Organic Positively Tea Company, Assam TGFOP Black Tea, Loose Leaf, 16 Ounce

I own way too much tea for my own good. Mostly inexpensive loose tea. We're talking the boxy tins of Chinese tea/plastic sleeves of Japanese tea that you can get at Asian markets for about ~$3.50, and 500g packages of bulk black tea that you can get at Indian/Middle Eastern markets for around $7-10. Even a cheap whole leaf Assam or Ceylon produces a lovely cup of tea, and makes for a fine substitute for a morning cup of strong coffee. But I do like blends. Irish breakfast tea, and HK style English breakfast teas in particular. I've never tried Scottish breakfast tea before, and this particular tea has really intrigued me. I literally had this sitting on my Amazon wish list for like 4+ years now, but never purchased it because I can get bulk loose leaf tea a lot cheaper. Well, finally pulled the trigger 2 days ago, and it arrived this morning. As many reviewers have noted, it's not whole leaf or even broken leaf tea. It's tea fannings. Similar consistency to what you might find in a tea bag. Which is honestly fine for tea to be served with milk. It helps the tea brew very quickly and gives it a strong backbone. But if you use a ceramic teapot like me, I would recommend pouring the tea through a mesh strainer (I just balance an open tea ball on the edge of my mug). I brewed about 1tsbp tea in about 12-14oz of boiling water, for 3min. Added about 2oz of milk. It was strong, flavorful, and delicious. Did not need any sugar. You could probably use about half as much tea and serve it without milk, maybe with a touch of sugar. The only thing that would make this better would be some proper Scottish shortbread. If you're looking for an everyday strong tea to have in the mornings or afternoons, that won't break the bank, I would highly recommend this. It is much cheaper than any loose leaf tea that you can get at any bougie specialty tea store, and still of good quality.

1st - Great flavor. Nothing like grocery store brands. 2nd - Ordering again. Has a really robust flavor. I'll be ordering every month.

This is an outstanding method of “waking up” every morning. Unlike other loose leaf teas, this one has a mild taste but the presentation after the first sip is worthwhile, that is, extraordinary. I recommend it highly, with the right tea ball, of course, for proper immersion.

I’ve always preferred black tea, I love a lot of different, herbal teas and unique blends too. By far, this is the best tasting English breakfast tea I’ve ever had. One scoop in a 15 -ounce mug and I’m a happy girl. Steep it in a pretty cup and stick your pinky out when sipping it, if you want to make it fancy. This tea is refined, soft and full of flavor.

This tea has good freshness (not sure that's the right word for tea leaves, but...) and it works well with my small-mesh diffuser mug inserts. It took a little experimenting to get the right amount for each cup, but now I'm enjoying this tea. There is some depth the the flavor after a long steep. I used to use two tea bags per 16-ounce cup, and I would steep it a long time to get some bitterness. It's difficult to get any bitterness with this loose tea, which most users will appreciate. I prefer a little bitterness, and I can get a little bitter aftertaste if I steep this a long, long time. I may experiment with other flavors that are more suited to the taste I'm aiming for (probably Asam). But I love not having to taste the carboard flavor of a tea bag; I'll never go back now that I've experienced the difference. And I'm saving a ton of money vs. bags.