A Belated St. Patrick's Day Review -or- Irish Breakfast Tea/Cream Irish Breakfast Tea

The Irish drink more tea per capita than anyone else on Earth--an average of four cups per person per day.  Irish Breakfast tea is often the preferred blend, to the point that a request for "tea" will bring Irish Breakfast.  Barry's and Lyon's are the top competitors in Ireland, while Twinings is the most common Irish Breakfast blend in the states, but aside from bag tea, there are many different fine Irish Breakfast blends available here in America.  I traveled to London and Ireland in 2008 with every intent of drinking many a cup of fine tea.  Unfortunately, between jet lag, lack of sleep from unfamiliar conditions, and the general need to get up and go, I spent the entire trip subsisting on bad instant coffee and never actually had a cup of tea.  It's a matter of some regret; though I probably would have ended up being served bag tea anyway.

So then, today's review is based on a quality blend of Irish Breakfast tea from a small company somewhere in Pennsylvania (a bag given to me by a good friend), but I've had fine cups of the blend from many different companies.  I've mentioned Irish Breakfast here before, often as a point of comparison to other breakfast teas.  The blend is based on Assam, like most other breakfast teas, mixed with Nilgiri (some blends feature Ceylon, which is fine as an addition, but not a replacement for the Nilgiri).  The Assam brings a malty base, while the Nilgiri brings a distinctive toasty aroma and light, fruity flavors to balance the astringent Assam.  This tea brews up an intense dark brown, almost the color of coffee, and has a full, strong flavor.  Irish Breakfast is intense enough that I don't think I'd even try to drink it without milk and sugar.  I find I also need to be careful with steeping time and the amount of tea I use.  The astringent character can almost dry out the tongue, and it's increased by too much tea or too long of a brew.  Again, this is more of a problem in cheaper blends that feature Ceylon in lieu of the more refined Nilgiri.  Sugar helps balance the bitter taste and texture some, but nothing can save a cup that's been steeped too long.  Indeed, the chalky mouthfeel has led me to prefer Scottish Breakfast, but I sometimes get nostalgic for a cup of the Irish Breakfast.  After all, it's the tea that really introduced me to the bigger world of teas outside of generic Red Rose and Lipton bags, many years ago.

Culinary Teas offers an Irish Breakfast blend that I should try sometime, but they also offer a Cream Irish Breakfast tea that is simply amazing.  (This is not to be confused with their Irish Cream tea, which is a less strong tea base flavored with Irish Cream, and is also good, but not as good.)  Cream Irish Breakfast is Irish Breakfast tea flavored with actual cream.  The addition of cream flavoring adds balance and sweetness to the malty and astringent tea.  The resulting brew is nothing short of fantastic;  creamy with a velvety, smooth texture, sweet and strong and astringent all at the same time.  Cream Irish Breakfast may not be strictly traditional with the addition of cream flavoring, but it's one of the best cups of tea I've had in a long time.

Scores:  Irish Breakfast 80 (B-) and Cream Irish Breakfast 95 (A)