Australian Tropical Black Tea from Teacuppa

Scent in package: fake fruity smell, citrus
Brewed in: unbleached filter bag
Steeped: 5 min.@ 212 degrees
Cup: Café mug

I guessed I was in trouble when I first opened this package. The tea was not really leaves at all, but more dried tea “crumbles”, like something a bit larger than you’d find in jar of powdered iced tea, but with bits of dried fruit peel mixed in. It smelled citrus-y, but something was “off” about it. I was hoping that the tea would taste better than it looked.

It didn’t.

This is a pretty sorry excuse for a tea, and I’m somewhat shocked that a company like Teacuppa would carry it in their inventory alongside their much higher-quality teas. Not only does it resemble a larger version of powdered tea, it tastes much the same as well, lacking depth and any “tea” flavor whatsoever. The only flavor that comes through at all is a sort of fake orange taste, presumably from the dried peel in the mix. And on top of all that, the tea is astringent, like a dark brown orange flavored mess (but not even as good as mixing the popular orange Tang powdered mix with a decent hot tea).

Do yourself a favor. Avoid this like the plague. It doesn’t take much to find better tea than this, even in a teabag.