Irish Breakfast Loose Leaf Black Tea

A combination of hearty black teas from Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Assam (India) to get your morning off to a bright start. As its name implies, Irish Breakfast tea is an ideal accompaniment to a morning meal. It seamlessly blends the citrusy notes of a high-grown Ceylon with the malty underscore of a pungent Assam. Spicy and jammy aroma on the leaf, malty and deep flavor with a brisk and 'buzzy' mouthfeel. Rounded sweetness in the finish. May be enjoyed plain or with a splash of milk. Irish Breakfast is one of our most popular teas.
 
This tea contains a high level of caffeine | Steep at 212° for 3-5 minutes.
 
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Lore & Ingredients:
 
Blended With Ceylon Sonata Tea & Assam Melody Tea
 
Top of the morning is a salutation which offers the "best of the morning". There's a bit of mystery as to where the term comes from though, which could be referring to the "top" as the best, as the beginning of the morning, or, our personal favorite, as a nod to cream, which rises as the "best" to the top of fresh milk. While the phrase isn't commonly used by Ireland natives today (as the second highest per-capita tea drinkers in the world) their favorite blend clearly is.
 
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All our tea comes from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. The styles of tea are produced by altering the shape and chemistry of the leaf, rather unromantically called 'processing' or 'manufacturing.' To ensure the best quality and value, we import our teas directly from the countries in which they are grown, working closely with the farmers who tender them.
 
For our flavor teas we use high grown teas from the top 3 tea growing regions of Sri Lanka - Nuwara Eliya, Dimbula and Uva. These three high-grown districts produce flavorful teas that have classic 'Ceylon' tea character which is noted by floral bouquet and flavor notes, touches of mild astringency, bright coppery color and, most importantly - perfect for use as the base tea of our flavored teas. (We have tested teas from various other origins around the world as base stock for our flavored teas, but none of these teas made the grade.) Dimbula and the western estates of Nuwara Eliya have a major quality peak during Jan/Feb, whereas Uva and the eastern estates of Nuwara Eliya have their peak in July/Aug. This 'dual peak period' allow us to buy the best for our flavored tea blends several times during the year, ensuring top quality and freshness.
 
We specifically use only natural flavors. High quality tea tastes good and natural flavors do not mask the natural taste of the high grown tea. (The norm for many making flavored tea is to use overpowering artificial flavors, which can be used to hide lower quality tea). Natural flavors do not leave an aftertaste giving the tea a clean and true character. It should be noted that natural flavors tend to be somewhat 'soft ' and the flavors slightly muted, but for many this is a refreshing change and one of the desired attributes of our naturally flavored teas.