English Breakfast Tea Color

I hope I don't become a pest but I have another question. I got a
sample of English Breakfast Tea. It is made up of leaves which are
more than a 1/2" long. Is the finished product supposed to be as
clear as green tea? The second time I put double the leaves in and
seeped it for 6 minutes in 8 ounces of water and it's still rather
clear. This isn't even close to as strong a tea as I want. It tastes
like Red Rose tea if the tea bag is taken out too soon.

So, am I doing something terribly wrong or is this the was the tea
should be?
--
Douglas

Douglas wrote:

> I hope I don't become a pest but I have another question. I got a
> sample of English Breakfast Tea. It is made up of leaves which are
> more than a 1/2" long. Is the finished product supposed to be as
> clear as green tea? The second time I put double the leaves in and
> seeped it for 6 minutes in 8 ounces of water and it's still rather
> clear. This isn't even close to as strong a tea as I want. It tastes
> like Red Rose tea if the tea bag is taken out too soon.
>
> So, am I doing something terribly wrong or is this the was the tea
> should be?

English Breakfast should be pretty dark. Almost as dark as coffee, in
fact. Are you using boiling water? Black teas need hotter water than
green, and with boiling water six minutes is (for most tastes) a bit too
long.

dmh

On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 11:32:46 -0600, "David M. Harris"
<jakesdad@localnet.com> wrote:

>fact. Are you using boiling water? Black teas need hotter water than
>green, and with boiling water six minutes is (for most tastes) a bit too

The water was boiling when I poured it in the pot with the leaves.
Should I have put the leaves in the boiling water and continued to let
it boil?
--
Douglas

On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 12:16:00 -0600, "Bluesea" <thisaddy@is.invalid>
wrote:

>Six minutes is too long for any real tea, IMO. How much leaf did you use?

In this the second batch I used what I hoped was 2 heaping spoons
--
Douglas

On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 12:48:33 -0600, "Bluesea" <thisaddy@is.invalid>
wrote:

>I agree w/ Rebecca, something's not right and you should return it.

I think it is stale. It is very, very dried out.

I just tried Bond Street English Breakfast, a sample I got from Upton,
and it brewed perfectly. I used 8 oz water, 1 teaspoon of tea and
seeped it 3 minutes. I'm drinking it now and it's very good.

The tea that I couldn't make was part of the starter set I got from
Adagio teas with the brewer. I like the brewer very much but doubt if
I buy any tea there.
--
Douglas

Douglas wrote:
> The tea that I couldn't make was part of the starter set I got from
> Adagio teas with the brewer. I like the brewer very much but doubt
if
> I buy any tea there.
> --
> Douglas

It sounds like stale tea to me as well. While I did get some decent tea
from them, the "premium" versions of their teas were HORRIBLY stale. I
won't buy from them again, either. I got two stale tea samples in one
single order, and they've lost my trust.

On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 13:27:05 -0600, "Bluesea" <thisaddy@is.invalid>
wrote:

>Thanks for the heads up. Was that the first you tried out of the starter
>set? How are the others?

I just checked the other two cans. Although I didn't try to use the
contents yet they also seem very dry. Right now I'm having my safe
green tea. :)
--
Douglas

On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 14:50:57 -0600, "Bluesea" <thisaddy@is.invalid>
wrote:

>
>Please report back when you get a chance to try the others.

Ok. I just tried the Earl Grey, Yumman Jig and the Irish Breakfast
and they were just as bad as the English Breakfast. I dumped them all
and kept the tins.

The four samples I got from Upton were all usable.
--
Douglas

On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 16:05:16 -0600, "Bluesea" <thisaddy@is.invalid>
wrote:

>Upton for my friend anyway, but am unhappy about what my neighbor's mother's
>birthday gift will be like.

Perhaps mine was a fluke & what you receive will be ok.
--
Douglas

Bluesea wrote:
> May I ask which teas you received samples of and which of those were
stale?
> I ordered some samples for myself that weren't in any of the starter
sets
> and I'm curious.

Their cheapest darjeeling and formosa oolong were decent, but then I
decided to try the premium versions of these. So, it was the darjeeling
no. 2 and whatever their other formosa oolong is. And let me tell you,
they weren't just not fresh, they were either very old, stored
improperly, or both. I REALLY liked their ceylon, but getting 2 stale
teas in one order is enough to keep me from buying tea from them again.