English Breakfast Tea?

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Jan 15th, '09, 12:20
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English Breakfast Tea?

by shardy53 » Jan 15th, '09, 12:20

I was looking at the description of the Adagio English Breakfast Tea, and it is described on the web site as "Black Keemun tea from the Anhui region of China". I then checked out my box of Twinings English breakfast tea and it says that it is a blend of "Kenyan and Assam black teas". I would like to know how both of these teas could be called "English Breakfast Tea", when they are so different from each other. You would think that there would be some similarity.

If it is not in the basic ingrediants, then what makes it "English Breakfast tea" in the first place?

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Jan 15th, '09, 12:41
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by Victoria » Jan 15th, '09, 12:41

I'm sure it is a blend, not sure why they are not mentioning the Assam in there. You can see the two different leaves in the picture.

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Jan 15th, '09, 13:08
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by Chip » Jan 15th, '09, 13:08

Ah yes, the English Breakfast debate continues. Usually, English Breakfast will include Keemun in the mix, going back to the earliest days of the so called blend.

Today, proprietory blends by every tea company will differ. Considerations will include taste and price of course. Kenyan teas are getting cheap and are produced mainly for the teabag industry and include vast amounts of CTC production. So, it does not surprise me that Twinings includes it in their blends more and more.

Better ones IMHO will include Keemun.

Irish Breakfast on the other hand typically includes Assam instead of Keemun, but today, anything goes. There are no laws saying what must be in an E.B. or an I.B.
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Jan 15th, '09, 13:13
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by Chip » Jan 15th, '09, 13:13


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Jan 15th, '09, 13:42
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by geeber1 » Jan 15th, '09, 13:42

I'm a huge fan of Adagio's Irish Breakfast and can definitely say that there is a big difference between it and their English Breakfast.

I tried their EB and absolutely hated it, not sure what - personal preference or the tea used - but I passed the sample on to someone who appreciated it much more than I did. :)

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