New Zealand Breakfast

Another Lovely selection from Miss Sweet and I must say I AM LOVING THIS!!!! I think this is the first New Zealand Breakfast I have ever had.

The color is EXTREMELY Dark. The taste is bold and malty. I like the word Miss Sweet used in her review…MALTYLICIOUS! :)

I can also taste the pine-like comparison and am surprised yet delighted with the outcome of the flavor.

This is the perfect morning cup! And New Zealand should be proud of this little gem!

This is my current breakfast tea favourite! The Assam tea base is delightfully smooth and I can quite easily (and surprisngly) drink this without milk. The addition of manuka leaf makes this blend even more maltylicious than Malty Breakfast Blend – shocking I know. I can’t decide if it is best paired with Eggs Benedict for brunch, or with a large helping of cinnamon cookies fresh out of the oven…

Yum! I generally don’t drink Assam blends as often as I do Darjeelings (because those are m precious), but I clearly have to try anything with ‘New Zealand’ in the name while I’m here, LOL. This definitely works as a wake up tea, and as with all of my plain blacks, I added milk.

Best breakfast tea!! most recommended.

Disappointing. I was hoping the manuka would shine through but all I can taste is a strong bold Assam. Brewed it for 3 min. Will try a shorter steep and see what happens. This tastes no better than generic supermarket English breakfast tea. Why even bother with adding something to a base this strong?

I just finished steep two of this tea, after 2.5 hours of vacuuming in this disgusting heat and humidity (I love the beast, but man, can he shed!). I debated whether I actually wanted hot tea after vacuuming and sweating (and, yes – some cursing), but decided to go for it anyway.

The dry leaf is interesting. LooseTman already said it…short dark twisted leaves, and some tiny dark pebble-like leaves. I’ve never heard of manuka, and since looseTman already provided links in his post, I now know what it is, and I guess that’s what those green leaves in the blend were.

The manuka provided a light aromatic essence of pine in dry leaf form, which I don’t recall getting in my brewed cup in the first steep. But I added a bit of creamer to the first cup, so that was probably why I didn’t get the pine essence. I don’t usually add creamer, but I think my time contraints this morning made me add it, so that I could sip it quickly and do my chores and errands.

I found the pine notes were more prominent in steep 2 – no creamer additives this time. The second steep was malty delicousness. The manuka leaves added an interesting note, with what I might otherwise find to be just another malty assam.

I appreciate the sample looseTman…this was different in a good way! I have enough leaves for a few more cups, and will be very sad when this is gone. Tasty indeed.

Quite enjoyed this Tea, had a decently strong malt flavour as other have indicated, got a hint of pine but didn’t really notice the manuka flavour. The tea also looks amazing straight out of the packet. Photo here: https://flic.kr/p/oms4gz

“What’s in your cup?”
This morning, courtesy of John & Amanda of t leaf T, I brewed New Zealand Breakfast Western style: 8 oz / 1 tsp (2.5g) / 212*F / 2-5 min. without sweeteners, milk, or cream.

Introduction: My wife loves Earl Grey and t leaf T has a large selection of it: https://www.tleaft.co.nz/catalogsearch/result/?q=earl+grey. When I requested samples, this Assam caught my eye. Who doesn’t love a good malty Assam for breakfast? Where else, could I possibly find a true NZ Breakfast tea?

From t leaf T:
“Natural New Zealand Manuka blends perfectly with strong assam tea to make a special blend ideal for the morning and afternoon.”
http://www.tleaft.co.nz/black-tea-blends-1/new-zealand-breakfast-black-tea.html

For those of us from the “up above” (as opposed to the “down under”) you might be asking yourself: ”So what the hell is Manuka?”

1. Images & description: http://www.terrain.net.nz/friends-of-te-henui-group/table-1/manuka.html

2. It turns out that NZ Manuka flowers appear to be very popular for making honey: http://nzmanukadirect.com/

3. Manuka is also known as the Tea Tree:
“The English common name is derived from the fact that early white settlers did occasionally make infusions of tea from the leaves, which are aromatic.”
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/manuka-tea-tree

4. “The leaves contain Leptospermone, an antibiotic agent.”… “The oil extracted contains 120 elements and can be utilised medicinally.” … “This research has validated the claims made for this product with the Therapeutics Section of the New Zealand Ministry of Health.” http://www.purangi.co.nz/estate/tea/manuka.html

5. Manuka is also popular in NZ travel, tourism, & hunting vacations:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g311324-d1440422-Reviews-Manuka_Lodge-Ohakune_North_Island.html
Great Barrier Island: http://www.manukalodge.co.nz/
New Zealand Hunting Safaris: http://www.manukapoint.com/new%20site/Home

And I’ve probably just scratched the surface! Who knew!

Leaf: Two kinds of Assam, 1.) twisted, short, dark chocolate brown, 2.) dark chocolate brown CTC granules, plus light green Manuka leaves
Fragrance: Moderately strong aromatic evergreen / pine
Liquor: Clear amber brown
Aroma: Moderately strong evergreen / pine
Flavor: Malty, aromatic evergreen / pine

2-min.: Medium-bodied, I then let it steep an additional min.

3-min.: Not quite, another min.

4-min.: A rich, smooth, full-bodied, malty Assam with the added flavor of aromatic Manuka, which is felt in the back of the palate in the 2nd half of the sip. There was no hint of bitterness or astringency.

Re-Steeping:
5-min: Not yet.
8-min: Medium bodied & enjoyable. The Manuka flavor is now less pronounced & is now mildly aromatic.

Impression: A truly unique and enjoyable breakfast Assam, especially those looking for a “down under” adventure.

Thanks to John & Amanda of t leaf T for their gracious sample of this very fine New Zealand Breakfast Assam.

Method:
RO water re-mineralized with an Aptera filter http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/39532-puregen-aptera-alkamag-water-filter
http://steepster.com/teaware/teavana/39311-perfect-tea-spoon
http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/37731-my-weigh-durascale-d2-660-digital-scale
Brewed western-style conveniently in a tea mug with a brew basket http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/29177-finum-brewing-basket.
http://steepster.com/teas/davidstea/36677-thermometer-and-timer