With St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner, I started wondering about the history behind the ever popular Irish Breakfast Tea.  Where did the flavor profile come from and why is it so popular in Ireland?


The history of tea in Ireland is almost as old as the history of tea in England.  It was initially introduced by the Anglo-Irish aristocracy as an import from India to the upper class in the nineteenth century and later spread to the rural and lower class.     

As the popularity of tea grew, the Irish initially relied entirely on U.K. importers for their tea supply, which became a problem during World War II, when Ireland chose not to ally itself with the United Kingdom. Consequently, the government of Ireland set up Tea Importers (Éire), Ltd., a conglomeration of companies that imported tea directly from the producing countries.

Irish tea consumption continued to increase in the postwar years. In 1973 Ireland had to disband Tea Importers because it violated antimonopoly statutes of the EU, so the business was taken up by the subsidiary companies that had made up the organization. As the Irish imported their own tea direct from the source they were able to experiment with the teas and blends.  Irish Breakfast blends were usually a blend of Assam, Darjeeling and Ceylon teas, but what they found is that the Irish tended to like their tea stronger than the English blends they were once consuming. They also began gravitating towards East African suppliers, who provided leaves that were aromatic.  The Irish blend evolved into a strong, rich, aromatic and malty cup of tea. 

Soon the whole nation was hooked on Irish tea or as they pronounce it..."tay"(from the French pronunciation) and enjoying a cuppa tea with sugar and generous amounts of milk.  The Irish have a saying that a good cup of tea should be “strong enough for a mouse to trot on.”

Well there you have it.   Lets all brew a cup and toast our Irish friends for this special treat.