Here's the first in a gift set of bagged teas I'm trying from Whittard. "Value" is hard to judge due to the innate premium that goes with multi-pack samplers. Surprisingly, I got this at World Market for less than the Whittard website's stated U.S. price! As of this writing, Whittard apparently doesn't sell the teabags on their own online, just a loose-leaf version of the same tea. To get bags, you have to buy a gift set.

All in all, this was a decent, but not great, flavored green tea, with an interesting flavor profile that probably could be done much better using natural ingredients instead of artificial. Mango and orange can play well together, including bergamot orange. [I've had many a real-fruit mango+orange milkshake at a favorite fruit stand in South Florida. Natural is the way to go with these fruits.]

First, the good: the green tea did stand enough above the background flavoring to assess on its own merit, which is not as common as it should be in mass-produced teabags. It seems to be of reasonably high quality, and has a bit of a savory character on its own, as if it were a reputable Japanese green tea with some matcha sprinkled in. Whittard's sourcing for the loose-leaf version simply says, "China" and not where in China, which is too bad. Huge country! I'd like to try the base tea for this product, and know more specifically where it grew.

Remember chemistry lab in high school, when one would make esters of various fruits or flavorings (usually banana or wintergreen)? The smell was unmistakable, but still "chemical" in tone. That memory came back while sniffing the wet bag, whose mango and bergamot-orange scents were strongest after steeping, but also, sharply astringent, alcoholic, and acidic or vinegar-like in tone, somewhat reminiscent of household floor cleaners. The prior dry bag and in-cup aromas weren't so obviously "artificial" in character, but still weren't fully authentic either. This product has much potential with a simple switch to natural ingredients.

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