Imperial Breakfast Blend

oh yes, this is fabulous! love the cinnamon and freshwater notes. Reminds me of Keemum, or Golden Monkey.
Rating: 90
There are drum beats pulsing in my head at the moment so will write more later. Tylenol… please work your magic!

As an RN, I was thinking, has anyone else noticed that what used to be considered quirky or eccentric has now been given a name and put in the United States DSM-IV ( Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) The next revision will appear in 2013 and will “tea obsession disorder” be in there? If so, I’m sure I have it! And you know what? I’m not looking for a cure! So after finishing my Golden Monkey tasting, I went on to Imperial Breakfast Summer Blend. For some reason, I never made notes the 1st time with this, but I’m really loving it today. Others have done a better job of describing the notes than I can, but it is a wonderful blend, great for any time of day really. I just wish I had a little more left!

I still don’t care for the amount of Laoshan Black in this blend, but steeped this way it’s pretty good. Less dirt, more chocolate.

2 tsp tea in 18 oz water, poured over 2 spoonfuls of a friends plum jelly. Mmm.

Ohhh this is lovely! I missed out on the original Imperial Breakfast, but I love Laoshan Black, Wild Picked Yunnan Jin Jun Mei and Big Red Robe and will be trying the Aged Silver Needle and Willow Grove later today. I’m greeted first by light silvery chocolate sweetness, yes definitely the Laoshan (also can’t wait to try the new harvest of it by itself) and maybe some sweet sparkling notes from the shu. Then it turns all warm and sunny, liquid gold, a bit buttery with a dash of cinnamon and black pepper, ah the taste of Yunnan. Then back comes the chocolate with a stoutness this time (Big Red Robe) and then all those flavors meld and round each other out and I find my cup is empty with all the flavors lingering on my palate and that was just one five second steep.

Edit: Have yet to brew this western style for the husband, but drinking this morning the first infusion is like eating cocoa butter, not that I’ve ever ate cocoa butter mind you, but this is what it reminds me of. Second infusion is like dipping bits of dark rye bread into this cocoa butter and the third is more like the bread itself. While I prefer the first and second, it is a lovely gradual way to greet the day. There shall be much rejoicing with the Autumn Blend is made ;)

This summer blend is true to its name! Sitting on my couch with of cup of this sweet nectar, watching the morning sun rays radiate a gentle morning summer heat. Hearing the birds (there are gorgeous blue jays around my area! I have never seen one up close until we moved to Halifax). It’s all part of the same experience – it’s all here in my cup!

The first thing I notice with this tea is a caramel note – it’s in the colour, taste and smell. There’s a lightness to this tea – in the texture and way it fills you mouth – not the flavour! The flavour is full and intoxicating. What I love about this tea is how it’s relaxing yet invigorating at the same time. It’s not a kick in the pants – but it drags me awake just the same.

J’adore this blend. The Big Red Robe and Willow Grove puerh add a touch of earthiness that doesn’t overpower at all – it’s running almost as an undercurrent to add movement and depth to the blend, while the touch of aged Silver Needle adds a brightness and a refreshing lightness to the sip that just jives so well with summer.

I haven’t even begun to touch the surface of how delicious this new, summery Imperial Breakfast is. I cannot wait to try it iced!

I could look at the dry leaf all day long. Beautiful and interesting. This is topped only by the aroma out of the bag. Just Wow! honey drenched burnt caramel. Again, just Wow! I steeped one minute per directions. I think two would be more to my personal tastes. It is a little lighter than the scent suggests. But man is it tasty. White, puerh, black, oolong – its all in there. It tastes mostly of Yunnan black and dark Wuyi. Malty, light cocoa, burnt caramel, light hints of cinnamon. As usual I liked it best as it approaches room temperature. Thanks Terri for sharing this jewel.

5/5, would drink every morning if I could!

Ack, this is crazy delicious. It’s sweet and heavy both in aroma and taste, full of all those rich bases, so you get lots of sweet potato and chocolate and cinnamon and that toasty carbiness (malt I suppose, but to me it’s roastier too), but it indeed has nods to more traditional breakfast blends in that there’s a pleasant briskness and strength, a very “this is waking me up” aspect whose stiffness never reaches the unpleasant point so many breakfast blends do. I think the rich sweet quality of those tea bases has a lot to do with that, smoothing it out. I can’t get over how delicious this smells. If this was still in stock and I was a fancypants I wouldn’t hesitate to stock up and make it my first-thing breakfast tea. It functions beautifully that way, serving its purpose by perking you right up, but it’s also a fantastic, luxurious treat in a cup, as if you’re spoiling yourself every morning. I’d feel like I was pulling a treat yo’self every day, more than if I made waffles. :b I love it.

Also, if this is what pu erh is like, that intense awesome sweet but earthy aroma both dry and steeped, sign me up. I might need to try Mandala sooner than later.

Finishing up my sample of this. :( it is SO SO good. I’m really hoping this one gets brought back.
This time around I had about 3 heaping teaspoons of this left, which is usually too much for one steeping but not enough for two. So I just used the whole thing with only a 45 sec steep time. And it is incredible. I think I have been converted to brewing with more tea, shorter steep time. I am going to steep these leaves until I can’t squeeze any more flavor out.

Sipdown #51

The dry leaf aroma is intoxicating! It smells predominately of Yunnan Black and Bai Mu Dan. The brewed tea aroma is mostly Yunnan Black.

Wow! The taste of this tea is incredibly unique and familiar all at the same time. I can taste the Yunnan and the Laoshan, the Bai Mu Dan, and a hint of Shui Jin Gui Wuyi. How can this tea be so amazingly complex and yet distinctively each tea in the blend? All I want to do is buy more of this tea!!! But it’s currently out of stock. :( I guess that’s God telling me to stop buying new teas.

Second infusion for 2 minutes yielded a very different cup but still a very tasty one. It’s softer, more balanced, and more cohesive now. I then cold brewed the next cup overnight. This blend makes for a yummy cold brew even on the third infusion! I really like this tea, and I’m sad it’s gone. But I’m very happy I decided to buy a sample and had the opportunity to enjoy many delicious cups!

I didn’t love this tea the first few times I tried it so I took it out of the rotation for awhile. I think the wuyi oolong tastes just doesn’t work for me. But I was in a pinch this morning and made it in my favorite portable steeping mug since I knew it could be resteeped a few times.

I actually really enjoyed it! I was prepared to be bugged by the Wuyi, but instead enjoyed the buttery nuttiness it adds. Yay! This will be coming with me on my trip!