Without beating around the bush, this is a really good Sri Lankan/Ceylon tea. This seems to be one of the few brands of bagged tea that selected Sri Lankan tea for its flavors rather than for simply being "mild". This tea is remarkably similar in flavor to Ahmad and Alwazah branded Ceylon teas that are available from Middle Eastern markets.

The tea's pleasantly astringent and has a light-to-medium bitterness. It smells of darkly baked cookies or sweetrolls and tastes of lightly sweetened cocoa powder, which pretty much describes the bitterness level, as well. If you find bittersweet chocolate to be pleasant, then this tea will be. The finish is long and the cocoa lingers at the back of the tongue. I've let the cup cool to a bit below lukewarm and I'm starting to taste raw walnuts.

This tea is delicious, organic, Fair Trade and available at grocery stores. It's fifty cents more expensive than regular Bigelow or Celestial Seasonings. My only beef at all is with calling this tea an "English Breakfast". It's not. It's an easily recognizable Ceylon with no Assam whatsoever.

Add your own review

Comments:

Alex Zorach wrote: on March 6th, 2020

I find it sort of weird how this new Steep line has a separate organic but not fair trade certified English Breakfast, then this tea that is fair trade but not organic certified, and then it has a third decaf tea that has neither certification.

I understand there are challenges in sourcing, but from a branding standpoint and from the perspective of the customer it is very confusing.

Glad to hear that it's tasty though. I love Ahmad tea, so if it's like that, it sounds good to me!

Login or Sign Up to comment or reply.