Bewley's

My friend mailed me some tea from Ireland. This tea is delicious and does not need cream or sugar. Nice strong black tea. Not bad for a tea bag. She also mailed me Irish Breakfast that I will try tomorrow.

I picked up a few of these bags randomly while in Ireland last fall. I wish I picked up more. An enjoyable strong breakfast tea. I really needed it this morning and it really hit the spot.

The morning I recently flew to Ireland I was rummaging through my cupboard thinking it was a shame that I didn’t have ONE more cup left of Butiki’s Irish Breakfast (or ANY Irish breakfast) to commemorate the start of my journey. Subsequently I bought just about all the Irish breakfast teas I could find, including swiping all of the Bewley’s tea bags that my hotel provided. I’m under the impression that a hearty tea in the morning is standard for the Irish, but I was surprised that there wasn’t a broader selection of teas.

This steeps up pretty rich, but when I put creamer in it, the flavor almost disappeared. As I sip on the flavor slowly reemerges. There is a dry papery tobacco note to it… maybe a slight bit of malt. I’m not finding that this tea really shines. It’s just a standard bagged tea, not that I expected much else from it. It would be nice in a pinch, but not when I have my cupboard accessible.

This came stocked in my hotel room at the Spencer Hotel in Dublin, Ireland. I like it best with a shorter steep. I drank it plain. For a breakfast tea, it’s not overly bitter. I detect a slight malty note. Overall it’s pleasant and drinkable, good for waking up / staying awake when you need to keep to a schedule because of jet lag.

I’m at a training this week, and this tea has been available every morning, along with the usual suspects: Lipton, Bigelow, etc. It’s a nice tea, nothing special, kind of plain, but it does the job and is much better than the other teas mentioned. It’s slightly bitter, but not too bad. I’m very appreciative that it has been offered. If you come across it, give it a try. :)

Its a really standard black tea, a twist on your typical English Breakfast. Its not smooth – more harsh. I am not a particular fan of it. When it brews it brews strong, I am assuming it has pretty good caffeine content.

Overall nothing special.

Looks like I forgot to add a note for this one.

I’m not really sure it is a tea. That is all.

This was my morning tea of choice this AM. Since I try to get my caffeine in before noon, I really went for it this morning with a strong black tea. My box is almost gone. I enjoyed this tea. Not fancy but reliable. I pretty much knew what I was getting, a tea I can add adequate amounts of sugar and cream to and be truly comforted. A good friend to have on hand.

It may not be morning and breakfast has long passed but I am in urgent need for a builders tea (strong, sweet and milky). I’m trying to do my house chores which should have been done on the weekend but I was out of the house most of the time. I need to defrost my freezer and clean the fridge, mop the kitchen and do some clothes washing. I’ve done a few other bits but my back is killing me today, must have been all the walking I did on the weekend. A cup of tea and a little time to relax should do the trick before I carry on.

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This is a nice tea, subtly smoky and malty but smooth and with good strength. Perhaps not as strong as my personal taste for a breakfast tea but not far off. Half way down the cup and it tastes much richer than it did before and with a touch of gentle spice.

Good quality and nice flavour considering it’s a bagged tea.

This nearly invincible builders’ tea is reserved especially for snowy and weathery days. (Thus a small tin gifted by ashmanra months and months ago is much like Elijah and the widow’s jar of flour. Good story. You should read it.) Steeped it strong and black, let it go cold on my desk till it was stronger and blacker, sloppily heated it back up in the microwave—still drinkable and kept me propped upright all day.

Thick fog this morning. Me and the weather. (Right now, any weather phenomenon that involves moisture is serious atmospheric news.)

So a kick out the door was in order. This did it, although, due to my kitchen sloppiness, I picked up a little bit of yesterday’s Marco Polo in the cup as well. Delicacy with hobnail boots. (Yeah, I know, WASH the tea strainer, don’t just rinse it. I will. Tomorrow. Maybe.)

The only flavor descriptor you need for this one is STRONG. No chestnuts, berries, hibiscus, or scented blossoms wafting on a gentle breeze. Uh-uh.

Stealing a quote note from my friend ashmanra: “If you want a tea to kick your fanny out the door and remind you to eat your veggies OR ELSE, you can stop looking.” Oh, yeah, how I needed it this morning. Eyes won’t open and I list to one side after zoot-suit swing dancing with my kids in music class yesterday. Strained thigh muscles from doing that goofy thing where you wiggle your knees back and forth and cross/uncross your hands at the same time (and, might I add, loving every minute of it).

This time, I let Clipper Gold just barely shake hands with the water (2 min), and it was still sharp and wakey-uppy, but I could taste the subtler notes (burgundy/fruit) and my tongue wasn’t numb ;)

Shorter steep time is a plus when you oversleep and you’re dashing around to get out of the house, huh?

(The sequel)

This stuff has a mind of its own! Left to its own devices in my fridge, it darkened three shades to dark walnut and strengthened three notches as well. I think this is going to be a go-to iced tea at our house.

For hefty tea lovers only…oops, I meant hefty tea lovers, not hefty tea lovers. I’m medium and I like it just fine.

In the tin, this looks almost identical to PG tips loose leaf…tiny, crumbly, and dark. Ashmanra advised that all you need to do with Bewley’s is “show the water to the tea.” I let the introduction linger for a little under three minutes, and wow! What a nice, stiff-upper-lip morning wake-up! First flavor equivalent that hit me was “dark wheat toast.” Hefty enough to be breakfast on its own, and by lunchtime, I believe the pot will be strong enough to walk itself to the refrigerator.

Looking forward to trying some on ice after some manual labor.

bitter, even in a mug mug and at the minimum brewing time listed. No biggie, since I was planning to add Bailey’s anyway. 2 tbsp smoothed it out nicely :-)

Added a touch of honey and 1 oz Baileys Irish Cream. Heaven in a cup….