French Breakfast Tea

Feeling better today, so I started the morning with this tea. I’m going to have a Mariage Freres tasting day today, I think. I’m still not in the mood for anything heavily flavoured, so I’m going to start getting my tea mojo back with a couple of these.

This could well become a favourite with me. It’s so chocolatey and gorgeous, and very easy to drink. It’s sweet, malty, with delectable notes of dark cocoa, and not a hint of astrincency. A perfect plain black blend, in my estimation! It’s nice to be drinking tea again :)

This was sent to me by the wonderful Sil.

Having this tea as I’m getting ready to go out.

Whoa! Did not expect to like it this much. I have no idea what’s in a French Breakfast, and Mariage Frères not giving any detailed info on most of their blends, there’s no way of knowing. It bugs me cause I like to know exactly what I’m having.

The smell once brewed gave me the impression it was going to be smoky. Not in a Lapsang kind of way, but more of a Keemun. Smoky yes, but it doesn’t taste nearly as much as it smells and that makes me happy. Not a fan of heavy smoke. I forgot to examine the dry blend of my sample, but from the look of the picture and the taste, I would think golden tip Assam, and maybe Darjeeling and Ceylon? I’m just guessing here, from the level of fruitiness and astringency. (I steeped a good five minutes, 2 tsp in a 12oz mug.)

Anyways, whatever is in there, it’s a lovely tea, gave me the kick I needed to go and accomplish undesired duties!

Thanks a lot Sil, really digging this one :-)

Thank you Scheherazade for this sample.

This tea is strong with malty and smoky tones. Thick and velvety with sweetness and a touch of astringency. A drop of milk smooths it out nicely and brings out more strength whilst lowering the astringency. As it cools the smoke becomes stronger but the sweetness continues into the after taste.

A nice breakfast tea, my husband was also a fan of this one.

Casey and I are drinking a pot of this tonight. We are maybe two pots away from a sipdown.

This doesn’t taste as strongly flavored as last time, but I’ve been drinking a lot of flavored teas today. I’m also noticing some vanilla, which I wasn’t sure was present last time I brewed this. It’s also more astringent than I remember it being. I still plan on ordering some of this when I place my big Mariage Frères order in March, mostly because Casey really likes this, but otherwise I probably wouldn’t purchase again.

I’m not sure what sort of tea is in here, but unlike the English Breakfast version, this one appears to have Orthodox leaves. They’re mostly dark brown, with some silvery tips. There’s a rather amazing cocoa smell coming from inside the tin, which I’m hoping will show up in the flavor.

The steeped tea smells malty-sweet, with a dark cocoa note. The liquor is dark amber, sort of a light brandy color.

This is more like it. There’s a richness and a smoothness to the tea that was nowhere to be found in the English Breakfast. There’s also flavor. Quite a bit of it. It’s full bodied without being thick or particularly heavy. It definitely has some cocoa in the flavor. Not the candified chocolate of flavored teas, but a beany, planty cocoa note that arises organically out of the tea.

Pretty much everything that rubbed me the wrong way in the English Breakfast has been rectified here. This is a delicious tea. It might be even better steeped a little longer, but I think steeping at slightly under boiling was the right choice.

It does make me wonder whether there was a bit of national chauvinism here since the English Breakfast is basically a barbarian of a tea compared to this one. But far be it from me to incite an international incident. ;-)

This is from a swap with Sil, and I have been kinda of saving it for when I needed a new tea – and this one I thought really likely that I would love. In the shop when smelling all of MF´s breakfast mixes this and American Breakfast (and Sultane) were the clear winners. I ended up buying (and not regretting) American Breakfast, but funnily enough ended up having a swap with Sil because of these two breakfast mixes – I sent her American Breakfast and she sent me this French Breakfast.

And this indeed a lovely elegant breakfast mix, a very classy one. I keep comparing it to American Breakfast which seriously it´s its fraternal twin and they might just fit the stereotype perfectly – french breakfast has a hint of smoke; american breakfast is more exhuberant, maybe sweeter and more intense. I love both, though, despite me usually loving french flavoured teas better, I might just prefer the american breakfast mix (as done by these Frenchmen!). But a difficult choice, they are both excellent.

This cup is just what I needed to wake up and focus on some homework! It’s a bit thick and a little astringent. This seems like it would be the perfect tea to have with milk, but I’m having it plain today. I catch some smoke and some floral notes as well. The floral notes come towards the end of the sip and help to round out the cup. The smoky flavors are quite mild which is nice as I don’t care very much for teas with heavy smoke. There is a bit of a lingering sweetness with the astringency — quite brisk yet smooth. I’m excited to see how this one will be with milk — I’ll add it next time! Thank you to Scheherazade for sharing!

So, when I visited Paris two years ago I loved tea. But that was nothing compared to where I’m at now. I knew very little and didn’t drink nearly as much as I do at this point. I picked this up in the airport as I’d been seeing those black tins everywhere. I liked breakfast teas, it was French, that was all there was to it.

I opened and drank a little of this when I got home and then, unfortunately, the tea was misplaced/forgotten about in a move. When I started wishing I had access to MF teas, I remembered it. What a waste, I thought! It’s pretty old at this point. And the tin has been open the entire time. I was going to try the tea anyway but I noticed a “best before” date stating I should drink it by the end of this year, which egged me on.

So I can’t really tell if this has been diminished by its poor storage conditions. But, it’s still quite nice and very drinkable. It is a lighter breakfast blend, but I find it still has a nice complexity and richness. There are sweet undertones that are really interesting and a little astringency to remind you it’s a breakfast tea.

Living in France, I didn’t even know we had such thing as a French Breakfast Tea, unless it’s made from coffee beans :D But I see quite a few references with this name on steepster, so it must exist. This was a Christmas present, along with my beloved Thé à l’Opera and a rooibos tin.

To the point then. The scent is present, not stong, and it is very pleasant. It smells like the cake we make in eastern Europe for some occasions, which is plain cake with a swirl of a walnut and chocolate paste.. quite a gourmand scent I’d say.

Now this is a light tea, not exactly what I need for breakfast before rushing to the office (I’ll stick with Irish tea + milk here).
It’s more of a spring-vacation-when-you-have-nothing-to-do-but-take-your-time-and-dream-of-beautiful-things,- wearing-L’heure bleue- and-waiting-for-prince-charming-to-come breakfast tea.
I’d definitely have this tea the morning in a café, looking at the sun rise, people going by and just enjoy the day.

Not my usual mornings.

Upon reading other reviews, I’m not entirely sure if i’m confusing the chocolate taste for what i thought was vanilla…. perhaps wishful thinking. Either way, this tea has a creamy/sweet undertone which is absolutely lovely. I’m not really big on citrus notes, and I will consume anything that tastes remotely like vanilla, or ginger, or mint. (I’m really bad at speaking taste bud as well, so if you know my general preferences that may help). I just finished a tin of this, and the cup sitting in front of me really isn’t a proper cup (a lot of tea powder) but this stuff is so good i’m making due. This is one of my favorite “black” teas; it’s very smooth and well balanced. I’d put it on the same level as golden monkey- liquid heaven. Do yourself a solid and pick up a tin, or at least a sample. And pick me up one as well? Cool! Thanks! You’re the best!