I was raised with “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” Tealyra’s website says this comes from Germany. Maybe that means it was blended there by the wholesaler. This is a fast-brewing tea blend that is definitely pungent. I’m using the pyramid sachets and steeping Western style in a large mug. The orange peel is just overwhelming, making it hard to discern the background tea itself. Not keemun, nor assam, maybe a bland “something else”. My first impression was that the orange had fermented while drying, as that is the odor I perceived from both the dry and brewed product. But now on my third session with it, it’s less offensive and perhaps what I’m tasting is the lemongrass and bergamot combining with the pungent orange. Not (yet) to my taste, but I’ll sip down the remainder over the next year, as a wake-up brew at least. For now I won’t recommend either for or against, as some might really like it. Kind of how some of us enjoy kimchee or cumin or cilantro, while others don’t. Since it’s cheap, there’s not much to lose by trying it if these flavors a’peel to you. (See what I did there?)
Postscript: Raising my rating from 40 to 60 because this tea at least tastes of natural flavors and fragrance, rather than artificial flavorings, like some of my other recent acquisitions.
