loose leaf black teas

Earl Grey Teas

The most requested black tea by name in the Adagio range — Earl Grey in its many expressions covers every variation on the bergamot-scented black tea that has defined afternoon tea in the English-speaking world since the 19th century. Named for Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey and British Prime Minister, who received the blend as a diplomatic gift in the 1830s, Earl Grey has since become the most recognisable flavoured tea in the world.

• Earl Grey Bravo — bold, assertive bergamot over a strong black tea base. For anyone who wants their Earl Grey to announce itself from the moment hot water hits the leaves.
• Earl Grey Moonlight — a softer, creamier take on Earl Grey with a floral dimension that rounds the bergamot's citrus edge. The Earl Grey for afternoon rather than morning.
• Earl Grey Bella Luna — a refined, floral Earl Grey with a delicate bergamot character that suits the most discerning palates. One of the consistently highest-rated teas in the collection.
• Earl Grey Lavender — bergamot and lavender together — the classic pairing that turns Earl Grey into something more botanical and aromatic than either ingredient achieves on its own.

Breakfast Teas

The everyday workhorses of the black tea world — breakfast blends are the teas most people in the UK think of first when they think of tea. Bold, full-bodied, and built to take milk. Adagio's whole-leaf breakfast blends are measurably better than any breakfast tea bag because the whole leaf produces a more complex, more rounded cup than fannings ever can.

• Scottish Breakfast — the highest-rated tea in the entire Adagio black tea range. Bold, malty, and full-bodied, with a character that holds up to milk as well as anything in the collection. The right choice for anyone who wants a proper morning cup.
• English Breakfast — the classic British breakfast blend, brisk and reliable. The reference point for what breakfast tea is supposed to taste like at its whole-leaf best.
• Irish Breakfast — the most robust breakfast blend in the collection, with a strong Assam base that produces a darker, maltier cup than English Breakfast. For anyone who wants their morning tea to make itself known.

Single-Origin Chinese Black Teas

The most distinctive teas in the collection — Chinese black teas (hong cha, 紅茶, literally "red tea") have a character fundamentally different from Indian teas: naturally sweeter, less astringent, and with flavour profiles that range from the honey and dark chocolate of Yunnan to the golden-tipped richness of Fujian.

• Yunnan Noir — one of the most consistently loved teas in the entire Adagio range. A naturally sweet, dark chocolate-hinted Yunnan black tea with zero astringency. The tea that brings coffee drinkers across — genuine depth and body, none of the bitterness.
• Golden Monkey — a golden-tipped Fujian black tea with honey-like natural sweetness and an exceptional visual presentation. One of China's most celebrated premium black teas.
• Black Dragon Pearls — hand-rolled Yunnan black tea leaves wound into tight pearls that unfurl slowly during steeping. Spectacular in a glass teapot and genuinely smooth and sweet in the cup.

Darjeeling Teas

The "Champagne of teas" — Darjeeling (দার্জিলিং) is grown in the hill stations of West Bengal, India, at elevations between 600–2,000m, where cool temperatures, mist, and the region's unique terroir produce a tea with a muscatel character found nowhere else on earth. First flush Darjeeling, harvested in March and April, is the most prized spring tea from the Indian subcontinent — lighter, more floral, and more delicately muscatel than later harvests.

• Darjeeling Sungma — a second flush Darjeeling with the deeper, more pronounced muscatel character the summer harvest delivers. For anyone who finds first flush too delicate and wants the full muscatel experience.

Assam Teas

From the Brahmaputra River valley in north-eastern India — Assam produces some of the boldest, most malt-forward black teas in the world. The large-leaf Assam cultivar (Camellia sinensis var. assamica) gives a distinctively rich, full-bodied cup that forms the backbone of most commercial breakfast blends. Our single-estate Assam demonstrates what the cultivar produces when sourced directly rather than blended for consistency.

• Assam Melody — bright, malty Assam with the characteristic briskness that makes Assam the standard morning tea across India and the UK.

Ceylon Teas

From the highlands of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) — Ceylon black tea is known for its bright, clean, citrus-forward character that makes it the most versatile black tea origin. It takes milk well, cold brews cleanly, and forms the base of virtually all flavoured black tea blends because its character amplifies rather than clashes with added flavours.

• Ceylon Sonata — a clean, bright single-origin Ceylon with the characteristic brisk, citrus-adjacent quality that defines the style. The most versatile black tea in the collection for drinking plain, with milk, or as an iced tea base.

The difference between Adagio's loose leaf black teas and supermarket tea bags comes down to one thing: what is inside. Commercial tea bags are filled with fannings — the lowest-grade fragments left after whole leaves are processed. They brew dark quickly because the small particle size means maximum surface area contact with water, but the extraction is one-dimensional: mostly tannins and caffeine, with very little of the complex flavour compounds that whole leaves produce.

Whole-leaf black tea brews more slowly and more completely. The leaf expands fully, water circulates around it, and the extraction draws out essential oils, flavonoids, and aromatic compounds that fannings never release. The result is a cup with genuine complexity — a Scottish Breakfast that tastes malty and rounded rather than flat and astringent; a Yunnan Noir that tastes of chocolate and honey rather than just strong tea.

• Assam-based teas (Scottish Breakfast and Irish Breakfast) — towards the higher end of the range, 50–70mg per cup, because the Assam cultivar naturally produces more caffeine than smaller-leaf Chinese varieties.
• Darjeeling — towards the lower end, 40–55mg per cup, reflecting the lighter processing and more delicate leaf.

• Chinese black teas (Yunnan Noir, Golden Monkey and English Breakfast) — mid-range, 40–60mg per cup.
• Earl Grey varieties — caffeine content is determined by the black tea base, typically 40–60mg per cup.

Cold brewing black tea produces a smoother, less astringent iced tea than hot-brewed tea poured over ice — the cold extraction draws out sweetness and flavour whilst leaving behind much of the tannin that hot extraction accelerates. Yunnan Noir and Ceylon Sonata cold brew into some of the most naturally sweet iced black teas you can make at home. The method:

1. Add two teaspoons of loose leaf black tea per 250ml of cold water
2. Refrigerate for 8–12 hours
3. Strain and serve over ice

Loose Leaf Black Tea as a Gift

Loose leaf black tea makes one of the most universally appreciated tea gifts — the category that the widest range of recipients already drinks and would immediately enjoy at a higher quality level. A black tea selection covering Scottish Breakfast, Earl Grey Bella Luna, Yunnan Noir, and Golden Monkey gives the recipient four genuinely different expressions of the category. For the most striking single-tea gift, Black Dragon Pearls delivers both visual spectacle and exceptional flavour — a tea that arrives looking like nothing the recipient has encountered before.

Buy Loose Leaf Black Tea Online

Browse the full loose leaf black tea range above — Earl Grey varieties, breakfast blends, single-origin Chinese teas, Darjeeling, Assam, Ceylon, and more. Order loose leaf black tea online and have it delivered from our UK warehouse with free UK delivery on qualifying orders. Also available as black iced teas and in pyramid teabag format.