Breakfast Blend

I meant to grab Scarlet Sable to bring with me to work but this one is in the same size and color container so… oops. But my Russian blend caffeine ran out about an hour ago so I need something else to perk me up. Sadly, my office has not instituted nap time. (Item #762 on the list “Things to Enact When I Rule the World”).

Smells thick and chocolaty. And raisin-y. The smell is cuddly. The taste is happy. Bright. Snuggly. Sweet. Brisk. And hopefully the caffeine content will lead to the ability to write full sentences.

This tea boldly states, “I AM TEA.” It makes me think of standard teabag tea. If standard teabag tea was actually good. It reminds me of the smell that comes from the Luzianne bags as I make the husband’s gallon o’ iced tea. They strike me as being in the same taste family. But this one? This is the heights to which a standard teabag blend like Luzianne can only hope to achieve. This is a typical, normal, standard, plain tea blend made good. No. Made GREAT. Full, round flavor. This is tea.

And caffeine. Please. Let there be caffeine.
3g/8oz

Finally getting around to trying this one Thanks to Lena, Thanks Lena! I have been drinking my morning black teas but mostly drinking iced teas during the day as it has been so hot here. Anyway I needed something to get me up and rolling this morning so that I could start my tomato sauce early and make the rest of dinner later this way I could work while tomato sauce was simmering.

Anyway did I tell you I love the Breville One Touch it is awesome and I do love it. While I was food processing tomatoes Breville made me tea Yay! On first sip I thought woah this is strong and bitter I think I over steeped it and maybe went too hot with the water temp I did 212 for 5 min. Next time I’ll try lower on both temp and steep times. Anyway after the initial shock to the tastebuds which made me think I might have really screwed up and have to through this pot of tea out I bravely took another sip and it wasn’t bad at all!

I don’t know what was up with my first sip but glad I continued on as it wasn’t bad I get a very faint cinnamony taste and faint hints of floral. I cannot wait to try this tea when prepared properly it is on my list for tomorrow morning. Thanks to Lena for the generous sample I get a second (third and fourth) chance with fresh leaves. Thanks again Lena!

Update: Much smoother at 3 minutes! I like it. It also gives me that caffeine kick which I need.

Thank you so much to LENA for sending me a sample of Samovar’s Breakfast Blend. The dry tea has a very pleasant and sweet aroma. It’s quite robust but the sweetness adds an appealing twist. This is a mannish tea with some real sweet soul.

The brewed tea is quite strong and certainly deserves consideration for anyone looking for a good shot of caffeine. It’s very malty. I added some milk and a bit of sugar and decided I prefer this tea with the additions. The sugar and milk seem to elicit more of the sweet overtones of chocolate and raisin and the milk cuts through the strength a bit to make the tea relax a bit.

I will certainly consider buying a full-size tin of this tea when I, inevitably, place another Samovar order.

Started my day with this tea. Sweet, but not too much. Really delicate for a yunnan. Someone mentioned they thought it was more like a ceylon, that is probably why I like it. While reading the reviews for this tea, I noticed someone said it reminded them of PG Tips, so I did a side by side comparison this morning.:
BB is sweeter smelling and tasting and slightly more astringent, no need for additives. Good plain. It does get bitter as it cools. Which is big draw back for me, at school my tea tends to cool before I can get it all drank. BB is good. Pricey. But good.
PG is bolder and benefits greatly from a milk & sugar addition. PG is good, economical and you gotta love that monkey:)

Now it’s time to start digging into my Samovar black tea sampler pack, and no better place to start on a rainy Monday morning than with their Breakfast Blend. The dry leaf has a nice appearance, with visible golden tips mixed in.

Four minutes in just boiled water and I’ve got a medium-dark brown liquor that has a typical black tea scent with hints of malt and spice. The taste is good – it is brisk, i.e. just the right amount of astringency, and there are peppery/spicy notes that remind me a little of Golden Moon’s Sinharaja, though not as pronounced. This tea is tasty straight up, and with cream and sugar it’s a nice, comforting way to get going at the beginning of the week.

This time I noticed the chocolatly coffee smell as soon as it was done steeping! Very, very tasty. Even better with milk; I think I hit a sweet spot on the leaf/water/temp/time scale today: 1 rounded tsp/8 oz/ boiling water into steam-heated mug. Must go play with the ratings now to bump this one a little

I had my sample of this with breakfast today. It actually reminded me a lot of PG Tips… which means I’ll probably stick to PG Tips and Tealuxe’s Brattle Street Blend for my breakfast tea needs. It was really good; just especially when combined with shipping costs more than other options that are really good as well.

On another note, in my cleaning spree, I found an empty tea tin that was very exciting!! It was a Whittard of Chelsea Oxford Tea, brought (by my parents) to me from Oxford while I was in college. This was the very first loose leaf tea I had, and though I just prepared it using my microwave to heat water and whatever I could find to strain it, it was amazing. So amazing that it propelled me down this path that I’m still on a decade later. Now that I found the tin and know what type it was, I’m going to have to see if I can track some down to see if it holds up to my memory!!

In serious sleep deficit today and trying to get work done at home. Among the bonuses of working at home is total access to all tea-making equipment and all recent loose tea deliveries.

I wanted something black to keep me running, so I chose this to sample. And a fine choice it was. Unless I’m very much mistaken, the black tea here is at least in part the same as in the Earl Grey Lavender that I liked so much. It has the same malt/brown sugar/molasses aroma to the dry leaves, a true reproduction of which can be found in the scent of the tea after steeping, only richer, rounder and otherwise more developed.

If there was a crayon in the Crayola box labeled “Tea,” it would be this blend’s quintessential color: a warm mix of golden, brown, orange and red. (No offense to green tea drinkers intended; I’m just gambling that in Crayola nomenclature-speak your drink’s color would be called “Green Tea.”)

As this is my first non-bagged breakfast blend, I can’t compare it to others, but I can say that drinking it for breakfast would make me happy. Drinking it now is making me happy. It’s luscious. Compared to the bagged versions of English breakfast I’ve had, it is downright voluptuous. It’s what Awake wants to be.

Back to work I go with a smile on my face, and a pleasantly astringent sweet aftertaste on my tongue.

Steep Information:
Prepared in store. Served in a teapot without leaves and a small cup.

Tasting Notes:
Steeped Tea Smell: Honey and black tea
Flavor: Black tea, sweet
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: none
Liquor: hard to see in the dark lounge

MilitiaJim ordered this tea with the Wasabi Caesar Salad w/ Wild Smoked Salmon (Organic hearts of romaine, wild smoked salmon, shaved parmesan, garlic, croutons, & Caesar dressing w/ a wasabi kick)

Post-Steep Additives: MilitiaJim experimented with both the provided brown sugar and cream.

Ordered at the Zen Valley location for dinner with Squash Dumplings w/ Dipping Sauce (Handmade vegetarian squash dumplings w/ spicy sesame-soy sauce).

We were seated in the upper area in the back at a table for two. The back area was dimly lit. The place was a very relaxed atmosphere with an attentive staff. We purchased a tin of Russian blend and tea oil to take home (sadly the tea oil was confiscated by the TSA because we forgot to mail it home or check a bag). The place was not very busy, there were two other couples there when we first arrived for dinner Saturday night.

I enjoyed the other Samovar lounge location more and would prefer to return to Yerba Buena Gardens rather than this one. We did not get to try the Mission-Castro location.

Pictures: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/12/samovar-loose-leaf-black-tea-breakfast.html

Wow, this is malty! I need more English muffin with strawberry jam just to wash down the rest of my tea! This is what Twining’s Irish Breakfast was trying to be. If anyone wants to pinpoint what a “malty” flavor is, start and end your journey right here. This is fantastic! The leaves actually hold up to a second infusion pretty well too.