Kilimanjaro English Breakfast

thanks to Nicole for this sample tea…
This isn’t bad for a bagged tea but is a little astringent and brisk for my taste, which seems to be the nature of the beast when we’re talking about teas from Kenya. This was good with soymilk but I am trying to avoid sugar since I got back from the dentist and I have a couple cavities sigh

Thanks again Nicole!

We went to the fair last night. I felt guilty for leaving my studying, but I was going a little bleary-eyed and needed a break. Plus, it’s the fair, who can really say no to the fair!? We were actually supposed to go to some party at the coliseum, but when our good friends mentioned the fair we were all in! It was a perfect night – the weather was warm enough to wear a dress, but not so hot that it was miserable. We saw all of the animals, including the fancy show chickens, which I love. We got to pet all of the little lambs, and also the sweetest little baby bunny. The man tried to sell it to us, and for a minute I was worried because my fiancee looked on the verge of pulling out his wallet (even though I secretly would’ve loved to bring the little thing home!) The boys played a bunch of games, and I tried to toss the ping pong ball into the glass fishbowls to win a goldfish, but no luck. We went hungry on purpose and shared a funnel cake and pretzel. We also had a big glass of fresh orangeade, which was amazing! I want to try making it at home now. I’m already looking forward to next year’s fair!

This morning, it’s back to studying and finishing all of my paperwork from clinic, which is also due tomorrow. I had this little teabag on my counter and decided to try it. It was a really nice surprise that it is actually a wonderful cup of tea! It is everything that I like in a tea – malty and strong with a little sweetness. It has an incredibly smooth flavor with absolutely no bitterness at all, even after the 4.5 minute steeping. I added some sugar and it was perfect, so milk isn’t necessary (and it’s rare for me to feel that way about a tea). I am really loving this cup right now, and would definitely order more! I could see this being a go-to morning tea when I’m in a hurry, right alongside my PG Tips. Thank you, Nicole, for this one!

-Standard teabag with a tag.
-Teabag smells malty and slightly sweet. Tea liquor aroma is of malty black tea.
-Tea liquor is a cloudy dark brown color.
-Smooth and robust flavor and finish. Malty aftertaste with a touch of sweetness.
-Best with sweetener. Milk optional.
-Very good tea. Extremely smooth and malty flavor with no bitterness.

Thank you Nicole for this sample.

As I drink all of my bagged breakfast teas I add a drop of milk and a spoon of sugar..in this case half a spoon of sugar. Not feeling so sweet this morning, could be the bottle of red wine I had last night. Accompanied my home made spaghetti and vegetarian meat balls and Belgian chocolate ice cream perfectly though.

Anyway steeping time was taken from the back of the tea sachet. Also just a quick note to say that I love the length of the string this tea bag has, it’s very long and perfect to form it’s function. Nothing ticks me off more than a tea bag with too short a string that as soon as you pour water into the cup the string gets pulled in and the weight of the wet teabag keeps it that way. Grrr.

Alright once steeped this tea is nice and strong but not too much. It’s a nice strength for a breakfast tea but next time I would wait the extra 30 seconds for a 5 minute steep to see the results. Flavour is dark and rich with a slight spicy Assam feel and a touch of smoke.

Would also say this was suitable as an evening tea with a maximum of 3 minute steep. I would drink more of this tea but for me it’s only average. Still thank you very much Nicole for the chance to try this.

This is a decent bagged black tea to grab on the way out the door to Sunday breakfast. :) It’s better than the weak bagged teas that the restaurants invariably have. I usually end up using about 3 of those to make a cup. Though, that could be related to the water not being really hot enough ever…

This is not super full bodied but a step up from standard. :)

Thanks, Nicole, for the sample bag of this. It’s been floating around my bag for months and I finally remembered it and pulled it out tonight. The restaurant, when I requested tea, brought me Bigelow Green. Blech.

This is very nice – much nicer than other bagged tea I’ve tried that weren’t full leaf. The tea was full tasting, and mellow, and had a hint of spice in the aftertaste. This would be a good purse tea – stick some in my purse and pull it out when I’m in a restaurant.