English Breakfast Tea

English breakfast tea is a traditional black-tea style, not a single estate or cultivar. The name describes a full-bodied, brisk cup that stands up to milk and a cooked breakfast. Classic recipes blend Assam for malt, Kenya for colour, and Ceylon for brightness. TEA TOP’s version is a Ceylon reading of that style: Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe from Dimbula, Sri Lanka, with no flavourings and no other origins in the pack.

No. Many famous breakfast teas are multi-origin blends. This tea is 100% Ceylon from the Dimbula district — a broken, tippy FBOP grade that infuses quickly and gives a reddish, brisk liquor. You still get the morning strength people expect from English Breakfast; the flavour is brighter and more flowery than a heavy Assam-led blend.

We have not published a lab assay for this lot, so treat any milligram figure as a typical range, not a promise. Ceylon black tea brewed as we recommend (2 g / 200 ml, 3–5 minutes, 95 °C) usually falls around 40–70 mg of caffeine per cup, less than a drip coffee and more than most green teas. A shorter steep (about 2–3 minutes) extracts less caffeine and a lighter cup.

Use 2 g of leaf (about a teaspoon) per 200 ml, water at 95 °C, and steep 3–5 minutes. FBOP is a broken grade, so it colours the cup faster than whole-leaf Orange Pekoe. For a pot, keep the same ratio and add a teaspoon “for the pot” if you like it stronger. Pyramid bags: one bag per mug, same time and temperature. Always start with fresh water.

Yes if you want the classic breakfast cup. This liquor is brisk and full-bodied enough to take a splash of milk without turning thin. Brew the tea on water first, then add milk — don’t pour milk onto dry leaf. It is also good plain if you prefer the flowery, reddish Ceylon character without dairy.

English Breakfast is an unflavoured black tea: malt, briskness, and a breakfast-strength cup. Earl Grey is black tea scented with bergamot. Choose English Breakfast for a straightforward morning mug, especially with milk. Choose Ceylon Earl Grey when you want citrus aroma; that tea is often better plain or with a little milk, not a heavy dash.

Orange Pekoe (OP) is a whole-leaf grade, not a flavour. Our Orange Pekoe from Pettiagalla Estate infuses more slowly, with a lighter golden-red cup. This English Breakfast is FBOP — smaller, broken leaf with silvery tips — so it brews faster and stronger, closer to a traditional breakfast tea. Buy OP for a smoother sipping tea; buy this for a brisk first cup.

Yes. This page offers 100 g and 250 g loose leaf, 100 g loose leaf in a gift tin, 25 pyramid bags in a gift tin, and 50 pyramid bags. The leaf grade is the same Ceylon Dimbula FBOP in bags and tins. Loose leaf is the better everyday value; tins are the gift format. Free shipping on qualifying orders over $85.

Dimbula (also spelled Dimbulla) is a mid-grown tea district in Sri Lanka. The gardens produce the bright, brisk Ceylon black tea that breakfast blends often use as the “lift” in a multi-origin mix. Here that Dimbula character is the tea — not a fraction of a blend. Packed by TEA TOP for delivery in Australia, and via our US and UK sites.