Received this as a gift from my mother, along with another bagged tea from the Holiday range.
The scent is definitely artificial – this is more apparent in the dry leaf than the actual brew – but not altogether unpleasant. I can recognize it as gingerbread, at any rate, but it doesn’t bring back any warm, fuzzy memories of freshly-baked cookies.
I overbrewed this once; it became almost nauseatinly strong, and the fakeness took over any flavor I might have found. Brewed properly (seven to ten minutes; as long as you don’t leave it alone for twenty, like I did, the tea seems fairly forgiving), the tea tastes mostly of ginger. Warm, not unpleasant. Tastes more like gingerbread when sweetened, but I’ve been drinking it without sugar.
All in all, this isn’t an awful tea. I wouldn’t suggest buying it – I certainly won’t be repurchasing – but I don’t regret having it, and I will finish my box. Average, I guess, and on par with what I would expect from novelty tea.
