I hate to write snarky reviews but since I have a spare moment, what the hell. Have you tried the Ntingwe Kwazulu Leaf Tea from Taylors of Harrogate? I have, and it is with deepest regret that I must inform you of its inadequacies. Really, it’s not that good. Taylors of Harrogate is one of those brands that always fools me into thinking it will be better than it is. (Note to readers — beware of tea that comes in fancy packaging. Except for ours, of course!) Much like Twinings, this brand looks good on the shelf and can usually be found at high-end groceries like Balducci’s, but I swear it all tastes the same.
According to the box, Taylors discovered the South African Ntingwe tea estate deep in the wooded hills of Kwazulu Natal, perhaps while searching for the lost apostrophe that belongs in their name. The package description is a little vague — they personally select only the finest hand-picked seasonal teas yet they don’t specify whether this is, in fact, one of them. Looks and tastes like a machine-farmed tea to me. The hip, tea-insider term for this type of tea is CTC, or cut, tear, curl. You might as well be saying rape, pillage, burn to an orhodox tea enthusiast but I’m usually more forgiving. One thing I like about CTC teas is that after brewing the leaves look like milk-logged Grape Nuts. I enjoy that. If you were never a fan of Grape Nuts you may have a different reaction.
Getting back to the tea, it’s totally unremarkable. Let’s face it, it’s kind of a pain to brew loose tea in the first place so if I’m going to go through all the trouble I want there to be some benefit, some reason why I’m not just drinking a Tazo teabag tea. Come to think of it, Tazo seems a little more refined than this. Crikey.
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At least they get points for the appealing packaging. Like so many other “big” tea companies perhaps they need to put more effort into their tea selection.