I’ve already compared popular Irish breakfast blends, so now it’s time to find the best breakfast tea blend from around the world! I looked at Canada, USA, and two leading countries in the tea world, England and Ireland.
I tasted Red Rose from Canada, Lipton from the United States, PG Tips from England, and Lyons from Ireland to see which country’s breakfast tea actually came out on top…
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Lipton: USA
Lipton was by far my least favourite of the teas… and it had such a vastly different taste from the others.
It also had the worst quality tea out of any of the brands. The tea was a lighter brown colour compared to the rich dark brown of other breakfast black tea blends. It also had the most orange and yellow tones due to a higher amount of debris and twigs, and the smallest pieces of ripped tea leaves. On top of that, it also contained the least amount of tea per bag with only 2.26 grams.
After steeping for three minutes, it also had the lightest brew colour out of any of the teas. This line up with the lighter colour of the dry leaves and least amount of tea per bag. Because the brew was lighter brown, you could also see a slight reddish tint to the tea.
The smell wasn’t very strong. Unfortunately, when I added milk, the tea smell couldn’t cut through the milk smell. And without milk, you could get a bit more notes, some spices and this classic Lipton smell. I don’t know how to describe it but it smells the same way as it tastes…
Lipton tea has this classic stale tea taste. It tastes very flat, old and over steeped bitter tea that reminds me of when I put too much baking soda to my iced tea. It’s a very distinct flavour that I now associate with Lipton tea. I don’t personally like it, but I could see if you grew up on this tea, you’re more used to these flavour notes. With milk the distinct Lipton taste is less apparent but has a watery creamy texture now.
Lipton black tea blend is also the only company that uses a string that’s stapled to the tea bag… I’m now wondering if this might be the source of the bad flavour profile. I can be confused a baking soda flavour for a metallic flavour, and it could be from the staple attached to the bag.
Lyons: Ireland
The quality pf Lyons Irish breakfast tea is a mix between PG Tips and Lipton. It had some nice CTC (cut-tear-curl) tea leaves, but you also had some debris and twigs (not as much as Lipton though). Lyons tied with PG Tips for having the most tea per bag with 2.9 grams.
When comparing only Irish breakfast teas, Lyons had the darkest most brown brew. But compared to other breakfast tea from around the world, it was on par with the other teas. It wasn’t even the darkest (that was PG Tips).
The brewed tea didn’t have much of a smell, with or without milk.
The taste though did change with milk. Without milk, there wasn’t all that much distinct flavours other than black tea (which no ones complaining about that!). It was still balanced, and it wasn’t overly bitter. Adding milk though brought out some chocolate notes from the tea (albeit it was a tad weaker than PG Tips… coming up next!).
P.S. Read my comparison of all the popular Irish breakfast tea blends to see which one is the best!
PG Tips: England
PG Tips had the best quality tea for a breakfast tea bag. It had nice large rolled balls of CTC dark brown tea leaves. And there was very little debris and twigs. They are also tied (with Lyons) for having the most amount of tea per bag, at 2.9 grams.
It unsurprisingly brewed the darkest tea, but there wasn’t a HUGE difference.
Despite its rich dark brew, I got a lovely berry notes on the smell. With milk though, same as most of the others, I could only really smell the milk.
The taste was the real surprise. Without milk it was bitter, it lost all the berry aromas. With milk though it became one of my favourite breakfast teas, with chocolatey flavours. It was a complete change from the brew without milk. But I guess thats like milk chocolate vs. dark chocolate.
P.S. Want to do your own breakfast tea taste test at home? Check out my tea tasting guide and journal to grow your tea tasting palette with each new steep!
Red Rose: Canada
I will not lie, I have a sweet spot for Red Rose tea. This was the first black tea I started drinking and I find myself craving it despite all the good black tea I now have.
Red Rose tea had the largest actual pieces of tea (still CTC) in the bag that were a nice dark brown colour. But it did have some of the smallest pieces too, along with the occasional debris and twigs. The bag is filled with 2.88 grams of tea, which is only slightly less than the tea bags with the most (2.9 grams).
The steeping instructions said to steep the tea bag for three to five minutes. Although I would normally leave the tea in the entire time (grandpa style brewing), I took it out after three minutes for the sake of this review. After the tea was steeped, it had a nice rich brown colour.
Red Rose had the most unique smell and taste from all the other teas. It smelled slightly floral with notes of berries. The taste without milk was more on the bitter side, but I could still taste some floral notes (especially after it cooled a bit more). And with milk added it just brought out even more of those bright floral notes and became very nicely balanced.
Because Red Rose has strong floral notes, I can see it being very polarizing just like Lipton tea. You’ll either love it or want more of those classic tea flavours like Lyons or PG Tips.
So Who Has The Best Breakfast Tea?
PG Tips and Lyons are very similar, and hard to distinguish between the two. They are your basic breakfast tea. I would lean more towards PG Tips between the two, just for slightly more quality and flavours.
Red Rose and Lipton however bring in some unique flavours that can both be polarizing. Red Rose has some floral notes that I quite enjoy, and Lipton brings a more metallic taste. If you’re used to either of these flavours, you’ll probably prefer these as it’s what you’re used to drinking. But if you aren’t used to drinking these blends, they might be quite a flavour shock.
At the end of the day, I will always grab Red Rose. I can’t say whether it’s actually the best breakfast tea, or if it’s because it’s the taste I associate with my daily morning brew. I did enjoy the additional floral notes which the other teas didn’t have. But I can also see those flavour turning others off of it who aren’t used to it (which I feel might be the case for me with Lipton).
What Actually Is A Breakfast Tea Blend?
Breakfast tea 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 be needing. Plus, it’s typically strong enough to blend with milk and still taste the tea.
P.S. You can read more about the difference between English, Irish, AND Scottish breakfast tea.
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Read More Related Posts
- English, Irish & Scottish Breakfast Tea: How Are They Different?
- 11 Popular Types Of Black Tea You Should Try (&Why!)
- What’s The Best Irish Breakfast Tea: Barry’s, Lyons, or Bewley’s?
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Last update on 2025-03-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API