English Breakfast

This smells like wood while steeping….
I’ve only had English Breakfast one other time…when last year my friend from England made me a “traditional English” cup of tea with milk and all. Didn’t like it then, but can’t remember what it tasted like. Don’t remember it tasting like wood though.
I like the malty black teas…need more malty black teas to try. I keep finding all these woody teas…
I would think maybe my taste is just changing. But then I try black teas that I have that I love and thought were malty and they taste the same. Maybe I just keep buying the wrong teas…I don’t know.
If anyone has any really good malty teas to recommend, let me know! Because I really wanna find a good, malty tea!
This one, however, is not as bad as expected.
It’s like half malty and half woody. It’s initially a light malt flavor but then changes to wood. It’s weird. But not actually that bad. I would drink this again. Wouldn’t buy it, but would drink it again willingly.
Harney & Sons sent me 4 tea bags of this as free samples. xD Guess they really wanted me to try this one-haha! As I’m finishing the first steep I actually can see this tea growing on me. But I guess I will see what happens with the next three tea bags. :P

I’ll have to try this again but it tasted vegetaly to me.

Not sure why but a lot of the harney & sons black tea samples i got all have a similar smell with something added to give them a flavoring.

So this has been my only tea for the past few days while travelling for work again. I’m back home again but only for a day before it’s off again. I’m hoping i’ll get a bit of a chance to have a few delicious cups tomorrow morning before it’s back to drinking this again…since i MAY have taken a few extra bags from the hotel i was in haha. I actually am ok with this one in bagged form, though i’d like to try it in loose form. I also haven’t yet figured out if i like the normal version or the “organic” version better…unless they’re both the same thing but package differently lol. all in all, happy to be home…will be nice when i can stay here for a few weeks in a row!

Final Count: 87 (courtesy of the single cup samples cookies sent me..so i’ll be back down in no time!)

Ok, I think I brewed this right this time. I used a bit of honey and some milk, took a sip. This is not earthy….this is EARTHY!!! Like I just face planted with my tongue out in an unplowed field. I liet it sit for about 3 minutes (while I wiped the imagined dirt from my face) and tried again….ok, much more reasonable. Now it reminds me of a freshly planted garden on a cool damp day. Strange how it can change like that! This is my first foray into Keemuns, so I can’t rate it to others, but it’s not unpleasant. I may even like it in the future, once my palate grows. For now, I still favor Malachi McCormick from Harney, as it has a lovely assam/keemun blend that my tongue seems to relate to better…. for now.

Not bad for a bagged tea, but not nearly as strong as it should be.

This is our daily go-to household tea. It has a rich, slightly floral aroma and the low astringency we prefer. I usually drink this brewed strong, steeped long, and with honey and half&half added. This tea feels substantial, but it doesn’t take up so much attention that it has to stand alone.

Not as strong as I’m used to. I hate to say, but i preferred pg tips over this when stained a bit with milk. However, the english breakfast is the clear winner when enjoyed straight.

Light yet still a well-rounded flavor and enough smoothness and body to drink it straight… I sometimes add almond milk to black tea to accomplish that. The slight caramel sweetness was just right but there was also a little perfuminess that was just a note or two too much for me to make this a staple, though I’d be happy to drink it in a restaurant.

Some years ago, my mom received a gift basket with some Harney’s English Breakfast tea included. She gave it to me and I thought it was the smoothest EB tea, with no bitterness. This was before the internet included so much, and I searched off and on for a few years before I found a place to buy it. I have loved it since and it is still my favorite to drink in the morning while at work. It is fairly robust and I brew it about 4 to 5 minutes at the most. Now that I have found Harney’s website, I hope to try more of their teas.

This is a fine, dark brew with an ever so slight smokiness and a crisp, dry finish. Just a touch of cream and sugar will round out the flavor and soften the edges, but too much will chase away its complexity. It has a bold yet subtle and slightly mysterious character, like a demure beauty whose understated elegance belies a ruthless cunning.