Yorkshire Breakfast Tea

As you may know, I try to not buy too many teabags because they are expensive for what you are getting and usually not the best quality.  However, I've been craving a good black tea lately and have heard great things about Yorkshire.  This box of 20 tea bags was $2 at Big Lots, so I figured I'd give it a try.

Outsides:  I have no idea what kinds of teas are going into this breakfast blend, but they're typically largely made up of Assam and this one smells like it.  I really appreciate the packaging on these.  The sachet is inside of a nice foil/cellophane packet that will keep it waterproof and the actual tea sachet is very large and gives tons of room for the tea to expand.  I was making a pot of O'Sullivan's favorite so I just used the leftover water (it's probably 98 degrees Celsius or lower) and let it steep for about 4 minutes.  The color is a rich reddish brown and it smells like a strong breakfast tea, a little citrusy and a little sweet.

Insides:  First off, this tea is incredibly smooth.  There's a bit of bitterness, but it's not really a problem since the tea itself is rather crisp and sweet.  The quality used here is good and I feel like the bag's design helped it develop a full flavor with sweet notes and more citrusy notes while not tasting as acidic as a lot of cheaper teas tend to be.  The finish is nice and smooth too, no bitter aftertaste.  I've been drinking this a lot between classes in order to pep up a bit, and it's great with sugar and cream (I'm drinking mine with honey and lime right now).

Overall:  I'm glad I bought this tea.  It's a great bagged black tea

My Rating:  Buy it!

Yorkshire Tea is a fun little English tea brand that is owned by Taylors of Harrogate.  You can probably find this at Big Lots but I've seen it at local grocery stores.

Zen Tea's O'Sullivan's favorite (Irish Breakfast Tea)

Life Pro-Tip:  Baking Soda with warm water does wonders for carpet stains.

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.