I normally don't like flavored teas, but I thought this one was excellent in quality.

The dry leaf of this has an interesting appearance, with big, round pieces of CTC leaf, mixed with blue and red strands. The aroma of the dry leaf is a bit cloying, but fortunately, upon brewing it becomes more balanced.

The cup is moderate strength and the base tea is quite pleasant, with its aroma and flavor coming through well. It's hard for me to pick out the cranberry aroma, although the tea does smell very fruity. I'm used to cranberries being associated with a sharp, astringent tartness, but this tea is rather mellow and smooth.

I sense that the base tea is pretty high quality.

While this wouldn't be the sort of thing I'd choose of my own accord, it was very well-executed for a flavored blend, and I'd actually prefer it to a number of pure teas, because the quality of the base tea is so good and (in spite of what the aroma of the dry leaf suggests) the flavoring is not overdone.

I brewed 3 minutes with boiling water, with good results. It's smooth enough that you could probably steep longer if you wanted.

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