Bewley's Irish Breakfast Tea 250 g 80 Tea Bags

Lovely tea, tea bags are the perfect size for a 1L teapot!

Fair prices and very quick delivery. I would do business with them again. Bewley's tea is one of the best on the market - strong, flavorful but never bitter. Each bag will make a delicious 12-ounce cup of tea.

Bewley’s of Dublin seems to be third in the Republic after Barry’s and Lyons. I’ve been meaning to try their tea for a while but they were far too pricey in the US until recently. As far as I know, this tea is the only commonly available Breakfast blend that includes a significant amount of Darjeeling. Surprisingly, this not only works but is a smashing success. This is marketed as an all India blend featuring both Assam and Darjeeling. In this it stands out from both English Breakfasts, which are usually Ceylon heavy, and other Irish breakfasts, which are usually either all African teas or a blend of African and Assam. I was concerned the tea wouldn’t be strong enough with such a large amount of Darjeeling, but that was entirely unfounded. It brews a dark cup with an aroma that is comfortingly malty, but also much fruitier than other IBs. The taste is superb. Not only is it unique to me among bagged breakfast teas, but also one of the best I’ve had. It is at its best with milk resulting in a robust, but smooth cup that is malty, creamy, and fruity. It is both delicious and memorable. There is little chance of this tea being mistaken for any other Irish or English bagged breakfast tea. In addition to the fruitiness, the Darjeeling lends a pleasant and lingering finish in which faint muscatel hints emerge. The tea has a touch of natural sweetness and is quite tasty straight if carefully brewed. It also takes sugar well and makes very good cold brew iced tea. Overall, I was very impressed by this tea. I’ve long been a fan of both Barry’s and Punjana teas, but this one by Bewleys compares favourably to all the teas I’ve had from both companies. What’s more neither of them produce a tea with anything close to this flavour profile. It’s true Bewleys tea are often more than I’m willing to pay on amazon, but if they stay in a similar price range to Barry’s and Thompson’s, this Irish Breakfast will definitely become a regular in my rotation.

Good, strong tea. My staple for several years.

Great robust flavor.

Like many other reviewers, we discovered this tea on a trip to Ireland. They provided it at all the hotels we went to. Before visiting, my husband only occasionally drank earl grey creme by teavana. After trying this tea in the first hotel for the heck of it, he was instantly hooked and had several cups a day. We tried to find this exact tea in several grocery stores in different parts of Ireland and couldn't find it anywhere but the hotels, so I hopped on Amazon the day before coming back, found this tea for an Amazing price, and it was at our house the day we arrived. Drinking this tea has become a routine for him now. I will mention that the bags are not what I expected, and they don't mention this in the description, not are there photos of it. The bags are not individually wrapped, they are thrown together in a the flimsy cardboard box you see in the photos. The bags also do not have tags. I have clear jars I normally put our tea bags in because I was used to the pretty bags that teavana has, so just be aware that these bags are not attractive whatsoever. However, they taste just like the ones in Ireland and are very affordable.

A couple years ago my mom bought me a box of Bewley's Irish Breakfast tea and a box of Bewley's Irish Afternoon tea. For whatever reason, I decided I liked the Afternoon version better for a daily basis. I made it my everyday tea and continued to buy it consistently over the last couple years, and never bought another Irish Breakfast. Recently, Bewley's changed their packaging to make it less interesting and eye-catching. Maybe sales were too high and they wanted to give Lipton a fighting chance. Even so, I expected the tea to be exactly the same as before. Last week, I realized I still had a few more tea bags of the Irish Breakfast version from two years ago. When I tried it, I was surprised by the wonderful malty flavor, and wondered why I hadn't kept using this tea as well. So, I bought a new Bewley's Irish Breakfast from Amazon. But when I brewed the new tea, I noticed it seemed to lack that wonderful malt. Was I imagining it the first time? So, I decided to conduct an experiment. I took two mugs of the same size and put an old tea bag in the first one and a new tea bag in the second. In the photos, the old one in the bronze box is on the left and the new one in the green box is on the right. It's hard to see in the photos, but in the mug the old tea is just ever-so-slightly darker than the new tea, even though I carefully prepared them the same way. I poured boiling water over both tea bags, let them steep for exactly five minutes, and then removed each bag. Since I always drink my tea with sugar and milk, I measured an exact amount of sugar and milk into each cup to be sure different levels wouldn't effect the taste. (I do actually have several important things to get done today, believe it or not, but if one is going to conduct a tea tasting experiment, an adequate scientific method must be employed.) I even had some tasteless cereal on hand as a palate cleanser. After carefully tasting each, the result was that the old one definitely still had a distinct, pungent malt flavor, whereas the new one was bland by comparison. I'm finishing off both mugs as I type this review, and I can still tell the difference between them as they cool to room temp. Even when I don't pay attention to which mug I pick up, I know what I'm getting. In conclusion, I was not imagining that the new box tasted bland compared to the old one. Bewley's must have changed more than the packaging over the last couple years. Now I wonder if my Irish Afternoon tea is disappointingly different as well, but I just haven't noticed. I'm giving it 4 stars just because Bewley's is still an enjoyable tea, but it loses a star for the change in flavor and/or quality. I may look around for another Irish Breakfast tea that has the distinct, malty flavor I like. I might also note that the old box is "best by March 2017", so even a year and a half after its best by date, it still tastes better than the new one.

Bewley's Irish Breakfast is a truly great tea and worth the price. Yes, other teas can be purchased at the supermarket for well less than three dollars for 100 bags. It is an insult to Bewley to mentioned such stuff when reviewing this wonderful tea. I gave up coffee after my first sip of hot Irish Breakfast and with a bit of milk and some sugar it is Nirvana. However, this is not a tea for the weak-hearted who are used to fruit flavored trough water. Bewley's Irish Breakfast packs a punch as if you just wandered into a dark pub on the wrong side of Dublin. It'll wake you up in the morning like your dear mother's slap and the firehouse bell combined. A rich, malty drink that'll make your eyes burn as you gasp with delight, Bewley produces the finest tea in the home country and has been smuggled into the UK for decades. It was near impossible to get in the states until recently but I was stunned silly to find it here on Amazon and at a price as good as it gets. Treat yourself to a mug of some superb tea and order some Bewley's Irish. You won't look back and you best be ready to brawl.