Leadenhall Street Breakfast Blend TB02

It kind of smells like Autumn…wet, dirty, smoky leaves.
It is extremely dark brown in color once infused much like coffee-color.
This is intensely strong, somewhat bitter, thick, and everytho it’s supposed to be a combo of an Assam AND Ceylon AND STILL YET a Breakfast Tea…I’m left with question marks. It’s a bit more bitter than my “I’m ok with this amount of Bitterness” goes.

I will mess with the times down the road and maybe tweak my rating but – this one leaves me with more questions than answers.

I appreciate it’s STRONG but I was hoping for awesome and the bitterness is just too bitter to be awesome, ya know what I mean?

Psalm 111:2 says I’m not pondering enough. So I am basking in a slow and quiet morning of thanksgiving and pondering—-life, the unverse, and good tea. Conclusion: God is big and I am small and I am amazed.

I can’t reach as firm a conclusion about this Upton Breakfast blend. The smell in the sample pouch was deep and grainy—a scent to make Assam lovers swoon.

Steeped, well, I’m not sure what I’m getting. Feels good and thick in the mouth, but there’s a little off-center sharpness that’s making me scrunch up my face a little. That just may be my cue that this one isn’t to be taken without a little additive. (Off to get milk.)

Today, among many other things, I’m grateful for the funny friendships and conversations I’ve encountered here. Be thankful.

Backlog:

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this tea.

Delicious and robust. A nice balance between the Ceylon and Assam teas used in this blend. The Ceylon is bright and the Assam is rich and malty. The overall cup was very satisfying … a good Breakfast Blend. I brewed my cuppa for 2 1/2 minutes in my Breville One-Touch … I don’t recommend oversteeping this tea … my cup wasn’t bitter, but there was a fair amount of astringency to the cup.

This smells like hot cider… Why does this smell like hot cider? It’s not just the cup either, the wet leaves in the tea maker smell uncannily like apple cider. Husband made a face and says it tastes floral, not so much but it had a sharpness early on that mellowed in the cup. It’s growing on me… Second steep with a quarter teaspoon of rock sugar, removes the one note I dislike and replaces it with light sweetness and it still smells of cider. I like this… it’s a Ceylon… and an Assam… and a Breakfast Tea… and I like it, my goodness what is going on with the world?

This tea is strong. Smells the way I imagine a breakfast tea should smell. A bit bitter but somehow, drinking this piping hot makes me feel up and at’em! The bitterness increases as it cools down.

I enjoy it very much with some honey and milk – a good replacement for a breakfast coffee in my opinion.