Good morning and welcome English Breakfast Tea. Grab your cuppa and settle in…
Some take this tea for granted. Writing it off as plain or even boring. Others revere its simplicity and classic black tea taste and will not entertain the idea of drinking anything else. Some enjoy this elixir straight, while others prefer to embellish with cream and sugar. In either scenario, English Breakfast drinkers are loyal to their brew.
What appears to be just a simple black tea, is anything but. Many are unaware that unless it’s a Single Origin black tea, it’s actually a black tea blend – which in general means that different lots of black teas are combined to make what has typically become known as English Breakfast. (Or Irish or Scottish.)
Black tea is purchased at auctions and then blended to fit a specific desired flavor profile. An example of this would be Twinings which tastes the way it does because different teas are blended together to match their brand taste/profile. There is no Twinings tea bush growing somewhere that they pluck from and process. It takes a highly seasoned and experienced tea master to blend and make it taste the exact same way year after year. Tea is a crop after all and subject to environmental changes which affect its flavor.
So what exactly is English Breakfast tea and where did it come from?
Evidently, it all started with Catherine of Braganza – the Portuguese wife of Charles II. (The English have a foreigner to thank for introducing tea and helping it become a staple in the English lifestyle.) Catherine had grown up drinking tea and brought it with her when she made her way to England in 1662. Because of her, it became fashionable for the upper class and royal court to drink tea. Over time tea gradually made its way through class structure “turning it into the class-boundary-busting drink it is today.”
Though it’s not entirely known how tea became the preferred morning drink at breakfast, there are some theories that King Charles successor, Queen Anne (1665-1714), chose to drink tea over ale (aka: beer) with her breakfast. Others soon followed and it became well established as the morning drink of choice by the 18th Century.
What many might find surprising is that English Breakfast Tea wasn’t even “invented” in England. It was first developed by the Scottish Tea Master Drysdale in Edinburg. The original blend was a combination of fine black teas from India and China and included some Keemun which is a full bodied black Chinese tea that is often toasty. He simply called it “Breakfast Tea” – and because Queen Victoria loved “all things Scottish” it immediately became popular. Tea merchants in London used the power of branding and marketing and changed the name to what is now known as ENGLISH Breakfast Tea which is how its most commonly known today.
Most tea companies have a version of English Breakfast which can greatly vary in aroma and taste. Some use heavy China black teas, others a combination of Indian black teas. Ours is a blend of Indian black teas. It’s smooth, classic and is missing the heaviness and “smoke” in the aftertaste common in other blends. We drink it in its natural state without cream and sugar, but it does stand up well to both.
This week we delight in offering our Breakfast Blend for the 3rd week of our Random Acts of (Tea) Kindness Holiday Sale, enter code: RATKBB at Checkout on our website to enjoy 25% OFF our Breakfast Blend. Discount ends on Thursday Dec 21th at 11:59pm.
Be sure to tag us on social media (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook) with #PFTeaKindness with one of your Pearl Fine Teas and you may be the recipient of a FREE Breakfast Blend!
Cheerio and Happy Sipping!
~The Chief Leaf
TeaLove® Blog 
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