Irish Breakfast Tea

I posted elsewhere that, having been on the road for a week, the hotel tea was just not doing the job. Bigelow English Teatime, while perfectly acceptable, was not countering the long conference days and nights without my own tea in my own cup in my own jammies.

This kept me upright. Nashville is growing crazy fast—we counted nine high-rise cranes at work at once; mostly apartments. The completed buildings have nifty little trails and green space and parks behind them—and one full-size Publix underneath them! A friend and I just walked up and down the aisles to gawk and see what the city folks buy. (Cut me some slack. My little hometown is population 1,051). At any rate, they had Twinings, it was strong enough to counteract the Styrofoam-and-plastic cups and lids, I am one little plane ride away from home, and I am TIRED.

This tea is one I commonly drink at work when I need a little caffeine boost. I like starting my day with coffee, but after that, it’s tea all the way. I keep some at home so I can benefit from it there as well. It comes in tea bags. I steep mine for the recommended four minutes. The color is a dark amber. It has the smell of a strong-brewed black tea. The taste is intense and slightly bitter with a dry finish. It feels a little heavy in the mouth which gives it a nice richness. I feel like the strong flavor works well with the high caffeine level to help perk you up. It also seems to warm you up on the inside in a way I would compare to the internal warmth you feel from the spiciness of a chai. Definitely a good cold-weather tea.

I’ve never been a huge fan of straight black teas, but as a St. Patrick’s Day baby I felt inclined to give an Irish Breakfast blend a go. My coworker is a big fan of English and Irish Breakfast teas and donated a bag of this Twinings of London bagged tea so I could review it on my blog. I’m not particularly a fan of bagged tea, either, but she claimed it was a “better brand” and I wasn’t going to turn down some free tea.

The scent of this tea brought back so much childhood nostalgia… I was instantly transported back to my grandmother’s house! It occured to me, that growing up as a small child, I associated a single scent as the “smell of tea,” much like one might associate a single scent with the smell of coffee, and that “tea smell” always made me think of my grandma’s house. Of course, now that I’m grown and have become an avid tea drinker, I know that each tea has a very unique aroma, but now I know… my grandma must have been drinking an Irish or English Breakfast blend!

As far as the taste, it wasn’t as bad as I remember. Usually straight blacks just come off too harsh for me so I prefer flavored blends with some sort of desserty or spicy or fruity taste, but trying it “English style” with a bit of milk and sugar, I actually found it quite pleasant! Perhaps my palate has just changed over the years, or maybe I just needed to take it English style to balance the astringencies.

I’m sure I would enjoy a looseleaf variety more, but as far as bagged tea goes, I was pleasantly surprised!

Full review: https://teatimetuesdayreviews.wordpress.com/2017/03/14/tea11/

Favorite bagged breakfast tea. Used to be my go to tea before I finally gave in to the world of loose leaf.

Big bold black tea.
Is nice, but prefer the English Breakfast Tea. Nice change from my fave Lipton

So this is my first tea rating, and with only 15 years of experience on earth, my tea knowledge is not all that it could be. All in all, I quite enjoyed this. I brewed it for four minutes and let it get fairly dark. I then drank it and quite liked it. without any milk it is fairly strong but I don’t find the flavours overpowering.

I love the full flavor of this tea. Earl Grey and Irish Breakfast are my must have in the morning. I love the full flavor, I drink it black, even though I tend to over steep…. all the time, I find this tea very good.

Steeped a cup of this in attempts to invigorate myself on a grey Michigan afternoon. It is very hearty and full-bodied; every sip seems to fill your mouth with a dark, lingering malty taste. It somehow reminds me a little of green tea (?), only much heavier.

Contrary to Twinings’ recommendation, I’ve only had it plain, so I can’t speak to its taste with milk and sugar!

Happy 200th Tasting note to me! I haven’t reviewed anything more than once so this is actually my 200th tea to review! :)

This is one of the teas I bought for a guest that’s staying over. I tried a small cup (not too much cause black tea can upset my stomach). I steeped it for a very short time in 200 degree F water, and the taste is a standard, only slightly bitter, strong black tea. I’m not as good at picking up subtle tastes in black tea (compared to green tea), so I hope this review is sufficient!

This is one of my favourite Twinings teas. It has a stronger flavour than the Twinings English Breakfast. It’s great hot, but it’s also very good iced.