An above-average, basic black tea in a tea bag.

I've tried the loose-leaf version of this tea, and gave it a very good review, but I only had the opportunity to try the tea bag recently, when I stopped at a rest stop on the Ohio turnpike and ordered a cup of tea at a Gloria Jean's coffee stand.

First of all, I want to say, I'm glad Gloria Jean's is serving this and not Lipton or something worse...but...why are they just using these humble teabags, especially when they're charging as much for the tea as they do? At least have the decency to buy the higher-quality tea bags from Harney like Barnes & Noble's cafe, Saxby's Coffee, and any number of other chains do.

This tea was pretty good, but it was noticeably lacking relative to the loose-leaf version of this same tea. Flavor is good, but slightly harsher, and the aroma was less complex. It's a little malty, and tastes more like a typical Ceylon than the complex balance that comes throgh in the whole-leaf version. I didn't get as many of those wintergreen notes.

I steeped for 5 minutes, and used one teabag for a 12 ounce cup, and it was plenty strong, so at least there is a lot of tea in the bag.

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