My version (with photo uploaded as of Feb. 2026) is just called "Organic Black Tea" with no "Royal" on the packaging. Presumably this is different from the "Royal Tea" depicted in another entry and in the previous photo for this tea. Or maybe not? Either way, it's truer to the name of this pre-existing listing, so here's your review. ;-)

The dry-bag aroma is faint, but unmistakable in that is smells like a Ceylon tea. Brewing brings that aroma out more strongly in-cup. Quite quickly, the liquid darkens, even more than some teabags whose contents are ground much finer and more powdery. [Here, the leaves are chopped finely, but to about a millimeter in size with veins still noticeable.] Steeping makes this tea steadily more bitter with time, and without letup, so adjust according to your tolerance for that. For me, about 3–4 minutes does the trick. Past that, both taste and aftertaste get more uncomfortably bitter. Before that, we get a plain, decently strong, straightforward, unassuming black tea of moderate quality, but with no particular undertones that I could detect. In addition to the bitterness, more steeping also imparts a greater earthy/moist-dirt or wet-leaves element to the flavor.

This isn't a bad tea, but isn't outstanding in any particular way either. It's one to gratefully accept if offered, or drink at hotels/conferences/meetings and be fine, but I won't be obtaining any more for regular home use.

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