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I work in a retail grocery environment and I sell quite a bit of this tea on a monthly basis. One night this week I ended up having to work outside in the frigid temperatures and figured I could use some tea to warm me up when I got home that night, so I picked up a box of this based on the glowing reviews I had heard from my customers.

I used bottled drinking water, heated it to boiling as per the directions on the box and steeped the tea for a good five or possible even seven minutes. To be totally honest I wasn’t really paying that close attention. Now, when I first opened the box I loved the smell. It was so warm and spicy mixed with a creamy citrus scent that just made me smile, though I don’t notice any mention of cream in the description so that creaminess might be all in my head. I loved the orange color of the liquor as the tea brewed and I even loved that it didn’t need much sugar to sweeten it as the sweet spice gave plenty of sweetness on its own.

Here’s where things take a turn for the worst. Honestly this tea should just be an herbal infusion. I know that it is based in black tea, not sure exactly what kind, but to be completely honest I’ve had three cups of it now and couldn’t say I’ve tasted tea at all. It tastes warm and spicy mixed with orange but there is nothing tea-like in the taste, smell or mouth-feel, and the overall effect is highly artificial to me. Normally black tea has a very astringent quality to me, especially if over-steeped at all, but this tea does not have that at all. It literally tastes, smells and feels like herbal tea to me. I don’t even notice any effect from the caffeine that would be found in black tea. Nothing, nada, zilch.

So, if you are looking for a quick, cheap and artificial tasting spiced orange “tea” give it a try. For a cold night when you need something to warm you and might not be able to get your hands on anything better I suppose it does the job. But otherwise just avoid it, in all honesty you will probably just be disappointed.