English Breakfast Tea

[stu42j]

I recently started drinking "English Breakfast Tea" bought here in the US. It does taste exactly like the tea I drank every morning on my B&B trip in Ireland. (They also sell "Irish Breakfast Tea" but I doubt if I'd be able to tell the difference.)

So, anyway, what would you call it in the UK? Breakfast Tea? or just Tea? Do you have a wide variety of teas for different times of day or different flavors?

[cbrzychcy]

I drink Twinings English and Irish Breakfast teas. The do taste different, albeit subtly. The Irish has a bit of a 'lighter' (mellower?) taste to it. Kind of like the difference between a light roast and a medium roast coffee. I am a die hard coffee drinker so I actually prefer the English Breakfast as opposed to the Irish Breakfast, especially since I've taken to adding milk to my tea.

Sorry that all that jabber didn't actually answer your question, but I have no clue! I just wanted to throw what two cents I had in, even if it was the wrong two.

[Dunx]

As I recall, you do buy English Breakfast Tea in England. Having said that, I am so completely wedded to the wonders of Yorkshire Tea that it is basically all I drink.

[Louise]

Living in Canada, I could not get used to to the Tea and had to have it sent. I realised that the Brits drink tea from Ceylon, India and the North Americans drink tea from China. So I finally found a tea called Dilmah... The nearest match. Luckily we have lot's of Ex Pats here and our Super Market figured it out so we have expensive English Imports - Including PG Tips, Baked Beans, Campbell Tomato Soup, Jaffa Cakes, Quavers, Hoola Hoops, Flakes etc etc etc. It was fun at first but my tastes are adjusting. But the Yorkshire Pud mixes are to die for!

[chris]

This made me think that it'd be handy to have a forum section devoted to finding British things outside Britain. So I made one, using my great powers.

viewforum.php?f=13

Chris

[Maija]

I drink Twinings English and Irish Breakfast teas. The do taste different, albeit subtly. The Irish has a bit of a 'lighter' (mellower?) taste to it. Kind of like the difference between a light roast and a medium roast coffee.

How odd. I find that it's the other way around - that the Irish Breakfast Tea (in Ireland refered to as 'tea') is more "hardcore" than the English one (I don't think the English call it anything in particular, as many aren't even aware of the existence of English Breakfast Tea). It seems that if you order tea in the UK you will get lighter fare; PG Tips, Yellow Label (why?), Earl Grey etc. However, both the Irish and the English breakfast teas are based on Assam tea, which is rather strong. I suppose it's down to how long you let the tea brew, which particular brand you use etc.

I'm also on the Yorkshire tea wagon, by the way, which is going to be quite a problem when my current box is empty. I can buy it online, but they charge insane amounts for shipping outside the EU

[SepticTone]

Frankly, nobody in Britain apart from the Queen & her hangers-on gives a flying fid what sort of tea they drink, & it's certainly never referred to as 'Breakfast Tea', as if there's a special kind of tea you have at breakfast. This term is just a marketing device to fool foreigners into thinking it's a special blend, & to charge them more. The Irish, being basically Brits with funny accents and bombs, eat & drink precisely the same stuff as we do on the mainland.

Tea is tea. It comes from India. It is always drunk with milk, and always hot. It has different brands. It is totally different from the 'tea' one finds abroad, being about 100% stronger & darker. A popular term here for strong tea is that one should be able to stand a spoon up in it. The idea of drinking tea without milk, and 'iced' would fill the average Brit with revulsion.

Oh, & with lots of sugar, too: 2 teaspoons for me, thanks.

[lornawynn]

We'd always used Tetleys since we came to Canada, until we discovered we can get http://www.yorkshiretea.co.uk/ at a local British food store in Steveston. Eeh lad.. it's reet good and even better when we get the leaf tee instead of the bags. Always with milk... though I haven't taken it sweetened for many, many years.

[lornawynn]

We'd always used Tetleys since we came to Canada, until we discovered we can get http://www.yorkshiretea.co.uk/ at a local British food store in Steveston. Eeh lad.. it's reet good and even better when we get the leaf tee instead of the bags. Always with milk... though I haven't taken it sweetened for many, many years.

Guess I should have looked at the whole site before posting this... there's already a thread for it! Oh well...

[lornawynn]

Frankly, nobody in Britain apart from the Queen & her hangers-on gives a flying fid what sort of tea they drink, & it's certainly never referred to as 'Breakfast Tea', as if there's a special kind of tea you have at breakfast. This term is just a marketing device to fool foreigners into thinking it's a special blend, & to charge them more. The Irish, being basically Brits with funny accents and bombs, eat & drink precisely the same stuff as we do on the mainland.

Tea is tea. It comes from India. It is always drunk with milk, and always hot. It has different brands. It is totally different from the 'tea' one finds abroad, being about 100% stronger & darker. A popular term here for strong tea is that one should be able to stand a spoon up in it. The idea of drinking tea without milk, and 'iced' would fill the average Brit with revulsion.

Oh, & with lots of sugar, too: 2 teaspoons for me, thanks.

Nope... disagree with you there. Tea is NOT just tea. When we first arrived here in '82 I was disgusted by the gnat's pee that was served up as tea. It's definitely not just just a marketing ploy as the stuff that was previously available was produced for the American palate.
I must admit it has changed quite a bit in the last 20 years with the availability of such delights as "English Breakfast". But, seriously, if you've ever had a naff cuppa in the North American continent you'd know why most ex-pats are so passionate about the subject.