Typical Ceylon tea is a powerful, robust tea, dark, full-bodied, and with a strong, bitter flavor. Its aroma is often described as malty. Many Ceylon teas are said to have nuances of chocolate, and nutty, floral, or fruity tones in their aroma as well, sometimes with toasty or caramel-like qualities as well. Ceylon tea definitely has its own recognizable style, but there is a huge amount of variability among Ceylon teas.
Many of the higher grades of Ceylon tea, and many of the batches of single-estate Ceylon teas are very smooth. Some of these high-end teas are even naturally sweet, with little bitterness or astringency, and a complex and highly nuanced aroma.
Because of its strength, Ceylon tea is a favorite ingredient in breakfast blends, such as English breakfast, but especially Irish Breakfast and Ostfriesentee, a breakfast tea from East Frisia in Germany.
Irish breakfast and Ostfriesentee are often made exclusively out of Ceylon tea, and even when it is a blend, Irish breakfast tends to be predominantly Ceylon. Pure Ceylon tea makes an outstanding breakfast tea, and is one of the best choices if you want the classic flavor of a black breakfast tea.
Ceylon tea which contains a larger portion of tips or leaf buds. The tips and leaf buds are higher in caffeine, which makes tippy Ceylon both a favorite ingredient in breakfast blends, as well as a favorite breakfast tea in its own right.
Ceylon tea is widely available; most tea companies that specialize in British tea culture or other western tea cultures carry Ceylon, but there are also numerous tea companies that specialize specialize exclusively in teas from the Sri Lanka region, which have a much bigger selection.
If you are seeking the best Ceylon teas, you would do well to begin buying and sampling single estate and single-harvest loose-leaf teas from Ceylon. Not only do these teas tend to be higher-quality than most of the blends available in mainstream stores, but sampling single estate teas and single-harvest teas can enable you to experience nuances of flavor and aroma that you would not notice if you only drink blends.
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