So, I'm going to assume this is an Irish Breakfast Tea, even though I've never had an Irish Breakfast tea before. Now, when I hear "Irish Breakfast", the horribly offensive part of me thinks this is a coffee with a shot of whiskey in it, home fries with bacon and cheese as well as some pastry in the shape of a leprechaun. What it actually is is a blend of different black teas, a majority of which is Assam or the dark roasts of tea (in robustness). Zen Tea even suggests that it is great with milk and sugar.
Outsides: I don't know what teas are in this (Boo Zen Tea!), but it is Cut/Tear/Cut processed, so the pieces are very small. I brewed about a teaspoon and a half of this in 8 oz of almost boiling water for longer than I should have (6 minutes). The color is dark and red and this has a bit of a malty, but strong breakfast tea smell.
Insides: Without the add-ins, this tea has a strong malty flavor and full body, but is not as undrinkable bitter as I expected it to be. There's also a natural sweetness to it and a full warmth from the maltiness as well as these slight floral notes. Now, I probably should have stopped steeping after about 4-5 minutes, but if you oversteep then you can always add milk and sugar. However, this is what I call breakfast tea. With milk and sugar, the tea flavor is still strong and the sugar works well to bring out the natural sweetness in the tea. This tea can certainly take its flavors and I'm sure honey and some booze would go well with it.
Overall: You can find Irish Breakfasts in other tea companies and probably even cheaper, but this is a good one and may be worth investing in.
My Rating: Try it!
Zen Tea is a Canadian tea retailer that specializes in bringing the world of tea to your cup. They generally have mid to high quality teas.
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