Tea: Basic Black
A Black Tea from FashionistaTea - 
Organic
This tea has been retired/discontinued.
| Brand: | FashionistaTea |
| Style: | Black Tea |
| Region: | Blend |
| Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
| Loose? | Loose |
| # Ratings: | 3 View All |
Reviewer: Alex Zorach
✓ 1448 teas reviewed
✓ 496 of Black Tea
✓ 949 of Pure Tea (Camellia sinensis)
✓ 1 of FashionistaTea
✓ 317 of blends
Review of Basic Black
December 2nd, 2013
| Aroma | Flavor | Value | Total |
| 8 of 10 | 4 of 5 | 4 of 5 | 80 of 100 |
| Excellent | Good | Good Value |
This was a unique tea, somewhat subtle and subdued, and a bit of an acquired taste. I found that it had great complexity and grew on me. According to FashionistaTea, it's a blend of Nilgiri and Yunnan, and the Yunnan character is definitely evident--I don't know as much about Nilgiri teas to identify any flavor characteristics.
Dry leaf looks like a mix of large, broken pieces of leaf with smaller pieces, almost like a mix of CTC tea with orthodox...doesn't look as great as the picture on the website. The leaf smells unusual: there's a hint of light, minty tones but this is mostly overwhelmed by a vegetal smell. There are also both spicy and fruity tones.
Upon brewing I like this much better than the dry leaf suggests. The cup smells mostly like a Yunnan tea, with a light smoky aroma, and moderately fruity. There is a sort of vegetal and herbaceous quality that is quite unique, almost oolong-like.
Flavor is oddly muted...it doesn't have much up-front kick, but it does have a muted bitter aftertaste. This is not a typical breakfast tea, and does not conform to the British aesthetic. Although I initially found myself wanting more up-front bitterness and less in the aftertaste, upon drinking a few cups of this I actually came to really like the way this tea's bitterness comes more at the end.
Interestingly, this tea was able to brew a second, very flavorful cup, each time I prepared it. I liked the second cup more than the first, which surprised me. I settled on a 3 minute steeping followed by a 5-8 minute one. This tea infuses much more slowly than I would expect.
In the end, this was a real winner. One of the most original and appealing black tea blends I've tried in a long time, although definitely took a few cups to appreciate. Don't be fooled by the name "basic black"--there's nothing basic about this. As a final note, I think the price is reasonable for an organic tea of this quality. The leaf may look plain but it delivers a rich and evolving flavor that kept me coming back to it.
