The website for Royal Tea of Kenya gets right to the point when describing its teas.   For example, its account of  the blend it calls "Royal Tajiri"  says simply:  "black orthodox tea."  That  may not seem like much of an introduction, but for a black tea lover like me, it set my expectations pretty high.

Orthodox, in a tea context, means that the leaves are rolled, either by hand, or by machine, rather than crushed.  If leaves are processed by rolling, the pieces are larger and earn the "orthodox" label .  The smaller pieces, usually destined for tea bags, are cut, torn or twisted, and sometimes rolled, or "curled" into balls.  Tea pros call this processing method, "CTC", which stands for "cut, tear, curl."

Tea pros also say that orthodox processing results in  a more complex, sophisticated taste than those poor little crushed bits are able to muster.  Since I love crushed bits, or "tea dust", I couldn't wait to try their up-town cousins.

The long, dark, leaves tumbled out of the package with nary a scent.  When brewed in boiling water, they still failed to emit much of an odor.  I was surprised, and I wondered if the problem was my nose rather than the tea.

So, I sniffed really hard and detected a faint, flowery scent.  Then I sniffed another package of tea from another supplier. My nose worked just  fine for that tea, picking up a robust, malty bouquet .  I guessed that Royal Tajiri  (RT) was just a delicate black tea.

Delicate tea is one thing.  Bland tea is quite another.  I'm sorry to say RT falls into the bland category.  It's not that it has no flavor.  It's that the flavor is flat.   The floral notes I detected while sniffing were present.  I also tasted a faint bit of grassiness, but that's as complex as it got.  What's more, the taste disappeared almost immediately.  My tongue had nothing to savor after I swallowed.  Most teas leave some sort of aftertaste.  This one did not.  I felt cheated.

I wouldn't turn this tea down if I had to choose between it and coffee.  But in a world with so many tasty tea choices, I will pass this one right on by.  I rate it a 4.

 

 

 

— To purchase Royal Tea of Kenya Royal Tajiri Tea, or for more specific information on ingredients or the story behind this particular tea, click here to go directly to the manufacturer's web site.

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