New York Breakfast

Advent Day 19

What is this?! A “like” and a “tweet” button on this tea profile page?! This is new. I even reloaded the page to make sure it wasn’t a glitch. They kind of overlap each other in a strange way. Anyways… tea!

Breakfasty? Check. Cinnamon? Check. It’s kind of pastry like in the finish, not quite yeasty, but some breadiness is in there. The cinnamon is really light and there is a bitterness on the sides of my tongue at the back of the sip. The finish is kind of cinnamon/ashy/bready. As it fades I’m left with light bitter again that makes me want to wash my mouth out with the nearest thing, which is this tea, which starts the cycle again. I don’t think the flavors would hold up to cream. They are subtle and… well… boring. This is a big fat nope.

Dry: It smells nutty almost like candied brittle that you get around Christmas.

Liquor : smooth and smells a bit like pancake syrup! It has a slightly bitter notes at the end. I had it with a bit of oat milk which brought out the taste of syrup . Tasted a bit like walnut pancakes.

I woke up this morning half expecting the site to be down for maintenance or to log in to see an announcement about the official Adagio takeover, but everything seems pretty quiet and pretty much the same. In fact, the first email notification I received today was for a spam post, lol. I’m sure big changes take time, and I’m glad that Steepster is still accessible today (well, for some of us).

According to some of the other tasting notes for this tea, it’s meant to be like a pancake breakfast. I don’t taste pancakes or maple syrup or anything like that, but there is something that does remind me of pancakes. I can’t quite place it, maybe it’s something to do with the cinnamon. I’m probably only imagining it because of the description I read anyway. This didn’t quite hit the spot for me as a breakfast tea; I think I would have liked something a little bolder. I did enjoy it while I drank it though.

Thanks to amandastory516 for sharing! I’m very interested to see what some of the other T2 breakfast blends are about. I hear there’s a sampler.

Superb! Very sweet and pancakey, with a hit of cinnamon, and I can drink this one black without milk or honey/sugar, as it’s really mellow and smooth. This was the standout for me in the Advent Calendar a couple of years ago, and I went on to buy a whole box of it (the teabags). Highly recommended.

This came in the breakfast sampler I purchased on sale after Christmas. I love this type of sampler and have been really enjoying tasting through the set. This one is super nice. A bold, malty black base. Cocoa, vanilla, and a tiny bit of cinnamon. I made it sweetened with a bit of honey, and added a splash of oat milk.

Got it as a free sampler from T2 when I picked up some other tea.

Pretty good spin on a black breakfast tea. I find plain black breakfast teas to be too bitter usually, but this one is quite nice without being too sweet. Its not listed and maybe my pallate isnt as developed but I get a strong chocolate note.

This one is still leftover from my swap with Cameron B. I must say that it definitely tastes like buttery pancakes! I was surprised at the degree to which it does. The aftertaste is bit bitter tasting, which is a little strange since I used a shorter steep than I usually do. If I were at home, I would add some milk to counteract that, but I’m at work, so oh well! I’ll resteep it with some milk later and see if I can bring that buttery flavor out even more.

It’s a solid breakfast tea without being bitter. I don’t get the pancake inspiration, but I swear this does remind me of raisin bread. I distinctly get raisins and cinnamon and bread or pastry. My husband and daughter think I’m nuts, though, about the raisins, so maybe it’s just me…but it was definitely there! I don’t love this as much as some of the other T2 teas I’ve tried, but I do think it’s good and I will enjoy all of it.

Upgrading my rating a bit, and I will repeat here my update on Melbourne Breakfast, since I’m making these both the same newer way (tl/dr: More is Better!):

I’m finding I prefer much higher amounts of leaf than I had been using, so like a level(ish) tablespoon (a bit under 4 grams) for two infusions in my 300 ml cup, sweet and a splash of milk is delicious … Also pertinent: instead of using an infuser in my cup, I used a small teapot. The infuser is pretty big, but free floating then strained is better.

This has been promoted to “Will definitely buy again.” :)

Work – 11:00 AM

So this is meant to be a pancake-inspired black tea.

Personally, I’m underwhelmed by it. I taste a little bit of cinnamon, maybe a hint of vanilla or butter.

Mostly it just tastes like a bland black tea base, not flavorful in the least. I don’t even know how to describe the flavor other than “tea-ish”, which sounds ridiculous.

How do you describe generic-tasting black tea?