Here's another hotel/motel-offered tea that one may be tempted to try for breakfast when staying at lodging, and/or buy online through S&D's rather limited retail section. I've found that the quality of hybrid food-service/limited-retail teas, in general, varies wildly from very good to certifiably wretched. Okay, it's not the latter, but I'll describe S&D Special Blend as comfortably lame. This tea is decidedly below-average -- not from the standpoint of an offputting or unpalatable flavor, just very weak. Contrary to the title, this tea ain't very "special".

Friendly advice, fellow travelers: one bag won't work, not even close. Dunk and steep and swirl 2-3 of them for 5-10 minutes for fuller flavor. If in a motel, you can do this at no extra charge. However, if considering their online gift-basket offering that contains predominantly bags of this pekoe blend, I recommend not bothering. This tea is weaker than a whisper and rather ordinary-tasting even when its potency is boosted by multiple bags. However, at least then you'll stroll out of the motel lobby satisfied that you've had a cup of tea instead of some watered down approximation thereof.

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