Thanks again for the samples, Octavia Tea! I usually wouldn’t choose an English Breakfast myself, but this particular one couldn’t be better. The leaves are smaller, almost like a CTC leaf, but I think that is what an English Breakfast tea should be. No weak breakfast teas for me, please. I certainly would love to drink this during breakfast! I steeped up a teaspoon and a quarter and the brew was mighty dark — not too dark to be astringent though. The flavor is a great example of what to expect from this type: malty and sweet, yet bold but not bitter. The first cup tasted like tomato soup, which led me to believe that it was an assam, so I wasn’t surprised to see the origin for this tea on Octavia’s website as being Assam, India. I believe an English Breakfast shouldn’t only be from Assam (a typical blend is also from Kenya and Ceylon, according to Wikipedia) but this is such a great tea, I won’t complain much. A kick in the morning and very tasty!
Steep #1 // 1 1/4 teaspoons for a full mug // 16 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 minute steep
This is You :-D
Profile
Bio
Hi! I love tea and trying new ones – it adds a bit of variety to my day! Books, music, TV & movies are my thing… and tea, of course.
Some of my favorite tea shops (still operating):
birdandblendtea.com
teavivre.com
52teas.com
svtea.com
whisperingpinestea.com
justea.com
harney.com
Dammann Freres
fusionteas.com
shop.Javateaco.com
Lupicia
Octaviatea.com
Davidstea.com
eco-cha.com
what-cha.com
singleoriginteas.com
teasenz.com
tealyra.com
Mandalatea.com
verdanttea.com
Favorite tea shops (RIP):
butikiteas.com
steapshoppe.com
steepcityteas.com
aquartertotea.com
dellaterrateas.com
zentealife.com
angrytearoom.com
theteamerchant.net
joysteaspoon.com
tealiciousllc.com
Rivertea
Specialteas
My icon photo is Richard Mayhew from the graphic novel ‘Neverwhere’ by Neil Gaiman, Mike Carey & Glenn Fabry.
Most of the teas listed in my cupboard are actually sample sizes. I don’t really have 2,000 ounces of tea around here! Many of my teas have only one teaspoon left… maybe two. But I like keeping them in my cupboard list for reference to what I could be sipping. Usually, I write tasting notes once for each tea. I’m still drinking them, just not writing tasting notes each time!
I’m always in search of: Hattialli, Qu Hao black, Jin Jun Mei, teas using marshmallow root.
My dislikes: hibiscus, ginger (unless in chai), turmeric, bee pollen, charcoal type flavors
My ratings:
95-100 – Super awesome deliciousness favorites – cupboard essential
80-95 – Also pretty delicious
65-80 – Pretty good
50-65 – Okay
1-50 – Probably won’t want to sip it again
I’m planning on being a Steepsterer as long as there IS a Steepster, so if you’re not hearing from me, that means something happened to my health… if you know what I mean. (Or as evidenced by the great computer hiatus of 2019, something happened to my computer… I have a dumb phone so can’t access internet on that. As of 12/20/21 my wifi might start getting unreliable.)
Happy sipping!
Location
USA
