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Two East Frisian Tea Blends

East Frisian tea blend comparison!  East Frisians drink copious amounts of tea and prepare it in an unusual way. Short version: they use special rock sugar, add cream (!), and empathetically don’t stir. For a more detailed account of how they prepare tea, I invite you to check out my blog post on East Frisian tea culture.

In this post, I am comparing two tea blends: Harney & Sons’ “East Frisian” and Thiele’s “Broken Silber” “Echte Ostfriesische Mischung.” East Frisian blends in Germany are mostly Assam, accented by Ceylon and/or Darjeeling tea. Harney says its blend contains all three. The Thiele package says, translated, the “best Assam teas characterize the full, fine, bitter taste of this classic top blend.”

Steeping the East Frisian tea blends

To compare these East Frisian teas, I used the same exact amount of leaves, water temperature, volume, steeping time, white rock sugar, and whole milk. I steeped the tea hot–roughly 200F or 95C, for 3-4 minutes. I compared them straight, then added sugar and compared with milk, and finally judged using the traditional cream.

Noting the differences in the blends

Two white porcelain bowls with blue rims holding tea leaves, set on an orange and white tablecloth.
two cups of black tea with the dry tea leaves above them on an orange and white tablecloth
In each photo, the Harney blend is on the left and the Thiele blend is on the right.

The Harney dry leaves look bigger. As you might expect, they didn’t brew as strongly with the same steep time as the Thiele. The Harney tastes more rounded and slightly less malty. The Thiele has more (very pleasant) pucker and deeper malty notes. It also brews up darker, with a thicker mouthfeel. The differences weren’t huge, but my husband and I both noted them right away. Both blends are really good, bold black teas. If drinking tea straight, without sugar or milk, I would lean toward the Harney blend (steeped closer to 2 minutes). If drinking with milk, I would enjoy either one (steeped 3-4 minutes), but I prefer the Thiele. When adding cream–as is traditional in East Friesland–Thiele’s “Broken Silber” wins hands down.

red and white Wedgwood teacup and saucer on a white tablecloth. A person is holding a spoon and about to pour in cream
Red and white wedgwood cup and saucer full of clouds and "fireworks" from East Frisian tea with cream
Thiele “Broken Silber” just before and right after adding cream, as is traditional for East Frisian tea.

Have you ever tried an East Frisian blend, or black tea with cream? Please let me know in the comments. 🙂

Interested in a different kind of tea “review,” check out my post, “Tea that Evokes Non-Tea Memories.”

8 replies on “Two East Frisian Tea Blends”

Thanks, Ellen! I hope you find the perfect blend for you. And, wow, I didn’t know about your tea website. But, I just saw it and can’t wait to explore more. It’s beautiful! 🙂

Thanks for the kind words, Sara! It’s a pleasure to read YOUR great blog and to share tea experiences with you. 🙂

Thanks @booksbythecup! And I would like to heartily recommend that all tea-drinking book lovers check out your Instagram and blog! Thanks for reading and commenting.

I use heavy cream. I am not aware of any differences between the cream available in East Frisia and the United States, but I can’t rule it out. I’ll check in with an East Frisian friend. 🙂

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