Basic Black - Organic
This tea has been retired/discontinued.
70
Percentile
3 ratings |
|
Commercial Description
Bright, brisk, high grown estate whole leaf Nilgeri tea hand blended with smooth rich Yunnan golden buds. This organic classic blend can be enjoyed at any time of the day; excellent as an iced tea.
Ratings & Reviews
Page 1 of 1 page with 3 reviews
67 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 3/5SarsyPie (119 reviews) on May. 19th, 2014
I thought this tea was pretty good. It didn't wow me, and I didn't pick up many nuances in aroma or flavor, but I didn't hate it. It seemed to match the name pretty well: Basic Black.
I have enough left for one cup, so I think I'll try it again with a little sugar and almond milk, just to see if the character changes.
Thanks to Alex for the sample!
73 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 3/5Sylvia (215 reviews) on Dec. 15th, 2013
This tea brews really quickly. The first time I tried it I brewed it too long - 4-5 minutes. I tried 3 minutes and it turned out well. I like it. It's interesting. Kind of fruity, but not too much. It has a rich, crisp flavor. It's a little more bitter than I would ideally like. I added cream and sugar.
80 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5Alex Zorach (1448 reviews) on Dec. 2nd, 2013
This was a unique tea, somewhat subtle and subdued, and a bit of an acquired taste. I found that it had great complexity and grew on me. According to FashionistaTea, it's a blend of Nilgiri and Yunnan, and the Yunnan character is definitely evident--I don't know as much about Nilgiri teas to identify any flavor characteristics.
Dry leaf looks like a mix of large, broken pieces of leaf with smaller pieces, almost like a mix of CTC tea with orthodox...doesn't look as great as the picture on the website. The leaf smells unusual: there's a hint of light, minty tones but this is mostly overwhelmed by a vegetal smell. There are also both spicy and fruity tones.
Upon brewing I like this much better than the dry leaf suggests. The cup smells mostly like a Yunnan tea, with a light smoky aroma, and moderately fruity. There is a sort of vegetal and herbaceous quality that is quite unique, almost oolong-like.
Flavor is oddly muted...it doesn't have much up-front kick, but it does have a muted bitter aftertaste. This is not a typical breakfast tea, and does not conform to the British aesthetic. Although I initially found myself wanting more up-front bitterness and less in the aftertaste, upon drinking a few cups of this I actually came to really like the way this tea's bitterness comes more at the end.
Interestingly, this tea was able to brew a second, very flavorful cup, each time I prepared it. I liked the second cup more than the first, which surprised me. I settled on a 3 minute steeping followed by a 5-8 minute one. This tea infuses much more slowly than I would expect.
In the end, this was a real winner. One of the most original and appealing black tea blends I've tried in a long time, although definitely took a few cups to appreciate. Don't be fooled by the name "basic black"--there's nothing basic about this. As a final note, I think the price is reasonable for an organic tea of this quality. The leaf may look plain but it delivers a rich and evolving flavor that kept me coming back to it.
Page 1 of 1 page with 3 reviews
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