Learn More About Loose Leaf Breakfast Tea
Below you'll find more information that will help you understand what a breakfast tea is and help you navigate through choosing the right breakfast tea for you.
Choosing Your Loose Leaf Breakfast Tea
A breakfast tea is traditionally a blend of teas, quite often from various tea growing regions. The loose tea leaves are blended in such a way to give each tea blend a unique character and flavour. The original 'Breakfast Tea' blend is credited to Scottish tea merchant Robert Drysdale in the late 1800's who combined tea leaves from Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Keemun (China) and Assam (India). Historic sources suggest that Queen Victoria tasted this new tea blend during her stay at the royal residence Balmoral and liked it so much returned to England with plentiful supply and the blend became known as English Breakfast Tea!
Jenier were approached in 2019 by the Balmoral Estate to develop a new Scottish blend for them. The Balmoral Tea Blend we created is very much based on the original Drysdale blend of 1800's with a nod to Scottish Tea Pioneers, Robert Fortune and James Taylor and is served throughout the visitor centres on the Balmoral Estate. As Balmoral have given Jenier permission to sell this unique tea blend, it is available for you to buy at wholesale prices too.
Over the years, blending teas from different growing regions has become very popular and in particular, an English Breakfast Tea is notable on most menus throughout the world. However, whilst the name English Breakfast is commonly used, the actual tea blends made by one tea company to the next can vary quite a bit so never assume when buying an English Breakfast that it will be same as the one you have.
What's The Difference Between Breakfast Tea Blends?
One of the reasons for the different Jenier tea blends on offer, is due to how well tea leaves infuse with hard or soft water. Hard water can really affect the taste of tea so we always recommend using filtered water wherever possible. Also, some blends have been made to provide a stronger brew in both colour and taste to accommodate personal preference. None are better than the other, they just have different character and flavour.
We would strongly suggest sampling all the range of the breakfast teas as this is most likely the blend that you will serve the most and the one you'll be known for by your customers. Don't select by name alone - there are reasons why a Scottish Breakfast Tea Blend is called Scottish and an Irish Breakfast Tea Blend called Irish but there is nothing wrong with you serving any blend as your 'Breakfast Blend' so don't restrict your choice by the geographical name given to the teas.
Each tea has a description and a profile where you will find information about the character of the tea and in the profile, more specific information about which growing regions the leaves are from. If you're ordering samples, we will send you a tasting log along with your loose leaf tea samples so you can taste and record your thoughts on the blends. Don't try to taste too many at once though, perhaps no more than 4 or 5 as your taste buds will get tired and you'll find it difficult to taste the nuances of each blend.
How To Infuse Loose Leaf Breakfast Tea
Wherever possible always use fresh, filtered water brought to boiling temperature. Measure one heaped teaspoon of loose tea leaves per cup (a cup size taken at around 230 - 260 ml) infuse from 3 - 7 minutes depending on how strong you like your tea. All our breakfast teas taste delicious with or without milk and of course work well with just a slice of lemon too.
If you'd like to learn more about Black teas and food pairings, check out our post at the Tea Hub: Tea And Food Pairing
