Cutting open a dry teabag, the tea is small pieces of CTC pellets. It smells nice, but generic; the aroma is oak leaves and malt without much complexity.

Adding the water brings out the Assam in the blend. The sour, malty aroma is quite rich. The first taste of the tea is a surprise in that teas that smell like the Tetley does are usually much more bitter. This tea is far more mellow than I was expecting. The astringency and maltiness more than balance out the bitterness. While the flavor isn't any more complex than the aroma, it's pleasant and easy to drink.

This tea is best while hot. Many teas have more subtle and complex flavors that only come out after the tea has cooled a little, but the Tetley really doesn't. The bitterness fades a little and the maltiness intensifies a bit. Most teas are beginning to open in flavor at this point, but the Tetley is still sort of one-dimensional.

I can understand why reviewers that like popular grocery store British-style teas consider this one to be weak. It's inoffensive, but misses both the bright bitterness and heavy maltiness of most Assam CTC teas. Trying to blend a CTC tea that isn't bitter seems to result in losing too many other flavors as well. It isn't as bitter as PG Tips, but lots of teas aren't as bitter as PG Tips.

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