American tea is a weird concept for me to digest, but a few tea gardens do exist in the United States. Hawaii, Washington, Oregon and Alabama have them, and so does South Carolina, home of the Charleston Tea Plantation. The South Carolina plantation (currently owned by Bigelow Tea Company) produces several black and green tea varieties including Charleston Breakfast, which I recently tried.
Charleston Breakfast isn’t as rich and full bodied at it advertises to be, but it’s still a pleasant brew. More of an afternoon tea in my opinion, it has simple characteristics and a near-full body.
I detect a sweet, cinnamon-like aroma with a slightly tannic flavor. The mild bitterness I experienced may have resulted from using boiling water.
Charleston Breakfast tea is best served black. A little sweetener is okay, but I wouldn’t recommend more than the smallest splash of milk.
| Aroma: | Sweet spice, cinnamon |
|---|---|
| Body: | Medium |
| Flavor: | Mildly tannic |
| Color: | Amber |
