I had the opportunity to sample this a couple times. The second time I had a fresher sample and it tasted noticeably better. The tea bag smelled malty, which was a good sign!

Brews a rich, dark color. Flavor is weaker than I expect from this style: not very bitter, and aroma is less malty than I like. Compared to other similarly-priced teas from mainstream tea companies, this tea also has less of the savory quality. I would not, however, call it smooth.

Although this tea is relatively innocuous, lacking any strong objectionable qualities, I also found it too weak for my tastes.

I will say, because it's on the weaker side, I recommend brewing 5 minutes. This tea is very different in how it behaves from PG Tips and Lipton and such--I find it is much harder to overbrew, it doesn't get as bitter, but it also takes longer to extract as much flavor.

I think I'd take this one over a number of other brands of basic black tea bags, mainly because it lacks the harsh bitter and astringent qualities that some low-quality tea bags have. A step up from these brands!

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