Taylors of Harrogate Assam, Black Tea, Loose Leaf, 1 Kilo Bag|2.2lb (Pack of 1), Full-bodied, Satisfying & Malty, Caffeinated, Premium Whole Leaf Tea

Short Version: Best price out there for excellent tea especially if you like a malty aromatic mahogany color tea to serve with Cream & Sugar or to drink Neat or even Iced. Excellent for your Kombucha too. This would also be an AMAZING gift for any Black Tea Lover in your life ~ it is an extravagant amount, yes, but not at an extravagant price. If you do the math you are getting over 2 pounds excellent quality tippy, malty scrumptious tea for less than $15 a pound. That is an amazing price. Buy Some, it keeps forever in a cool dark pantry so you can't go wrong. No fancy tool needed: just a mesh strainer or a tea ball or even buy your own unbleached empty tea bags and fill them as you like. LONG VERSION: I am not a certified Tea Master, but I am a long time enthusiast who as been in love with English Breakfast teas for well over 35 years. Appearance: there are no big shaggy leaves here, so at first it gives the impression of an Indian style CTC ("Cut Torn Chopped") but upon closer examination I see a very consistent natural creosote color leaves and a smattering of delighburl fawn color tippy leaves. A high quality consistent size tea, no wee fannings here, no dust. Aroma: the dried tea lets me know I am in for a treat; something malty and lightly toasted, the hint of dried alfalfa that makes me think fondly of rich sweet livestock fodder, of a green juicy plant carefully dried, holding the sunshine within... Appearance: rich red/brown color like aged mahogany. Lovely. Mouthfeel: thinner than a Pu'er, but still just right to go with breakfast or afternoon Tea & Biscuit. Taste: Perfect Cuppa. This will pair nicely with fluffy scrambled eggs or acidic and sweet fresh fruits, it will even stand up to a mild spiced sausage and or smoky sweet bacon (if you like an especially spicy start to the day such as a spicy sausage or Hatch New Mexico Green Chiles in your modette, or a plate of Huevos Rancheros, I would try an Irish or even Scottish Breakfast tea). It is also delightful for afternoon tea or late night on the weekend Me Time. I have bought and enjoyed so many English Breakfast teas Harney & Sons (Yes Please!), Vardhan (boozy and lush! Worth the price), Positively (Very Nice I order several pounds a year!), Twinings (Yum!), Tea Forte (Nice, but $$$), Numi (Very Tasty, but $$$), New English Teas (Yummy!), Frontier (alright for every day, good budget tea), Davidsons (has been thus far reliably decent!), U.S. Wellness Naturals (meh, won't buy again). Taylors can be trusted to be The Cuppa you NEED for all occasions and still make the moment feel very extravagant. Delightful! Steeping: I do like my tea fairly strong and brew it long, maybe too long...With this tea I almost always steep as second time (often chilling the second brew for later in the afternoon if it is too hot for a cuppa). I let it steep for 1 minute, pull the strainter up and out then put the strainer back in my teapot or cup to brew another minute ( 6 minutes total, I did say I like it strong, right?) . This brew I serve with raw sugar and half and half ( No compromise; this is Self Care here, Folks!). If I make it to serve without sugar, I only steep for 4 minutes. Use the best water you can get your hands on. Tea fixes so many woes. Not sure what to do? Put the kettle on! For a Medium Size Teapot: (5 cup capacity ~ not sure how big you teapot is? fill it with water and measure how many cups it holds!) 1 level tablespoon tea (small size of these fine leaves makes it easy to measure consistently!) into a metal strainer or big "tea bell" style strainer Add 1 quart of filtered water fresh off the boil (that is about 5 cups or just over 1,000 milliliters). steep 5 minutes pull strainer up, steep 1 more minute if you like it dark, like Sherlock likes it Serve neat (plain) or with Half & Half and Sugar, also nice to serve with lemon (just not lemon and cream or the cream will split and look a fright!). Just want a big cozy mug of tea? Put 1 teaspoon tea in you tea bell or an unbeached drawstring paper tea bag and add boiling water, wait 5 minutes. Be sure to leave yourself room for Half & Half and Sugar if that is your preference.

This is my go-to when I make tea for work. Great flavor, strong enough for a second infusion and it's bulk packaging so this lasts me a very long time. I use a strainer or a paper infuser bag to hold the tea and it goes in the compost bin when done. The bag doesn't reseal, but I normally put it in a glass jar and keep in my basement pantry until I need to refill my tin.

Fine cup of tea

I normally love Taylor’s teas. When I saw this in a kilo bag I was very excited, especially since it was a couple dollars cheaper than my normal brand. I would call this more dust than loose leaf. My strainer is pretty small and still I ended up with LOTS of dust in my morning tea. Flavor was ok, but not what I expect from this brand. Disappointed.

Wonderful taste, and a good size bag! Love this and great value.

My favorite Earl Grey. Nice strong Bergamot flavor. Tea leaves are bigger then other loose leaf brands much means less tea pieces in your cup.

I like this bulk loose leaf black tea for kombucha. I feel that this product is a good compromise between price and quality. It’s better quality than your run of the mill Lipton bagged tea but not such a high grade of tea it feels wasteful to brew in bulk for fermentation. One thing to note though is that the leaves in this bulk bag is lesser quality than the leaves in the small tins from the same brand. This is unfortunate but understandable as the better quality leaves are probably kept for the small tins that most people buy. Just be aware if you are used to the small tins this big bag is not the same quality. However, for my purpose of making bulk kombucha I’m okay with this. I recommend this product with the caveat that you know what you are getting.

My favorite bergamote tea. It is always a joy then a get a first smell then I open my tin. I make it not to strong and enjoy it just like that but I think it can also be lovely with honey and milk.

So good to find a UK-based source of excellent, flavoursome loose leaf tea. The leaves are smaller than some others I've tried, but this does not detract from the strong, robust taste of a good, black breakfast tea. A good caffeine kick to start your morning, with a robust mix of Indian and African leaves providing a nicely balanced brew. Warm the pot, and leave to brew for 5 minutes to allow it to mature. Well-pleased with this product, which I'll be buying again.

Delighted with quality of the product

Excellent coarse-cut Assam tea. Some have complained more tea than usual is required, but coarse-cut tea doesn't pack as well as finely cut tea, so this is normal. I typically brew three heaped teaspoons in an average (1 litre) teapot, and wait for the leaves to fully soak and sink. Others have complained that it takes too long to brew, but seriously if you are civilised enough to be drinking specific regional teas rather than a typical UK blended tea, you'd already be aware of that. Being coarse-cut, you can get away with using a cafetiere to brew it in, but a proper china teapot, especially with a tea-cosy if you'll be coming back later for more, is ideal. Taste is strong, colour is red to dark brown, malty/vanilla hit without a bitter aftertaste. Best kept in an air-tight container (or split amongst several, because 1kg is rather a lot of tea).

Excellent tea and arrives quickly

It's an average tea. Better than the supermarket tea-bags but otherwise not really satisfying. Even though it is quiet tannin, it has a weak taste and lacks aromas. Steeping it even longer, makes it ever more astringent without adding much to its taste. I have had some good teas from Taylors; this isn't one of them. The price of the large packaging is fair making it rather good value. If you are looking to improve on the everyday tea-bags, go for it. If you are looking for something special I would skip it.