I had some Twinings Extra Strong English Breakfast tea – part of their new range of English Breakfast. I decided to compare it with the “normal” English breakfast to see what the difference was.
In the picture here, both cups were made by steeping the tea bags in hot water for three minutes, as per the instructions on the packet.
As soon as the water was poured, I could see a difference – the Extra Strong tea is slightly redder. You may find this is clearer in the photo where milk is added:
In both photographs, the Extra Strong tea is on the left.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t taste a difference – whichever cup I tasted second tasted bland on tastebuds saturated by the first cup!
I suspect that the Extra Strong is a blend that contains more Oolong tea than the standard blend. What effect this has on the taste, or caffeine content, I don’t know. So I can’t comment on whether Extra Strong is, in fact, extra strong.