18

I’m going to keep this review short. It’s Friday, I barely got any sleep last night, and even though I have not been at work a full hour, I have already had an absolutely miserable, unbearably stressful morning. Some of you may recall me mentioning purchasing this tea in a note I wrote back in November. I had yet to try it at the time and it had been on my to do list ever since. I finally cracked it open earlier in the week, made it through 4-5 cups, and ended up throwing the rest of the sachets out last night. I have literally never done that before with fresh tea, not even with a tea I greatly disliked.

The first turn-off for me was the visible presence of safflower in the blend. I hate safflower. Anyone who claims that it does not contribute a smell or taste to whatever it is blended with has no clue. Anyway, the second turn-off for me was that odd thistle, pepper, and saffron-like smell of the dried safflower. It obscured the tea base, which to be honest, did not seem all that interesting. In the mouth, I got an awkward mix of thistle, malt, caramel, toast, and black peppercorn. The peppery note dominated the finish, leaving an odd, slightly unpleasant tingle coupled with oiliness in the back of my throat.

Now that I have once again failed miserably at keeping things short and simple, allow me to state that this was not for me. Maybe some folks are cool with this blend, but I am certainly not one of them. I found the tea base weak, lifeless, and boring which caused the dreaded safflower to stand out when it really shouldn’t have. This was just an unpleasant experience for me, and I cannot say that I would be willing to recommend this tea to fans of English breakfast blends.

Flavors: Black Pepper, Caramel, Flowers, Malt, Saffron, Toast

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec 8 OZ / 236 ML
Mookit

Oh no, hope you day goes better! Favourite tea in the evening is something to look forward to :)

eastkyteaguy

Thank you.

Fjellrev

Oh no, I hope you will be able to catch up on sleep soon.

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Comments

Mookit

Oh no, hope you day goes better! Favourite tea in the evening is something to look forward to :)

eastkyteaguy

Thank you.

Fjellrev

Oh no, I hope you will be able to catch up on sleep soon.

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Bio

My grading criteria for tea is as follows:

90-100: Exceptional. I love this stuff. If I can get it, I will drink it pretty much every day.

80-89: Very good. I really like this stuff and wouldn’t mind keeping it around for regular consumption.

70-79: Good. I like this stuff, but may or may not reach for it regularly.

60-69: Solid. I rather like this stuff and think it’s a little bit better-than-average. I’ll drink it with no complaints, but am more likely to reach for something I find more enjoyable than revisit it with regularity.

50-59: Average. I find this stuff to be more or less okay, but it is highly doubtful that I will revisit it in the near future if at all.

40-49: A little below average. I don’t really care for this tea and likely won’t have it again.

39 and lower: Varying degrees of yucky.

Don’t be surprised if my average scores are a bit on the high side because I tend to know what I like and what I dislike and will steer clear of teas I am likely to find unappealing.

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KY

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