One of the very first teas I ever had as a kid (my mom liked it as an iced tea, for reasons I can't reckon aside from inexpensive price), somehow Lipton's flagship black has managed to avoid my first 67 ratings. How can a tea I've swallowed off and on for decades be so forgettable?

This tea is alarmingly ubiquitous—available in seemingly every supermarket, convenience store, breakfast cafe, pancake house, donut shop, motel, hotel, all-night diner, all-day diner, dive bar, workplace hot-beverage dispensary, convention hall, college cafeteria, tourist trap's tea table, and as the default "hot tea" in restaurants of every price point, all across this vast land and beyond. I can't testify first-hand, but I'm told it's even served in Nevada brothels.

Unfortunately it's the only "hot tea" at all offered in most of the above. I say "unfortunately" because the taste strikes me as bland, ordinary, boring...without any essences of anything but commercial-grade orange pekoe shredded nearly to dust, then bagged. It's as plain as can be—not revolting or even a major turn-off per se, indeed it's tolerable, and one can do worse. Still, the flavor doesn't stand out except in its flatness, about as interesting as watching grass grow. It's also a step down from what can be a rather rich aroma, especially in-cup. Much like Wal-Mart's "Great Value" tea, I only can recommend Lipton black tea if you're in a hurry or simply want tea badly enough, and little or nothing else of the sort is offered. If you simply ask for hot tea at an eatery and don't get Lipton, that's quite remarkable; you may wish to purchase a lottery ticket that day, for luck has found you.

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