Bewley's Irish Breakfast Tea 250 g 80 Tea Bags | Assam and Darjeeling Tea Blend with Medium Caffeine.

Bewley’s of Dublin seems to be third in the Republic after Barry’s and Lyons. I’ve been meaning to try their tea for a while but they were far too pricey in the US until recently. As far as I know, this tea is the only commonly available Breakfast blend that includes a significant amount of Darjeeling. Surprisingly, this not only works but is a smashing success. This is marketed as an all India blend featuring both Assam and Darjeeling. In this it stands out from both English Breakfasts, which are usually Ceylon heavy, and other Irish breakfasts, which are usually either all African teas or a blend of African and Assam. I was concerned the tea wouldn’t be strong enough with such a large amount of Darjeeling, but that was entirely unfounded. It brews a dark cup with an aroma that is comfortingly malty, but also much fruitier than other IBs. The taste is superb. Not only is it unique to me among bagged breakfast teas, but also one of the best I’ve had. It is at its best with milk resulting in a robust, but smooth cup that is malty, creamy, and fruity. It is both delicious and memorable. There is little chance of this tea being mistaken for any other Irish or English bagged breakfast tea. In addition to the fruitiness, the Darjeeling lends a pleasant and lingering finish in which faint muscatel hints emerge. The tea has a touch of natural sweetness and is quite tasty straight if carefully brewed. It also takes sugar well and makes very good cold brew iced tea. Overall, I was very impressed by this tea. I’ve long been a fan of both Barry’s and Punjana teas, but this one by Bewleys compares favourably to all the teas I’ve had from both companies. What’s more neither of them produce a tea with anything close to this flavour profile. It’s true Bewleys tea are often more than I’m willing to pay on amazon, but if they stay in a similar price range to Barry’s and Thompson’s, this Irish Breakfast will definitely become a regular in my rotation.

This is a delightful brew! Pleasant rich taste. Delivered with care. I’m a repeat customer!

Fair prices and very quick delivery. I would do business with them again. Bewley's tea is one of the best on the market - strong, flavorful but never bitter. Each bag will make a delicious 12-ounce cup of tea.

Very nice Irish tea. Nice, flavorful and comforting.

Lovely tea, tea bags are the perfect size for a 1L teapot!

A couple years ago my mom bought me a box of Bewley's Irish Breakfast tea and a box of Bewley's Irish Afternoon tea. For whatever reason, I decided I liked the Afternoon version better for a daily basis. I made it my everyday tea and continued to buy it consistently over the last couple years, and never bought another Irish Breakfast. Recently, Bewley's changed their packaging to make it less interesting and eye-catching. Maybe sales were too high and they wanted to give Lipton a fighting chance. Even so, I expected the tea to be exactly the same as before. Last week, I realized I still had a few more tea bags of the Irish Breakfast version from two years ago. When I tried it, I was surprised by the wonderful malty flavor, and wondered why I hadn't kept using this tea as well. So, I bought a new Bewley's Irish Breakfast from Amazon. But when I brewed the new tea, I noticed it seemed to lack that wonderful malt. Was I imagining it the first time? So, I decided to conduct an experiment. I took two mugs of the same size and put an old tea bag in the first one and a new tea bag in the second. In the photos, the old one in the bronze box is on the left and the new one in the green box is on the right. It's hard to see in the photos, but in the mug the old tea is just ever-so-slightly darker than the new tea, even though I carefully prepared them the same way. I poured boiling water over both tea bags, let them steep for exactly five minutes, and then removed each bag. Since I always drink my tea with sugar and milk, I measured an exact amount of sugar and milk into each cup to be sure different levels wouldn't effect the taste. (I do actually have several important things to get done today, believe it or not, but if one is going to conduct a tea tasting experiment, an adequate scientific method must be employed.) I even had some tasteless cereal on hand as a palate cleanser. After carefully tasting each, the result was that the old one definitely still had a distinct, pungent malt flavor, whereas the new one was bland by comparison. I'm finishing off both mugs as I type this review, and I can still tell the difference between them as they cool to room temp. Even when I don't pay attention to which mug I pick up, I know what I'm getting. In conclusion, I was not imagining that the new box tasted bland compared to the old one. Bewley's must have changed more than the packaging over the last couple years. Now I wonder if my Irish Afternoon tea is disappointingly different as well, but I just haven't noticed. I'm giving it 4 stars just because Bewley's is still an enjoyable tea, but it loses a star for the change in flavor and/or quality. I may look around for another Irish Breakfast tea that has the distinct, malty flavor I like. I might also note that the old box is "best by March 2017", so even a year and a half after its best by date, it still tastes better than the new one.

Very rich and flavorful. Makes a nice large cuppa.

Good, strong tea. My staple for several years.