Of the many gifts the Irish gave the world, at least two were intended to be tossed back frequently: extra stout beer and strong black tea. I hardly touch alcohol these days, but I do appreciate a strong Irish tea.
My St. Patrick’s Day celebration began early in the morn whilst changing my son’s poopy diaper. The blueberries he ate the day before turned his stool a dark, mossy green — a reminder to me that this was the day to pay tribute to the Emerald Isle.
Since my last visit to a Big Lots store (about 5 years ago) they’ve added an international foods section, which happens to stock an Irish tea I’ve been wanting to try. Oh what my life has come to. The tea in question is Punjana Irish Breakfast, and drinking it — in addition to wearing a green shirt — would be my only commemorative activity of the day.
The tea itself was a pleasant surprise. I read about how flavorful it was compared to other Irish teas — a point that was proven true.
While its body isn’t as thick and its taste isn’t as malty as Barry’s or Lyons brand teas, it seems to exhibit a brighter and sweeter tone. I steeped one tea bag for 
about 5 minutes (much longer than the Irish brands mentioned above), yet I didn’t detect any bitterness in taste.
Punjana Irish Breakfast tea stood up well to milk and only required a little honey. I have 79 more tea bags which I intend to drink in the afternoon at work — hopefully with the help and in the company of others. Here’s to the Irish!
UPDATE 3/20/2012: Punjana Irish Breakfast tea steeps just as quickly as other Irish brands. If you give the tea bag a nudge or two while steeping, you can get a perfect cup in about 2 minutes. Five or more minutes will result in bitterness.
UPDATE 4/6/2012: This is great f***in tea! My new favorite.