I received this tea quite a while ago from Jennifer at Tea = Bliss and am finally getting around to trying it. I have to admit that I’ve been drinking 99% coffee and 1% tea for the past few months, which is why there haven’t been any reviews lately. This tea is a pretty strong replacement for morning coffee.
Irish Sunrise looks like coarsely ground coffee and was processed using the Crush-Tear-Curl (CTC) method. I’ve never tried a loose tea that was created this way and was not sure what to expect as far as flavor and strength.
Instead of the leaves being rolled as a final stage, they are passed through a series of cylindrical rollers with hundreds of small sharp “teeth” that Crush, Tear, and Curl. (Crush, Tear, Curl on Wikipedia)
I brewed this with boiling water for three minutes. It’s got a bright astringency to it that just sucks the moisture from your mouth. It’s good but there’s nothing memorable about it. It’s pretty similar to bagged black teas that I would drink growing up.