Organic Breakfast – Tea Bags

Organic Breakfast by A.C. Perch's Thehandel, dark and malty

Organic Breakfast by A.C. Perch's Thehandel is an organic Assam from India, dark in the cup and malty in character. The tea easily holds its own with a splash of milk and comes in 25 pyramid bags for the week at the office.

Organic Breakfast is a robust organic black tea from northeastern India, blended and packaged at the Copenhagen tea house A.C. Perch's Thehandel. Assam is the name of both the region and the large-leaf tea plant that produces this dark, malty infusion.

Malt, dark copper, and a long finish

Once steeped, the Organic Breakfast glows a deep copper-red, and its aroma is reminiscent of freshly baked bread. On the palate, it is full-bodied and dense, with a malty note that lingers.

The body comes from the leaf rather than a long steeping time, which is why it doesn't get thin with milk, but rather round and creamy. Those who drink it black will find a sharp edge that properly jump-starts the morning. A spoonful of honey brings out the malty note without making the tea taste sweet.

The black tea for the first hour

Freshly boiled water, five minutes of steeping—that is how you draw the strength from the bag that this tea was made for. It pairs better with your first meal of the day than any delicate spring tea, as it can stand up to butter and cheese and still holds its own even after being poured for the second time.

The 25 pyramid bags made of cornstarch give the coarse leaf room to expand and are individually wrapped in cellulose. For a pot at the office, calculate two bags per liter; that way, the infusion remains drinkable even after half an hour.

Whether milk goes into the cup before or after the tea has been debated in the British Isles for generations. Pouring it in first protects the porcelain and results in a consistently smooth cup; pouring it in last allows you to gauge the color more precisely. With a tea this strong, it's worth trying both ways, as the tea is forgiving regardless of the order.

The bag contains pure leaf, which is rather the exception at Perch's Thehandel, as most of the house's blends contain blossoms or fruit.

If you feel like something lighter in the morning, reach for the floral Darjeeling First Flush, and those looking for a citrus note will find it in the Earl Grey from the same house.

Assam, the lowland along the Brahmaputra

Assam is the only major tea region where the plant does not grow on mountain slopes, but in the humid plains on both sides of the Brahmaputra. The river regularly floods the land, leaving behind fertile silt, and the combination of heat, humidity, and deep soil drives the bushes to produce large, robust leaves.

This is exactly where the dark, malty infusion comes from, which has been prized on English breakfast tables since the nineteenth century. Unlike Indian mountain tea, the Assam plant was not introduced there; it grew wild in the region's forests before anyone began planting it in rows.

On the shelves of Perch's Thehandel, Organic Breakfast represents the robust side of the assortment, for days that require substance rather than subtlety. You can find more blends from the Copenhagen collection in the A.C. Perch's Thehandel series.

Organic inspection body DK-ÖKO-100 – EU/non-EU agriculture