For me, afternoon caffeine inevitably means insomnia, so I've spent some effort trying to find a decent decaf. I've found a few decaf green teas and Earl Greys that are drinkable, but I've yet to find an unflavored black tea that's worth the trouble. Despite being the most expensive decaf I've tried, Tea Forté's Decaf Breakfast is no exception.

The unbrewed leaf is in broken pieces, but the pieces are relatively large. It smells like tea, but the aroma is faint and stale. Adding water brings out a little more aroma. I can definitely smell the Ceylon tea, but it's almost like smelling it from a distance.

The flavor is almost nonexistent. If I take a really large swig, I can catch a little leafiness and tannic astringency on my tongue, but none of the robust malt let alone the more subtle flavors that I would expect from a Ceylon black.

This tea is perhaps marginally better than Twinings or Bigelow decaf, but at $4 an ounce loose or more than $1 for a sachet, it serves mostly to convince me that there's just no way to decaffeinate black tea and retain any flavor. If there were, I'd think that Tea Forté would have found it.

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