English Breakfast

Description

Luxury Ingredients: Black tea.
Ingredients from: Sri Lanka / Kenya / India
Region(s): Nuwara Eliya Dimbula Uva / Nandi Highlands Kericho / Nilgiri
Shipping Port(s): Colombo / Mombasa / Cochin
Grade Composition: FP (Flowery Pekoe)
Growing Altitudes: 4000 – 8500 feet above sea level
Manufacture Type(s): Orthodox (Traditional leafy)
Infusion: Bright with coppery orange highlights.
Pairing Suggestions: Traditional English style breakfast – poached eggs on toast with baked beans, cheddar and cream cheeses, cured meats.
Caffeine Content: Medium

Today the habit of tea drinking is inexorably linked to England despite the fact that the British were fairly late on the tea scene, in historical terms. Ironically the first mention of tea in English literature is a translation of a Dutchman‟s travels to the East. Tea was first brought to England via Holland on Dutch ships. As tea grew to become an „in‟ beverage, the British government became quite incensed that a nation as tiny as the Netherlands could control the shipment of tea to the UK. In 1651 the British government passed the Navigation Acts, which forbade the importation of any products on non-British ships. Traders and Dutchmen, being resourceful, continued the trade in the usual manner but for one little wrinkle – the tea was transshipped in Holland onto British ships!

Early in British life tea was known as a health beverage and claimed all sorts of curative powers. In the 1650‟s, Garway’s Coffee House proclaimed that: “Tea makes the body active and lusty. Tea is declared to be the most wholesome; preserving perfect health until extreme Old Age”

Afternoon tea was the invention of Anna, wife of the seventh Duke of Bedford. At the time custom dictated only two planned meals per day: a hearty breakfast and a late evening dinner. Anna in an effort to ease the mid-day “sinking feeling”, began instructing her servants to prepare tea and cakes in the late afternoon. Thus began a fashionable habit, which still exists today.

Britain is steeped in tea history. Think of: High Tea, the Brown Betty, American War of Independence, Opium Wars, The Boxer Rebellion, Clipper Ship races from Fuzhou, China to Portsmouth UK, the Earl of Grey, English Breakfast etc. etc.

Hot tea brewing method: Bring filtered or freshly drawn cold water to a rolling boil. Place 1 slightly heaping teaspoon of loose tea, 1 tea bag or 1 Q3 portion pack for each 7-9oz/200-260ml of fluid volume in the teapot. Pour the boiling water into the teapot. Cover and let steep for 3-7 minutes according to taste (the longer the steeping time the stronger the tea).

Iced tea brewing method (Pitcher): (to make 1 liter/quart): Place 6 slightly heaping teaspoons of loose tea, 6 tea bags or 6 Q3 portion packs into a teapot or heat resistant pitcher. Using filtered or freshly drawn cold water, boil and pour 1¼ cups/315ml over the tea. Steep for 5 minutes. Quarter fill a serving pitcher with cold water. Pour the tea into your serving pitcher straining the tea or removing the bags. Add ice and top-up the pitcher with cold water. Garnish and sweeten to taste. A rule of thumb when preparing fresh brewed iced tea is to increase the strength of hot tea since it will be poured over ice and diluted with cold water. (Note: Some luxury quality teas may turn cloudy when poured over ice. This is a sign of luxury quality and nothing to worry about.)

Iced tea brewing method (Individual Serving): Place 1 slightly heaping teaspoon of loose tea, 1 tea bag or 1 Q3 portion pack into a teapot for each serving required. Using filtered or freshly drawn cold water, boil and pour 6-7oz/170-200ml per serving over the tea. Cover and let steep for 5 minutes. Add hot tea to a 12oz/375ml acrylic glass filled with ice, straining the tea or removing the bags. Not all of the tea will fit, allowing for approximately an additional ½ serving. Sweeten and/or add lemon to taste. A rule of thumb when preparing fresh brewed iced tea is to increase the strength of hot tea since it will be poured over ice and diluted. (Note: Some luxury quality teas may turn cloudy when poured over ice. This is a sign of luxury quality and nothing to worry about!)

ANTIOXIDANT BENEFIT: More antioxidants are extracted from tea (L. Camellia Sinesis), or rooibos (Asphalatus Linearis), the longer it is brewed….and the more tea or rooibos that is used, the greater the antioxidant benefit.