Constant Comment

This is a really enjoyable tea! I was surprised with the bold orange flavors, and then immediate warmed by the fragrant spices. This is also a great afternoon tea, which provides a little jolt of caffeine to get through the rest of the day. I like my tea fairly strong and tea bags don’t always provide for the strongest cup of tea, so occasionally brew a cup of tea with two teabags for a bolder cup.

NOSTALGIA, omg. In my youth in the US, this and some Celestial Seasonings herbals were the only easily available variations from Lipton’s Yellow bags, and oh my, did I feel fancy and deluxe sipping this. In fact, it’s what finally brought adult me, now living in Europe, to begin to discover the world of tea. I’ve always been a coffee person, as in “okay, I’m awake; bring me my bucket of coffee, please,” but in a reminiscent mood on a recent romp through the internet searching for a place where I could buy CC without paying an arm and a leg in delivery charges (which I have not yet found), I began to discover what is out there these days, and easily available from my keyboard … which led to some minor binging and eventually brought me here, to learn the ways of the tea-wise. I still want my Constant Comment, though, even though I have a lovely little pile of trufact gourmet teas to enjoy now. One does not forget their first love so easily! :) #wistful

June Wedding! This something borrowed came from one of the volunteers in my department at the library, RoseAnn. She was cleaning out her cupboards and gave me some bagged teas to try some time ago. Thank you, RoseAnn! I thought I only had a single serving sealed foil bag of this, but somehow found another one inside a box with a different flavor of tea.

I was pretty tired (been working on transcribing a manga, and those Japanese kanji radical sheets are getting to my head!) so my first cuppa I just dropped the teabag into my cup and used the steeping suggestion on the bag of two minutes. Big mistake. I can’t stand the taste of paper teabags, and in hindsight, I’m not sure what possessed me to even drop a paper teabag into my teacup when I know full well I can’t stand the taste of paper teabags. The cup tasted of nothing but paper to me, and the tea itself was super weak, at that. Bleeeeeeeeeeech. It was immediately poured down the drain.

So. One teabag of this one remaining to try again…

Even after removing the tea from the paper teabag and steeping it in my gravity well steeper this time, it still tastes like paper somehow! This time I doubled the steep time to four minutes, and the tea is at least stronger this time around. It also has a sort of sour, acidic flavor, with a hint of orange mid-sip and an overwhelming unnatural clove taste at the end of the sip. Nothing about this is pleasant. On top of that, the tea was a fair bit on the astringent side as well, leaving quite a bit of drying of the mouth after the sip. I’m not ruling out that age may have been part of the problem with this one (I have no clue how old these gifted tea bags may have been when my volunteer gave them to me, since there were no dates on the foil sleeve around the bags), but that lingering paper/acidic flavor does not leave a good impression regardless.

Decent base with yummy spice

Really great tea, truly one of the best black teas I’ve ever had. The flavors of orange and spices go together so well, and this tea really is perfect for every time.

Very nice for a milder black tea. Tangy undertones, don’t add too much milk.

Don’t know if it’s really delicious or it’s just the feeling it gives my heart, but I love Constant Comment. It was the tea of my childhood and the tea that I’ve been giving my kids since they were kindergarteners. The scent always reminds me of happy fall days and the taste always comforts me. To me it’s all orange rind and clove and astringency mellowed with sugar and milk. Happiness in a cup!

Just as lovely as I remember, though it does give heartburn, but I love the taste that much I can overlook that

I acquired this tea through a tea swap, I’ve wanted to try it but I didn’t want to buy a whole box. I think it’s pretty good, would be a nice change for morning tea. If having tea in the morning it’s usually Russian Caravan or a Chai. This decently fits in with those types of teas.

One of the first teas I was introduced to as a child. I love the orangy spice! Its a close second to my go-to earl gray tea from bigelow as well. Love it throughout the year but especially in the fall and winter months!