pebbles. River Shannon is Orthodox, so one part of the mystery solved. I can smell the Assam in the Bond Street’s dry leaves, but it doesn’t have that bakey smell I don’t like, fortunately.

It’s has a fairly dark orange-brown liquor with some red in there as well. It smells and tastes like a brisk black breakfast blend tea. Like a pretty standard brisk black breakfast blend tea, though with more depth of flavor and a fuller body than a restaurant grade tea, and certainly better than any teabag black tea I’ve tried.

I must remember to do a side by side tasting of this with River Shannon and see how they compare.

A bracing malty cuppa!
Another tea sample I purchased from Upton awhile ago.
Just getting around to trying it.
You can certainly smell the assam.
I made as recommended by Upton.
212 @ 3 minutes.
I did not think 3 minutes would be enough, but it is plenty strong.
It would hold up to milk or cream well.
A great breakfast tea to have on hand.

I’m finishing up my sample of this today. This is a pretty standard breakfast tea, but I prefer a bolder and maltier breakfast tea. That being said, I am enjoying this tea with a healthy dose of milk and sugar while getting ready for our Super Bowl party.

This is exactly what a breakfast blend should taste like. It’s malty and a bit chocolatey.

I can understand how folks might put milk in this, however, not I. A bit of honey is the perfect addition.

It’s a beautiful dark amber color with just the right amount of astringency. This could turn into a morning favorite easily.

I must also say, the 2nd steeping is as good as the first.

A bit of a warning: this tea is a lot like coffee grounds. Find a good steeping basket with very fine mesh.

This one definitely requires milk. I was surprised at the tea leaves in that they were kind of chopped up. I know..I am a breakfast tea noob, because it looked exactly as most breakfast teas look in pictures. I guess I am a full leaf gal, who prefers tea (that is not bakery-type dessert flavor) without milk. This one reminds me of coffee.

I think I am going to go with Mincing Lane for now….at least until something better comes along.

I’m feeling under the weather, so I went with the Bond Street. I prefer Irish breakfast – this is too mild for me, but it is comforting! Any longer than 3 minutes and this tea gets bitter. Drinkable without milk, unlike many breakfast teas, but I still find it rather meh.

My order of samples from Upton came this morning just in time for breakfast. I ordered mostly white teas but also two Lapsang Souchongs, the much acclaimed Baker Street Afternoon Blend and some breakfast blends for comparison, because for a dollar each why not?

Now I am not really not a breakfast tea person, I don’t drink much black tea in general due to caffeine sensitivity but if I do it is one type of whole leaf tea. So my only point of comparison before this tasting is Teavana’s English Breakfast, their now retired Assam Gold Rain and Celyon from a gift set.

So I brewed this in cast-iron with filtered water at the recommended 212 for 3 mins. The smell was not as strong as I expected and the taste certainly not as malty. This tasted like a nice clean non-China black like you would use for ice tea and I will probably end of let my husband use the rest for that purpose.

I didn’t get much Assam from this (but remember I don’t have a whole lot of experience with Assam) but the high notes I would assume are from the Ceylon, they were very “bright” though probably grounded and mellowed a bit by the Assam. I wouldn’t call this a complex tea but it wasn’t a singular note either.

I decided to try it with some cream and sugar (I’ve honestly never had tea with cream and sugar with the exception of random mate lattes our barista makes at work- Teavana that I only have a sip of) but figured this was part of the experience and would be part of the evaluation. I can see why folks take Assam and blends this way, it was pleasant though I think would have been better with rock sugar (but I was adding it to the cup not the pot). The other teas I sampled (Irish, Scottish and River Shannon) actually took better to the cream, so I think I shall give this to the husband to do what he will.

Its definitely not a bad tea, its neither bitter nor bland, its just not what I look for in hot tea, like the hint of butteryness I got from the River Shannon blend. I am really looking forward to the Baker Street blend tonight though with the husband while we watch Sherlock (new BBC).

Edit to add: made this tea for my husband this morning, his reaction as expected- “it tastes like regular tea” which is not to say he didn’t like it, Teavana does not carry a good “regular tea” for him to make iced, though he loves his now retired Nine Dragon Golden Needle, we have over 2lbs stocked up. He also really like the Baker Street Afternoon blend which I need to revisit and review but first impression is it was quite good bit it didn’t wow me.