While still good, this was the least desirable of the Murchie's "Jubilee" line I've tried so far. Blended this year (2022) in honor of the late Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee, it contains a mix of Darjeeling, Assam, Yunnan and Keemun. Given the strong history this company has with teas of those origins individually, I figured this would be a great blend. It's still well-flavored and a pleasing drink, but just not up to what may have been too high of a standard set in my mind, a priori.

The dry-bag aroma is pleasant, but weaker than expected, and that carries over to the flavor, which is much better characterized by "mellow" than "bold". Brewed carefully, this is a nicely relaxing and smooth black tea, but the margin between oversteeping and understeeping was surprisingly thin here. As a big, clumsy dude, my physical balance ain't the greatest, and neither is my steeping balance. :-) Platinum Jubilee went from too-mild to a boxer's uppercut of bitterness in a really short time. Unlike most Murchie's blends, this simply has no tolerance for oversteeping. Be really careful with this, or you'll end up with a quite bitter cup o'tea. It didn't get outright cloying for me, but was headed there on a moon shot, after just a 4-1/2-minute bag drop. Inside the balance window, which sits firmly between 3-1/2 to 4 minutes, I found a blend that had hints of fruit and very faint fireplace smoke. Fans of mellow yet flavorful black tea, who are fastidious about steeping time: this should be great for you.

A good bit of my "outstanding" value rating was the continuing, hugely favorable $CAD--->$USD exchange rate for American customers. Even when considering recent/ongoing overall economic inflation, this makes online-ordering Murchie's teas overall a great deal, especially given the high quality of so many of their offerings.

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