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Rare English Breakfast Loose Leaf Black Tea

18 reviews
£10.49
£10.49
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26p per cup

Style
ⓘYour precious tea really needs to be kept airtight and away from light once you open it - we'd strongly recommend one of our tins to keep it safe.
Do you need a tin to store your tea?

Blended in the style of the original 19th century English Breakfast from only the finest leaf. A combination of some of our most sublime single estate black loose leaf teas to create something even greater than the sum of its parts.

It has a unique depth of flavour that combines the power of a Breakfast Tea with an elegant complexity. A rich and aromatic honey nose with a deep malty finish.

26p per cup based on 2.5g of tea per 150ml of water and 2 infusions.

Fujian, China
Satemwa Estate, Shire Highlands, Malawi
Temi Tea Garden, Sikkim, India

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Recommended Infusion Guide

  • Quantity

    Use 2.5g of tea per 150ml of water.

  • Temperature

    For the optimum infusion use 80°C water. If drinking with milk, raise to 90°C.

  • Time

    Infuse for 1 - 2 minutes, tasting regularly.

  • Infusions

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

NaN -Infinity

How to infuse your tea is very personal, and these are just our recommendations based on experience. Please experiment with these variables to your heart's delight. These are our recommendations, not hard and fast rules. The most delicious tea is the one you love.

Our guide uses a standard tea cup size (150ml/5.5 oz) as a measure, please adjust the quantity of leaf accordingly for less or more water. Our whole loose leaves are of such a high quality that you can infuse our teas at least twice, and the second infusion is often better than the first, with different flavours revealed as the leaf softens. If you prefer your tea stronger, add more leaf, don’t leave it for longer (this will just make it bitter).

Origin & Craft

The term English Breakfast was invented in New York City in around 1901 to describe what English people drank for breakfast; a blend of black teas. Never before had tea been blended - this is what the British brought to tea. Up until this point teas had been sold and drunk much like single malt whisky. Keemun came from Qimen, Anhui, China. Darjeeling from the slopes of the Indian Himalayas. It was a profound breakthrough in the evolution of teas to begin to blend teas from such diverse terroirs.

The result was so fantastic it sealed the fate for many of us - we are hooked and enslaved to this most wonderous of drinks.

The point was never make something cheap and bland - like modern, industrial, dusty blends hiding in tea-bags - but to make something GREATER than the sum of its parts. This beautiful blend combines the finest Chinese black teas with the best from around the globe.

(There is no Assam in this blend, which would have been traditional, because we have always struggled to find a farm crafting orthodox (hand-crafted), organically grown tea of amazing quality, that also supports the people who live and work on the land in a way that makes us proud to be associated with them. But we have always found Malawi tea can substitute superbly - far better indeed.)

Serving Suggestions

This tea was designed to be drunk with and without milk – depending on your preferred morning ritual and what you're having for breakfast. You might want to try it with milk if you're having a traditional English Breakfast fry up – but if you're having marmalade on toast, we recommend it black.

There are no rules. The most important thing is your personal pleasure. It's also just as delicious in the afternoon, quite frankly we believe it's always tea time.

Customer Reviews
4.6 Based on 19 Reviews
5 ★
84% 
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4 ★
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Filter Reviews:
KL
01 March 2025
Kristen L.
United States

Best English Breakfast there is

I'm simply ruined for anything else, it's hopeless. I'm grateful that this tea exists and also sad that nothing else in its category compares!

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SD
12 January 2025
Scott D.
United States

Growing on me with every sip

Smokier than anticipated. But sometimes that’s how new, good things are discovered! Did not read the recommended steeping times and way oversteeped it! Super strong. Tempered it with cream and sugar. Wonderful character that I appreciate more each sip.

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DM
04 January 2025
Daniela M.
United Kingdom

Terrible tea

Went to a nice restaurant in Canary Wharf, London, and they had this tea on their menu. I liked it so much that I decided to treat myself by buying this online. However it has a Terrible mouldy stale bitter flavour. It tastes like nothing I had at the restaurant. I buy lots of teas online from artisan producers and want to support small scale farmers. When you open the tin the smell is not pleasant. Another one which I will not buy again and went into the garden flower bed.

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J
26 October 2024
Janice
United States

A Few Important Things

I love Rare Tea Co. I have purchased tea from RT Co for many years, almost exclusively Rare English Breakfast, which I love. Something has changed at RT Co. Delivery time seems a bit slower, ordering is no longer as flexible. I cannot order my usual large quantity, eg. a 1Kg bag. Instead I have been told I must get a subscription. I don't want a subscription. Oh well. I end up ordering a "gazillion" small quantities. Also, communication isn't as friendly, timely or attentive. Finally, my latest order of Rare English Breakfast has a slightly different flavor, smokier maybe? I am not a tea expert, but I notice after all these years, a change in flavor, and appearance. So things change I guess. Rare Tea Co may be getting "bigger?" I can only hope customer service doesn't stray too far from what it was, when RTCo was a small, charming endeavor.

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FREE UK Tracked when you spend £30 or more

FREE UK Express - Next Day* when you spend £60 or more

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The Rare Tea Lady believes that our teas are some of the greatest in the world, and that our range and service are second to none.

In the isolated case that you are not completely satisfied with any tea or teaware you purchase from our website, please get in contact with our customer services team to discuss returning your order.*

In most instances we will give you a full refund of the item’s cost excluding postage. We may ask you to return the item to us. Customers in the European Union have a statutory cooling-off period of fourteen days that is not affected by this guarantee, but any tea pouches much remained sealed for this to be in effect.

*We only accept returns/refunds for tea within two months of receipt, because it is impossible for us to know if the tea has been stored correctly.

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