Tea: Darjeeling Broken Orange Pekoe
A Darjeeling Black Tea from Fortnum & Mason
Brand: | Fortnum & Mason |
Style: | Darjeeling Black Tea |
Region: | Darjeeling, India |
Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
Loose? | Teabag |
# Ratings: | 1 View All |
Product page: | Darjeeling Broken Orange Pekoe |
Reviewer: Alex Zorach
✓ 1453 teas reviewed
✓ 66 of Darjeeling Black Tea
✓ 501 of Black Tea
✓ 3 of Fortnum & Mason
✓ 78 from Darjeeling, India
✓ 209 from India
Review of Darjeeling Broken Orange Pekoe
November 15th, 2013
Aroma | Flavor | Value | Total |
5 of 10 | 2 of 5 | 2 of 5 | 47 of 100 |
Fair | Mediocre | Overpriced |
This one disappointed me. It tasted a lot less recognizable as a Darjeeling than most Darjeeling tea bags do. There was a faint hint of the muscatel grape aroma, but the dominant aroma was like a generic black tea, not much different from Lipton and the like.
The color of the brewed cup is dark, and the tea has a quite tannic character, both bitter and astringent. The aroma is flat. It's almost like you took a strong Assam tea, kept the harshness but made it thinner-bodied and removed the rich, malty aroma. Mouthfeel of this is peppery, but in an unpleasant way.
Read between the lines..."a stronger brew, which suits those who prefer to take their Darjeeling with milk" seems to me to be saying that this is just a low-quality tea.
I've had much better broken-leaf Darjeeling in tea bags. Harney and Sons, Jacksons of Piccadilly, and Ahmad Tea are three companies that come to mind with much better Darjeeling tea bags, all in a similar price range, and possibly somewhat cheaper.
Perhaps I will have to try Fortnum and Mason's loose teas to get a sampling of their high-quality stuff. I see they have more favorable reviews but I have yet to try them. This is the second tea bag from this company that has disappointed me.