Arbor Teas Loose Leaf Black Tea 'Holiday Spice'

Tea Information:
Tea: Organic Holiday Spice Black Tea
Type: Black Tea
Packaging: Loose Leaf
Company: Arbor Teas
Purchase: Here
Description: Happy Holidays! On sale now - our Holiday Spice Black Tea is marked down 25% while supplies last! The discount will be applied in your shopping cart.

A perennial favorite for the holiday season, our organic and Fair Trade Certified Holiday Spice Black Tea pairs bold North Indian black tea with generous doses of orange, cinnamon and clove flavor! Despite the

generous flavoring, the brisk and coppery qualities of the black tea really come through. Like all of our flavored blends, our Holiday Spice Black Tea uses only the highest quality teas, essential oils and botanical

ingredients, insuring an excellent cup every time!
Ingredients: organic Indian black tea, organic orange peel, organic cinnamon, organic clove, and natural orange cinnamon spice flavor

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 tsp
Water: boiling 12 oz
Tool: kati loose tea system (my Review here.)
Steep Time: a little over 2 minutes (http://steep.it/)
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: orange, clove, the cinnamon I had to look for
Steeped Tea Smell: black tea
Flavor: black tea with a nice background of cinnamon and clove
Body: Full
Aftertaste: citrus, astringent, toasty (hard to describe but like the baked part of the tea stays with you)
Liquor: nearly opaque dark red-brown

Post-Steep Additives: + 1 honey stick = a little more of the spices come out.

At first was expecting more spice, from the name, but I was pleasantly surprised by this being a nice strong black tea with hints of spice. They play second fiddle to a lovely cup of tea. The smell does make you

think of the holidays, and overall i drank about 3 cups of this today at work - they kept disappearing before I could write my review.

I believe I could have used one heaping spoonful instead of two in the 12 ounce mug.

I love that i got a hand written note! It makes me smile when people include notes in packages. The note gave a little information on the Arbor Teas commitment to the environment - including information about their 100% backyard compostable packaging. The note was printed with vegetable-based ink on FSC-certified paper containing 100% post-consumer waste and processed chlorine-free.

This tea is organic and Fair Trade Certified. That would be worthless if the tea was not good, but this tea is delicious so it's an added bonus for everyone. It is a lovely tea and only missed out on a 100% rating because it's not something I MUST keep stocked at all times.

Rating: 3/4 leaves


Leaf system:
1=Bleh! not again if it were free
2=Acceptable, if it were free or there were limited other tea options
3=I might purchase this tea from time to time, or select it while out
4=A staple in our cupboard from now on, I will purchase and keep purchasing











I received this product for free in return for writing a review. The review is as unbiased as possible despite the free product. I received no other compensation.