Scottish Breakfast

Another sampler sip down. Loved it especially on a second steeping where any astringency was steeped out and only the malty goodness was left behind. I think of all breakfast teas this may be my favorite. It’s somewhat reminiscent of Yorkshire tea but much less prone to astringency. On further reflection it’s like lapsang souchong’s much milder cousin, and I love a tea that tastes like kindling.

Adagio CommuniTEA – April 5th, 2023

Surprised to see another plain black tea so soon after the Assam a couple of days ago.

This is a nice enough tea, I can taste the savory sweet potato-y notes of the Yunnan black tea, and also the slight briskness and raisin of the Assam. Seems nicely balanced between malty, fruity, sweet, and savory.

Not sure I would order it as I think I prefer a plain Assam or a plain Yunnan, but still a very pleasant tea. I did expect it to be stronger and harsher, maybe my understanding of Scottish breakfast teas is wrong.

I got this for myself because I knew my advent calendar of teas was liable to have a fair number of herbals in it, and in the morning, herbal absolutely doesn’t cut it.

It’s a perfectly nice tea. It doesn’t jump up and grab me the way, say, a Golden Yunnan or other single-source really nice tea does, but it also doesn’t make me sad the way many other blends do. I’m happy to drink the rest of my sample of it over the next month or two, and I’ll buy more if my preferred breakfast Assams are out of stock. It will do very handily.

But it also isn’t Harding Spring. :-)

nicely bold black breakfast tea

Discovering Adagio teas, episode #4 (out of 12).

I can’t believe that this tea wasn’t in Steepster database.
Anyway, the smell is not very strong, but dark, very earthy, with very slight smoky character.
And so is the taste, rich and complex, very deep, slightly sweet, almost not bitter.
I like it more than English breakfast teas, but I probably wouldn’t like to drink it on the everyday basis. And for me it’s more an afternoon tea, not a breakfast one.