Tea: Organic Autumn Harvest Black Tea
A Black Tea from Trader Joe's - 
Organic
| Brand: | Trader Joe's |
| Style: | Black Tea |
| Region: | Blend |
| Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
| Loose? | Teabag |
| # Ratings: | 1 View All |
Reviewer: Tchuggin' Okie
✓ 379 teas reviewed
✓ 68 of Black Tea
✓ 105 of Pure Tea (Camellia sinensis)
✓ 26 of Trader Joe's
✓ 190 of blends
Review of Organic Autumn Harvest Black Tea
February 6th, 2020
| Aroma | Flavor | Value | Total |
| 6 of 10 | 4 of 5 | 4 of 5 | 69 of 100 |
| Good | Good | Good Value |
This is not to be confused with the apparently much-better-known Trader Joe's "Harvest Blend" herbal tea, which is a completely different product. Instead, this black tea came in a 10-bag sealed wrapper, tucked into one of four squares of a wooden gift box. The outside paper wrapper of the gift box describes all four of the offerings, including this: "...the last tea harvested from the tea bushes, using the same hand-plucking process of the new leaves as Spring Blossom [a tea I'll rate/review later]. The leaves are larger from the cooler, post-monsoon weather. The flavor tends to be deep, fruity and robust." The labeling describes all the teas as coming from "Darjeeling and Assam tea estates", but doesn't say specifically which region produced *this* tea.
It has a faint but pleasant, somewhat smoky dry-bag aroma, and a much richer, still mildly smoky, warming flavor. I'm not a big fan of strongly smoky tea, but this stops short of being a turn-off in that regard. This is a pleasant tea to drink, somewhat bitter but not offputting, slightly malty but nowhere nearly as much as pure Assams I've had, not "fruity" as TJ's labeling describes, but still a rich blend. Maybe it's an Assam/Darjeeling combination? It reminds me a lot of the few Scottish Breakfast teas I've had. For the relatively low price, this tea is a good bargain, if one also likes the other four in the gift box. I haven't seen it sold separately at TJ's yet.
The wet-bag aroma is rich and pleasant, especially for an unflavored black tea. Unlike a lot of bagged black teas, the leaves are not chopped finely nor ground practically to powder, but instead, sliced up recognizably, such that the wet pieces are around 1/4–1/2 cm wide. One can steep this a long time without much problem, as I discovered by accident. As I also discovered by accident, the cold tea is a smooth, good drink; this should make a nice iced tea. I doubt most RateTea folks who receive a gift box with this inside will want to launch it into the compost heap.
