One of the minor mysterious adventures of getting last-minute, dirt-cheap, cut-rate, online deals on resort hotels (as I did one stormy evening in Sedona, AZ) is to sample new teas otherwise not often consumed. Sedona has decent water, but I also brought a bag home to try (apples-to-apples comparison).

For a food-service black tea, this was above-average, not as rapidly dark, strong and dense as Farmer Brothers, but better than most. It beats the usual Lipton by a good bit (yeah, I know, not saying much). As with most such teas I've tried, the leaves in the bag were very finely chopped—not dusty like snuff, but decidedly granular. The aroma is rather ordinary and doesn't tell much of a story either way, but the tea tastes pleasant enough...smooth, with no funky aftertaste or weird booby trap. I wouldn't go out of my way to find this, but it's adequate for a pleasant morning on the balcony watching scenery. Of course it's a far cry below Murchie's finest blended leaves. Still, if you operate a hotel or catering crew, and this fits your wholesale price point, you likely won't be repulsing anyone with it.

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