Ireland drinks the second most tea per capita (after Turkey), so it’s no surprise that they produce their own breakfast tea blend: Irish Breakfast Tea.
And, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that there are several brands making their own unique blend of Irish breakfast tea.
So I wanted to find out which Irish breakfast blend is the best out of the most popular Irish brands: Barry’s, Lyons, and Bewley’s.
Which one do you think will come out on top!? The answer may surprise you!
Psst! This blog post contains affiliate links in it which sends me a bit of extra money if you use them… at no extra cost to you!
First, What Exactly Is Irish Breakfast Tea?
Irish breakfast is a black tea blend. That means it isn’t a single origin tea (for example, Assam is a single origin tea from Assam, India).
A breakfast tea blend is meant to be a strong tea, to really give you that morning wake-up you might need. Plus, it’s typically strong enough to blend with milk without overpowering the tea.
Although there aren’t any strict rules, Irish breakfast tea typically includes Assam tea.
When compared to other popular breakfast teas, like English and Scottish breakfast, Irish breakfast is described as being the middle ground between the two.
English breakfast is the lightest, and Scottish breakfast tends to be the strongest of the three breakfast blends.
P.S. You can read more about the difference between English, Irish, AND Scottish breakfast tea.
Introducing Popular Irish Breakfast Brands: Barry’s, Lyons, & Bewleys
Barry’s, Lyons, and Bewley’s are all popular Irish tea brands that have been sold in Ireland for over a century.
Barry’s and Lyons are on similar levels, and if you’re from Ireland you most likely have a preference between the two. They’re more the everyday tea you’ll find at grocery stores.
Bewleys, on the other hand, is seen as the “fancy tea” option. It’s been around the longest and is the most expensive of the three… by far!
If I’m being honest, I didn’t really think this comparison was going to be a fair fight between Bewley’s and the other two. But, the results will shock you – I know they surprised me!
Shop Irish Breakfast Brands
Irish Tea Brands Around For Over A Century
Bewley’s has been around since 1840, practically bringing tea to Ireland in the first place.
Lyons came around 60 years later in 1901. Barry’s was last to the party a year after that, in 1902.
P.S. You might also be interested in my comparison between popular Earl Grey tea brands.
Comparing Popular Irish Tea Brands – An Overview
I compared these Irish breakfast tea brands on several metrics, because for me, it isn’t only about the taste of a tea.
I also looked at the price of each tea (value for money), the tea used in the blend, and even the tea quality.
How Much Does Each Tea Cost?
Bewley’s is twice (if not three times) the price of Lyons and Barry’s, placing it on another level entirely.
In Ireland, I bought a box of 40 Lyons tea bags for €3.00 and a box of 40 Barry’s tea bags for €2.50 (in 2023), both from the convenience store.
I actually had to seek out Bewley’s in Dublin… it wasn’t exactly easy to find. As it turns out, you can only buy Bewley’s at their café on Grafton street.
On top of that, Bewley’s only sold smaller quantities of their Irish breakfast tea in a tin. So I only got 30 Bewley’s tea bags for €5.20, compared to the 40 tea bags in both the box of Lyons and Barry’s.
P.S. Before you say that Bewley’s could have more tea in each bag, I weighed all the tea bags. All the brands, including Bewley’s, had about 3 grams of tea in each bag.
| Cost | Tea bags | Cost/ tea bag | |
| Beweley’s | €5.20 | 30 | €.170 |
| Lyons | €3.00 | 40 | € .075 |
| Barrys | €2.50 | 40 | € .062 |
So with all this in mind, I did have slightly higher expectations for Bewley’s than the other two, based on price alone…
Brewing Instructions
Each tea brand gave the same vague instructions to brew their tea, providing no precise water measurement or temperature to use. It was simply: use a cup of boiling water per tea bag.
Both Barry’s and Bewely’s had the same steeping time, between 3 and 5 minutes.
Lyons was an outlier though. Their longest recommended steeping time was the shortest time from the other two brands, recommending only a 2 to 3 minute steep time.
Lyons was also the only one to provide instructions for brewing their tea with milk. Enjoying tea with milk is so common in Ireland that I was surprised they were the only ones to do this!
| Water / Tea Bag | Brewing Time | With Milk | |
| Beweley’s | 1 cup water / tea bag | 3-5 minutes | No instructions |
| Barry’s | 1 cup water / tea bag | 3-5 minutes | No instructions |
| Lyons | 1 cup water / tea bag | 2-3 minutes | 170 ml water, 30 ml milk |
What Teas Were Used To Make Their Irish Breakfast Blend?
None of the popular Irish breakfast tea brands said which kind of black tea was used in their blend on the actual box. The ingredients were simply, black tea.
But I did a bit of extra research and found the tea origins on their websites for Barry’s and Bewley’s.
Barry’s states that their original blend consists of Assam, Rwanda, and Kenya. This is a very standard Irish breakfast blend.
Bewley’s clarifies that their blend includes both Assam and Darjeeling tea.
Lyons, on the other hand, don’t say anything about what tea is n their original blend. They only state that they used Rainforest Alliance Certified black tea!
| Tea Origin | |
| Beweley’s | Assam & Darjeeling |
| Lyons | Did not specify the type of black tea. Rainforest Alliance Certified |
| Barrys | Assam, Rwanda, Kenya |
P.S. You might also be interested in reading about the different types of black teas.
Tea Quality Between Irish Tea Brands
Yes, I cut open tea bags to see what was lurking inside each one!
Each tea bag was made up of a mix of darker and lighter brown tea fannings (very, very fine tea dust and broken tea leaves), which is common for tea bags.
The lighter brown tea particles looked like a combination of leaf shavings and twigs, not actually tea leaves. Which is exactly what you don’t want to find in your tea.
Based on that, Barry’s surprisingly looked like the “best” quality tea. It had the most consistent dark brown colour, with minimal lighter brown shavings. The tea also looked as though it was rolled tea leaves rather than completely broken pieces.
Lyons and Bewley’s were practically identical. Depending on the light, Lyons could look like it had slightly less light brown shavings. But it was negligible. They both had a lot.
| Tea Quality | |
| Beweley’s | A mix between light and dark tea fannings |
| Lyons | A mix between light and dark tea fannings |
| Barrys | Mostly dark brown tea fannings. |
Taste Testing Irish Breakfast Brands
I brewed each tea three times.
First, I brewed each Irish tea for 3 minutes. For Lyons, this was the longest recommended time, whereas for Barry’s and Bewley’s, it was the shortest.
So for my next taste test, I tried each tea at their strongest recommended times. This changed the brew time to 5 minutes for both Barry’s and Bewley’s. I wanted to see how the brew time made a difference, if any.
And finally, I had to try Irish breakfast the proper way, with milk. So, for my third, and final, test, I tried each one with 30 ml of 1% milk. This was to see whether any were actually better when brewed the proper Irish way.
P.S. Do your own tea taste test with my printable tea tasting bundle, includes a tea tasting journal with prompts and space for notes, and my tea tasting guide.
So, Which Is The Best Irish Breakfast Tea?
I thoroughly enjoyed each tea, both on its own and when mixed with milk. Although Lyons and Barry’s were pretty similar, there were a few subtleties that made a difference!
Bewley’s did have the most unique taste, but that isn’t necessarily a good thing…
| Favourite for… | |
| Beweley’s | A more unique breakfast brew, best with milk! |
| Lyons | Well balanced, no polarizing notes, perfect for a daily cup |
| Barrys | Best for a weaker brew |
Perfect For Everyday: Lyons Tea Ireland
Lyons was by far the most well balanced and generic of the three Irish breakfast teas. I could drink this everyday as my morning cup!
Interestingly, it brewed the strongest colour within the three minutes (and that was the maximum recommended time).
I would say that it fell a bit flat when milk was added, although more chocolaty notes did come out (especially in the smell). But I do wish the tea had a stronger taste when mixed with milk.
- one of the most popular teas in Ireland today
- This tea is made in Dublin, Ireland and is a powerful source of antioxidants
- Each box contains 80 pyramid teabags.
- Ingredients: Black Tea
- Net Weight: 8.8 ounces (250 grams)
Most Intricate Flavours & Best With Milk: Bewley’s Tea
Bewley’s definitely had the most intricate flavours, but because of that, it might also be the most polarizing of the three. I don’t actually know whether most people would actually like it.
Let’s just say that it very much reminded me of Chinese Pu’erh tea, which is known for having a manure smell and taste (see more about Pu’erh). To my partner, Bewley’s tasted more smoky rather than like manure, but those are still very polarizing notes to find in your tea!
It was quite off-putting at the beginning but then it really grew on me and I enjoyed the flavours as they developed throughout the brew.
Bewley’s was actually affected by the steeping time as well. I think it tasted so much better with the longer steeping time (the max) when the flavours had more time to mellow out in the cup.
But it was even better after adding milk. It was also the only one where the tea held up flavour-wise at this satge. The off-putting smell was still there, but the manure taste was muted!
The Weakest Blend: Barry’s Irish Tea
Barry’s tea completely fell flat when compared to the other two. If you don’t like strong tea, then Barry’s is the Irish breakfast tea for you.
It didn’t have much of a taste when brewed for 3 minutes, but when I brewed for 5 minutes it was a tad bitter. So if you don’t like it when your teas are too strong, I would actually recommend Barry’s and steeping it for the shortest time.
Surprisingly, Barry’s got better as the tea cooled… but who wants to drink cold tea!?
Barry’s was also by far the worst tea when combined with milk because it tasted like watered down warmed milk… which heads up, doesn’t taste very good at all! You could barely taste the tea in the background. So if you do like milk with your tea, add half the amount when drinking Barry’s!
Read More Related Posts
- English, Irish & Scottish Breakfast Tea: How Are They Different?
- 11 Popular Types Of Black Tea You Should Try (&Why!)
- Dublin Ireland: A Complete Guide For What To Eat, See & Do
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Last update on 2024-12-21 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Dave McCormack
Thursday 20th of June 2024
You reviewed the cheapest Barry’s blend which is one that few if any self-respecting Irish people would buy. The most popular Barry’s blend is their mid-priced ‘Gold Blend’, which is arguably the most popular and famous tea in Ireland. Better yet is their ‘Master Blend’.
Meghan
Tuesday 25th of June 2024
Hi Dave! I tried to review all the base blends to start, I'll just have to do a second review with all the second tier teas!
Almond N. McKay
Sunday 4th of February 2024
I have been researching tea ever since I came back from Ireland and Scotland in September 2023. Can't drink coffee due to an allergy and I haven't been able to do anything with caffeine in years due to heartburn. But in our hotel rooms they had Bewley and I caught COVID my throat hurt so bad I had my first cup and that is what kept me going throughout the trip. Then I realized it didn't give me heartburn. How wonderful is that? Now I can get my caffeine!!! I also had Barrys in Ireland. When I came home I bought Twinings, Barrys, and Bewleys. I am hooked. Bewleys is my favorite. Started with the tea bags and I am going to loose leaf as soon as can drink up my stash. Your website gave me the best information. Thank you
Meghan
Monday 5th of February 2024
Glad to hear you've discovered the wonderful world of tea :D :D
P.S. If you are looking for more caffeine alternatives to coffee other than black tea, I do have some more suggestions in my post here: https://afternoonteareads.com/coffee-alternatives-with-caffeine-and-energy/