East Frisian

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Black Tea
Flavors
Astringent, Malt, Earth, Bread, Toast, Bitter, Nutty, Honey, Lemon
Sold in
Bulk, Loose Leaf
Caffeine
High
Certification
Kosher
Edit tea info Last updated by Shae
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec 5 g 11 oz / 312 ml

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45 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Tea of the morning…… (SRP #26) I have had this sample in my stash for quite some time. I have been putting it off because I am fairly sure I am not a fan of this strong of tea. Due to my fear of...” Read full tasting note
    85
  • “If this isn’t East Frisian weather, dunno what is (rained all night, hasn’t let up, endless cold and damp and dreary dark…ETA now there’s even a flash flood warning!). I think I like this better...” Read full tasting note
  • “My coworkers and I just went in on a Harney and Sons order so that we could get free shipping, and this was one of the teas that my coworker ordered. He kindly gave me a generous sample. It is...” Read full tasting note
  • “This nice strong tea has a rich malt from the mixed CTC and Broken Assams and the vibrant brightness of Ceylon and Darjeeling. Steep 3 minutes for a great morning blend, or more for a tea that...” Read full tasting note
    87

From Harney & Sons

Fortify yourself with East Frisian, our popular full bodied black tea blend of Darjeeling, Ceylon and Assam. It’s named for East Frisia Germany’s cold, wet, and dreary North Sea coast the ideal spot to drink hot tea. And the East Frisians do! They consume more black tea than anyone else in the world. Kosher.

Ingredients: Black tea

Details: East Frisia in Germany consumes large quantities of tea, so they are large customers for tea merchants. This blend was passed onto us by Bernd Wulf, thus its nickname is “Bernd’s Blend.”

Dry Leaves: The lighter leaves of Darjeeling and Ceylon bring some color to the darker Assam leaves.

Liquor: The liquor is dark brown with a reddish hue.

Aroma: The aroma is hints of malt, and citrus.

Flavors: The tea flavors are a canvas for the cream and crystallized rock sugar the East Frisians they add.

Caffeine Level: Caffeinated

Body: This is on of the most full bodied tea that we offer. The East Frisians like to thicken it by adding cream. And of course, crystallized sugar.

Brewing Time: 4 to 5 minutes

Brewing Temp: 212° Fº

https://www.harney.com/collections/all/products/east-frisian-tea

About Harney & Sons View company

Since 1983 Harney & Sons has been the source for fine teas. We travel the globe to find the best teas and accept only the exceptional. We put our years of experience to work to bring you the best Single-Estate teas, and blends beyond compare.

45 Tasting Notes

77
292 tasting notes

Unusual tea. When drank fresh and very hot, it’s almost a hot tea with a slight cheerios flavor. When it’s cooling, at first i thought it was growing bitter, but was actually the malt and honey coming out. Not bad at all but not a favorite from the company. The taste is certainly not boring or average, it is smooth and in no way artificial, but I’m not crazy about the maltiness that comes through when it starts cooling.

Flavors: Bitter, Honey, Malt

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 4 min, 45 sec 1 tsp 5 OZ / 147 ML
Nichole/CuppaGeek

Sounds interesting!

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90
251 tasting notes

I only had a sample of this that I ordered with my last restock of Florence, Paris, and Scottish Morn, so this is already a sipdown. A pleasant one for sure though- at least for people who like strong black teas. This blend is more in line with Scottish Afternoon if I had to pick another Harney tea to compare it to, but I still prefer my beloved Scottish Morn to either. I think it is the Darjeeling- I just tend to gravitate away from it towards Yunnan, Ceylon, etc. If you love Darjeeling though, then this might be perfect with the soft hints of it around the edges. East Frisian is traditionally enjoyed with cream and rock sugar from what I understand, but I only added milk and it was quite tasty. A touch of citrus and strooooong malt to welcome the new day. Yum!

Mike

Ooh, sounds nice! Thanks for the recommendation!

looseTman

Your welcome!

Mike

Thanks to both of you!! :)

Nightshifter

No I haven’t tried it, but now I need to. Thank you! :)

looseTman

Your welcome!

ashmanra

I think I read that Frisian teas are usually drunk with cream and sugar, and I think it is actually cream and not milk. I vaguely remember a reference to them not stirring it in but letting it hover as the “cloud in the tea.”

Nightshifter

Yeah, I thought they drank it with rock sugar and cream traditionally, but I only had milk. It still was tasty, but I am kind of obsessed with Scottish Morn and not such a fan of Darjeeling. :)

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87
1118 tasting notes

I love this tea. I’ve gone through a tin of it each winter for almost a decade now. It has the magical ability to chase away the winter chills when nothing else can. And let me tell you, as someone who hates being cold, I appreciate anything that helps me warm up when the temperature drops outside.

This is a wonderfully robust blend. The mix of Assam, Ceylon, and Darjeeling is lovely. There’s lots of malt and bread notes as well as a light lemony flavor and a bit of a honey note. The flavors are consistent throughout the cup. There’s also some astringency at the end of the sip. I know some people don’t like that, but I’m a fan. This blend is designed to take cream and sugar well, and it does. For those times that I want the tea sans additions I’ll steep it for three minutes. Today I let it steep for five and I added heavy cream and sweetener. I regret nothing.

Flavors: Bread, Honey, Lemon, Malt

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec
tea-sipper

A tin a winter?! That is tea love.

White Antlers

I have put this in my cart and taken it out 4 times. It sounds like the penultimate winter breakfast tea. I am, unfortunately, still doing my Swedish Death Purge, and have too much tea to even consider buying any more.

ashmanra

White Antlers: there MIGHT be (ahem) just a wee sample of this on the way to you, so wee it will surely not count against a Swedish death purge!

White Antlers

ashmanra LOL! Thank you. : )

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78
4169 tasting notes

MzPriss’ Unflavored Tea Box – Tea #29
I noticed this looked partially CTC, and I knew Harney’s teas are usually brisk regardless, so I went with a short steep! East Frisian should be brewed with rock sugar in the bottom of the mug and cream at the top without mixing. Though DrJim kindly supplied a couple sugar crystals with this one, I had a honey stick that Maria recently sent with teas I bought so I thought I’d use that instead. The honey is in the shape of a spoon! So cute. A little difficult to get the plastic off without melting the honey in my hands! I tried a little of the tea without sweetening first, and it WAS very brisk and astringent so the honey could only improve it and it did. It seems like the honey may have had another flavor in it too, but I couldn’t tell what it was. The tea itself is a lovely bready malty cup. The second steep was much tamer even without the honey, and even sweetened itself up a bit.
Steep #1 // 1 tsp // just boiled // 2 min
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 min

NofarS

I’ve grown to love East Frisian tea, though I take it with milk, not with cream.

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90
4 tasting notes

This is a delicious black tea. Very strong and hearty, but not bitter at all. It’s kind of “roasty” in a coffee-like way, which probably explains why this coffee lover enjoys it so much. I’m sure it would be great with cream and sugar, but I enjoy it without any additions. I bought a sample with a Harney order because the description of dreary East Frisia and their tea culture sounded so intriguing. This is now one of my favorite black teas, and I ended up purchasing a tin of it after my sample was gone.

Preparation
5 min, 0 sec 1 g 8 OZ / 236 ML

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75
2 tasting notes

A satisfying beverage in the morning or on a cold noon in the winter. The blend is very strong when brewed and I suggest steeping the leaves under 5 minutes. Recommended to people who love strong black teas and suggest to take it with a bit of sugar and cream.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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92
2 tasting notes

East Frisian Blend is my morning cuppa. I find it nice on the tongue (lots of flannel) and delightful with a little milk and honey. I always bring the water to a full boil and steep for four minutes. I’ve tried many other ‘breakfast blends’, this is the one I come back to.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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77
41 tasting notes

This tea has a pleasant aroma and a dark color. It has a nice, full-bodied flavor, with just a very slight hint of dryness or bitterness, which I expect would be absent if steeped for under five minutes. I think the flavor opens up with cream and sugar. This is a good cup of tea.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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56
53 tasting notes

A decent black tea. I think it calls more for a dark sweetener and lemon than cream and sugar. I had mine with milk and caster sugar. I wouldn’t go out of my way to drink it, but it’s a definite “wake up” kind of tea (or a “sleep is for weaklings” kind of tea, really).

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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34
36 tasting notes

I recently tried the two Upton East Frisians and this one. For me the Upton BOP blend was a winner by a long shot. I had to reduce the temperature and brew time from the standard recommended by Harney & Sons (they recommend 212/5 min for all black teas) or it was bitter. Once that was taken care of, I just didn’t care for the taste of the tea.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 4 min, 30 sec

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