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 (19 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.

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Customer Reviews

5.0 Based on 19 Reviews

5 ★

100%

4 ★

3 ★

2 ★

1 ★

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25 January 2023

Richard G.

United Kingdom

A truely majestic tea

A delicious tea - this was the first I tried when I started buying from Rare Tea and it opened my eyes to how tea can be of such high quality. This particular tea is rich and velvety in the mouth. I drink tea without milk so the delicate flavours are more apparent. I think once you start drinking tea of this quality you'll not want to go back to the supermarket brands

21 September 2022

Margarita T.

Greece

Exquisite tea

Rich, soothing, comforting, extreme flavour and aroma on second and third brew as well. Unique experience.

25 August 2022

Jeremy F.

United Kingdom

Perfect Breakfast tea

I have been buying Chinese Emperor’s black tea for some years now. It is my go to morning cuppa if you like subtlety of flavour combined with real depth of character. I enjoy it as nature intended, without milk or sugar. Highly recommended.

09 July 2022

Michael M.

United Kingdom

Absolute Favourite

This is my all-time favourite tea, drinkable at any time of the day but always a moment to saviour. I've been drinking it for many years and has never been anything less than perfection. For people who are used to 'normal' breakfast teas, the natural sweetness of this tea will amaze you. It is a must try for any tea lover.

07 August 2021

Ron H.

United Kingdom

A lively morning tea

I drink two cups early in the day and before eating. It gets my day off to a good start. My brew is not too strong and is ***** neat - no additions. A very healthy beverage on top of all else.

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.