The Tea Spot

My every morning, right as rain, ain’t morning without a cuppa tea is Twinings UK packed English Breakfast, with a splash of milk. (Just like my standard generic cup of tea in the afternoon/evening is PG Tips with a touch of sugar). Moring isn’t about adventure, it is about routine, and normalness. Tea blends are made to predictable, and while most geeks focus on the varietals, the “regular bloke’s blend” is very satisfying.

But every now and then, you want something different. I usually go for a pure Keenum, or a high end packers “English/Irish/U.K. Brekkie”, or even a black current black. Usually for a morning or two, then back to my beloved Twinings UK packed. (Most tea blenders adjust their blends for different markets to meet local taste – they are all recognizable as the “name” profile, just different emphisis on the ratio of the component teas, or a different leaf cut (size of the tea leaves affects flavor).

The Tea spot has a reputation of putting out excellent quality, and at times very non traditional, full leaf blends. I usually have a tin or two of their teas in my rotation.

I recently picked up their Bolder Breakfast. It is a ridiculous blend of black tea (Assam and Ceylon, i think), Pu-erh, and a slight touch of dark cocca powder. It is fantastic, a very bold tea: robust black nose, with a hint of chocolate, dark as night in the cup, and a very rounded malty sweet taste leaving the impression ok the complexity of dark chocolate with a thin feel. Boiling @ 5 min, reg sized pot, with a touch of milk (and would consider a touch of sugar, depending on my mood). Again, not for every morning, but a excellent change of pace.

Honestly tastes like the smell of pipe-tobacco. Delicious.

This tea demonstrates how changing preparation methods can result in a dramatically different tea. Conventional steeping in a regular teapot will result in a light honey-like tea. But when prepared in a gaiwan, this tea really comes into its own with serious notes of jasmine, lavender, and clementine oranges.