Chinese Emperor's Breakfast Loose Leaf Black Tea

Name: Chinese Emperor's Breakfast
Brand: Rare Tea Company
Price: 12.49 GBP
Availability: InStock
Rating: 5.0 (30 reviews)

£12.49

(31p per cup)

Style

50g Pouch

Quantity

A rare China tea crafted by masters to produce an astonishingly sweet black loose leaf tea. Made from very young and tender spring leaves and golden buds that have been carefully kept whole during hand rolling.

UK Shipping Rates
UK Tracked - Two Day Tracked £3.99
UK Express - Next Day* Tracked £5.49
UK Express - Next Day* Courier from £8.49
FREE UK Tracked when you spend £30 or more
FREE UK Express - Next Day* when you spend £60 or more

Europe Shipping Rates
Europe Tracked Delivery from £4.99
Europe Express Courier from £21.99
FREE Europe Tracked when you spend £50 or more

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Worldwide Tracked Delivery from £5.99
ROW Express Courier from £20.49
FREE Worldwide Tracked when you spend £50 or more

*Subject to next day cutoff and postcode location. Availability of rates depends on location and order weight. For a complete overview of our shipping rates please see our delivery page.

Customer Reviews

5.0 Based on 30 Reviews

5 ★

100%

4 ★

3 ★

2 ★

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18 May 2019

MerlinM

Heavenly

This is my Sunday morning tea, when it's time for something special!! It is so full of flavour yet so delicate! Not to be missed

20 May 2019

Daisy

As delicious as it is ethical

This is a beautiful tea, and just perfect after meals. I love that it is sourced from small-holders across the Satemwa Tea Estate - a rare approach to business trade, but with wonderful results for the smaller farmers and their families. You can taste the cooperation and collaboration in the tea's complexity - Rare Tea Company is true to its name!

14 February 2020

Susanne

Superb!

The parcel has just arrived, and I couldn’t wait to brew my first cup of Emperor‘s Breakfast as a special treat before lunch. How complex, how delicious! There are notes of biscuit, cocoa, butterscotch, vanilla, even a hint of peach - this tea will be one of my all-time favourites.

10 May 2019

Kathi

All time favourite

Emperor's breakfast is the first tea I have ever tried from you back in 2010. It is now the tea I use to win everyone over to join in on loose leaf tea, now my mum drinks it too and by brother can't get enough either. To me it tastes like malty toffee at first and ends on a vanilla bean note. So delicious.

13 May 2019

Dan

This is the one tea I can't do without.

If I could only drink one tea for the rest of my life, this would be it. Get the infusion just right (about a minute and a half - 80 degrees water temperature) and the flavours are just exquisite. There's a delicious biscuityness to it which I just love and it stands up to at least two infusions.

Tasting Notes

Remarkably smooth with flavours of rich toffee, butterscotch and vanilla. Like White Silver Tips, these spring buds are full of the sugars stored by the tea plant over winter. These tender shoots give the tea an extraordinary sweetness, unlike any other black tea.

The tannins in this black tea are very low and the mouthfeel is clean and silky.

Quantity

Use 2.5g of tea per 150ml of water.

Temperature

For the optimum infusion use 80°C (176°F) water.

Time

Infuse for 1 - 2 minutes, tasting regularly. Best enjoyed without milk.

Infusion

You can infuse this tea at least twice. With each careful infusion, different subtleties of flavour are revealed.

Cost Per Cup

31p per cup based on 2.5g of tea per 150ml of water and 2 infusions.

Golden Monkey Paw

Emperor's Breakfast is a truly epicurean black China tea originating in the Ming Dynasty. It comes from the mountains of Fujian, and is also known as ‘Golden Monkey Paw’. The varietal used has small golden buds, covered in elegant downy hair, like a catkin.

When the tea is fired and rolled, the buds curl, giving them a resemblance to the paws of capuchin monkeys.

Serving Suggestion

Normally, this tea would be drunk black and infused at a lower water temperature to enhance its innate sweetness. However, using boiling water and a longer extraction (3 - 4 minutes) will bring out a depth and richness that pairs wonderfully with a drop of milk.

You may notice the colour is a little lighter, but don’t let your eyes fool your taste buds. As long as you don’t over dilute your tea, you should get a lovely well balanced cup of tea with milk. Although if you do like your milky tea very strong – we recommend our Speedy Breakfast or Lost Malawi.