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The Blends of the Black Teas
The most famous blends of the black teas are:
1. The English Breakfast.
The concrete recipe of this blend depends on the producer, because
there are no strict standards here. As a rule, this blend is made
of broken leaves or of fannings (dust) of Keemuns and Indian (Ceylon)
teas.
 In
some varieties Keemuns or Indian teas prevail. That's why the taste
of "The English Breakfast" may be different. If Keemuns prevail,
there are some 'earthen' shades in the taste, it may taste like
oolong. It is better to drink these teas with milk. If the Indian
teas prevail, "The English Breakfast" tastes like a simple black
tea, but it acquires slight piquant taste shade of a Chinese tea.
2. The Irish Breakfast.
As a rule, this blend is a mixture of broken leaves and fannings
of Assam. Sometimes the ordinary Indian or Ceylon tea is added to
it. The Irish Breakfast excels by its strength, saturated red color
of the infusion, expressive aroma. It is also very tart.
3. The Russian Caravan.
This blend is very popular in the west, but it is almost unknown
in Russia. It is a traditional recipe, which is known since the
times, when the tea was delivered into Russia from China by the
camelcades. This blend contains three grades of tea (in decreasing
order): 1) The Chinese black tea (Keemun or Yunnan); 2) Indian or
Ceylon ordinary black tea; 3) The addition of piquant Lapsang Souchong
or Chinese oolong.
 The
concrete ratio of teas and the filling of grades depend on the concrete
producer. For example, "Russian Caravan" of the firm "Brookbond"
is a blend of the high-quality broken Assams (60%), Krasnodar tea
(30%) and small addition of Pu Ehr (10%). "Russian Caravan" of the
firm "Twinings" is also very popular. But now it is rather difficult
to find this tea.
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