Birchall Tea, Great Rift Breakfast Blend, Breakfast Black Tea Bursting with Full Flavour, Prefect Loose Leaf Tea Gift Set, 250g Loose Leaf Tea

Very fine leaf size so it's ideal for smaller infusers in which leaf tea might not work. Due to the fine leaf size it brews fast and strong so great for a quick morning brew but he prepared for some dust in the pot or cup. I used 5g to 400ml of boiling water brewed for 2 mins and it was strong and full of flavour but not at all bitter.

I am editing this review as I feel my initial review is now unfair. Original - Firstly, I ordered this by mistake. I thought I was ordering decaffeinated tea but after delivery discovered I had actually ordered caffeinated by mistake. I tried to arrange a return but was told it was not possible to return this product. I could not find any reference to the fact that it was not possible to return this product on the website. Rather than throw the tea away I decided to use it for my early morning cup of tea which is my only caffeinated drink of the day. Loose leaf is a bit of a misnomer. More like dust - see photos. When making tea just for myself I use a glass pot with an integral infuser. Much of the dust washes through the very fine mesh. So far as taste goes, that is a very individual thing. Edit: I have found that through my waste not want not practice I have come to really like the tea and am now hoping to buy more. Original review from here on now no longer applies but I feel it would be disingenuous to delete it as others will have already read it in its original form. - Suffice it to say that I will not be buying any more. It is possible to buy decaffeinated tea from the same seller but I won't be ordering that either. There are other teas that I prefer the taste of. Sadly, most of them come in bags but as these are now biodegradable they will go into the compost and end up on the garden so not a total disaster.

Firstly, delivery and time and packaging as expected. It's a well known brand so no surprises there, and it's Amazon sent so arrived as expected. Now the tea. Inspecting the tea it does have proper dried tea leaves. I have no idea why others are saying it is like dust. The pack I had was 'dustless'. Perhaps the preparation of the tea has changed since those reviews, but I can vouch for tea leaves, and even a few stalks. In fact making the tea straight into a cup, no strainer, does result in the lighter leaves and stalks to float. There are only a few of those. If I pick them out and drink the tea as it is, I don't see any dust and nothing when cleaning out the cup. This was 1 teaspoon in one mug of approximately 250-300 ml water that has been just taken off the boil is what I used. The colour was a deep amber brown, a pleasant colour, nice to look at. This was after 3-4 minutes. Good tea leaves do allow for more than one brewing. A second brewing was left for about 5-6 minutes and then drank. The colour was again amber but lighter but by the time I got to the end the colour was approaching the first brew. A third brew was significantly less coloured. Left for probably 8 minutes but of course then the tea is getting cold. It didn't really get much darker but was visible, like a normal everyday tea bag steeped for say 1-2 minutes. Now the taste and aroma. This was the biggest problem for me, especially the aroma. I have to agree that there is almost no aroma. The Twinings Lapsang Souchong (no longer sold ☹) had a fairly strong aroma - this would be hard to discern. Even putting my nose into the open pack there isn't much smoke at all. It does seem that the leaves were deliberately smoked lightly. The taste was reasonable, but did of course lack the smoky hint in the taste. The smell of smoke is more prominent than the taste in other teas - so that's to be expected I guess. If it wasn't sold as Lapsang Souchong, it would taste as a reasonable black tea. One positive thing is that even with the immediately boiled water, and the three steepings that I put the leaves through, it did not taste stewed at all. I think this does represent the quality of the tea leaves that were used. The pack size is 125g, so you're looking at 30 mugs of tea, maybe 60. The price is pretty good compared to others - known brands or not. Overall I've given it 4/5. I nearly gave it a 3/5. 3.5/5 would be a better rating. I think as a black tea it has a good taste and colour. But as a Lapsang Souchong it really isn't smoky so fails unfortunately. Maybe some of you would say it is a 1/5 because of this. I'll finish off the tea I have, but won't be buying it again - I'd rather experiment with others.

Wow, this is full on and not for the feint-hearted. The smokiness is overwhelming and by the end of the cup I was feeling slightly nauseous. It’s definitely a tea that I will drink in small measures on occasion but not a full cup.

Excellent flavour

We only drink Tea, no milk, no sugar. Other Lapsang Souchong's we've had you could smell the smoke before you opend the packet, this there was no hint of smoke with the packet opened ! put one each one for the pot into a preheated cast iron tea pot, (just weighed again 6.25gm.) and let brew 5 minute, what a dissapointment didn't smell or taste of anything, certainly not tea. Will never buy again. Lapsang Souchong is produced from the leaves of the camellia sinensis plant. The name “souchong” refers to the fourth and fifth leaves of the tea plant, which are farther removed from the prized flowery pekoe bud at the tip, and are considered somewhat inferior in quality. When smoked and preserved as Lapsang, Souchong, however, these leaves become prized for their unique smoky flavor, and are highly sought-after all over the world. Although it has its origins in China, Lapsang Souchong became popular in tea rooms across Europe, particularly in countries like Russia and England. Lapsang’s distinctive taste and flavor profile sets it apart from other black teas,

Very solid tea, has become a favourite!

One of the best loose leaf teas I've ever had.