What is a Canadian Breakfast tea? A Ceylon-Keemun blend...flavored with maple, of course! In the dry bag, it smells nearly as "mapley" as their "Maple Tea"—a very strongly maple-infused blend I've consumed a lot, and reviewed already. Since I'm a big fan of that flavor, it was a positive review. :-)

With this tea, the maple aroma backs off quite a bit in-cup, and that element is more complementary instead of dominant, allowing the flavor of the base tea to come out very definitively. Alas, the definition is a smoky one. Though a big fan of Texas mesquite-smoked brisket and strongly smoky barbecued meats, I'm not big on smoke in tea, or beverages in general, and may never try a "Russian Caravan" or Lapsang Souchong unless it's given to me for free. So that element, while not very strong either, caught me a bit by surprise. [Probably ignorance on my part, as I've since read of the smokiness of Keemun teas.] Interestingly, the wet-bag aroma is almost entirely straight tea, no smoke at all, and only the faintest hint of maple.

If you do like maple flavor and a mildly smoky tea such as Scottish Breakfast, then Canadian Breakfast probably will tickle your palette more than it has for me. I just have trouble reconciling those two flavors, which is why "aroma" and "value" are ranked higher than flavor (that Canadian dollar exchange still being very favorable). Still, the base tea itself is full-bodied, dark and reasonably rich, and I'll certainly finish the 10-bag sampler pack.

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