huh.
I bought a small tin of this on a whim after Christmas because it was like $3.00. I figured worst case scenario it would be a good strong tea to have at work in the mornings with milk. It is, bold, strong… but not overly GOOD.
I think I may have become a bit of a tea snob, somehow, without actually really knowing what I’m talking about most of the time as far as tea is concerned.
But I’ve been so spoiled by Assams from Butiki and A&D and other companies, that something like this falls short of the mark, for me.
I first notice how broken up the leaves are. After drinking Butiki and WP lately, I’ve become accustomed to seeing long, lusciously unbroken leaves. Not this. And not to say that broken up tiny tea leaves can’t be good, i mean check out Crimson Horizon, i love that one! But this just tastes like if you were to open up a crappy generic black tea bag from a hotel lobby or something and dump it in your cup.
Is it gross? No! Just bitter, way too bitter for me. SLIGHTLY raisiny. I will definitely drink it all, with my usually sploosh of 10% cream, and I don’t feel like I wasted my $3 considering how much I got. And a reusable tin as well! But I won’t mourn it when it’s gone, and it’s going to be a generic black tea space filler when I just want to make something strong and bold, quick and easy without fussing around at work.
Overall, I would rate this tea a big, fat “MEH.”
Signed – The Uneducated Tea Snob
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i have yet to find an unflavoured black tea from david’s that i like. blech
Yeah, which kind of implies that their tea bases are so cruddy the only way they will taste moderately good would be with the addition of artificial flavouring… which I’m not even overly keen on anymore.
I have Nepal Black, and when I started I bought 100g online for the free tin. It’s over two years old now and I still have about 30g in the tin. It’s just not special at all, even though it does have nice full leaves etc.
I know what you mean about being spoiled by Butiki and other brands. My love for David’s has definitely dwindled. There was one black I liked ok, but I agree that their straight blacks are meh.
I still enjoy their flavored teas. Santa’s Secret is a keeper for me, and I like Cranberry Pear and Glitter & Gold. But I’ve been drinking the Whispering Pines and What-Cha teas for straight blacks, and I really like them.
Yeah, they have a few flavoured blends I enjoy, like Fantasy island, cream earl grey, vanilla orchid, coconut oolong, I used to love Santa’s Secret, it was my number one all time fave but I think I’ve gotten over it :)
Their Wild Black Yunnan is pretty good. Not the best Yunnan I’ve had but I still quite enjoy it.
Occasionally they bring in a decent special issue black but I agree with you on this one. When I got a sample of it from one of the local stores it simple tasted flat and stale like it had been improperly stored. The CTC I get from one of the Indian grocers for under 5$a pound, is about a thousand times better than this one was to me.
i have yet to find an unflavoured black tea from david’s that i like. blech
Yeah, which kind of implies that their tea bases are so cruddy the only way they will taste moderately good would be with the addition of artificial flavouring… which I’m not even overly keen on anymore.
I have Nepal Black, and when I started I bought 100g online for the free tin. It’s over two years old now and I still have about 30g in the tin. It’s just not special at all, even though it does have nice full leaves etc.
I know what you mean about being spoiled by Butiki and other brands. My love for David’s has definitely dwindled. There was one black I liked ok, but I agree that their straight blacks are meh.
I still enjoy their flavored teas. Santa’s Secret is a keeper for me, and I like Cranberry Pear and Glitter & Gold. But I’ve been drinking the Whispering Pines and What-Cha teas for straight blacks, and I really like them.
Yeah, they have a few flavoured blends I enjoy, like Fantasy island, cream earl grey, vanilla orchid, coconut oolong, I used to love Santa’s Secret, it was my number one all time fave but I think I’ve gotten over it :)
Their Wild Black Yunnan is pretty good. Not the best Yunnan I’ve had but I still quite enjoy it.
Occasionally they bring in a decent special issue black but I agree with you on this one. When I got a sample of it from one of the local stores it simple tasted flat and stale like it had been improperly stored. The CTC I get from one of the Indian grocers for under 5$a pound, is about a thousand times better than this one was to me.