Purchased in the Eilles store in Regensburg, on my recent trip to Germany. I really enjoy this tea; it's a potent black tea blend, but with a very different character from Assam-based Irish breakfast blends. I drunk it unsweetened and with no milk.

Aroma is rich, malty but also vegetal, slightly roasty, suggesting bitter chocolate. Reminds me a lot of my favorite loose-leaf teas from Ahmad Tea, like their Ceylons and Assams.

Tannic, with a strong bitterness and also strong astringency, producing a very full-bodied cup, thick and rich. The flavor is complex and underneath the tannic edge there is a smooth flavor that almost suggests sweetness.

I usually prefer steeping 5 minutes, but it is good (and lighter, with less astringency) steeped shorter (2-3 min.) as well.

This tea resteeps beautifully, surprisingly well for a broken-leaf tea. I like steeping twice, 5 minutes and then 12 minutes. The second cup has a potency and complexity that I think is unparallelled among second-cup-steepings of broken leaf teas.

An excellent choice if you want a very potent breakfast blend. I find tea prices in Germany high relative to the US, even with the good exchange rate right now, but this one was priced reasonably relative to others teas for sale over there.

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