I've had this tea before from a different company as a sample. Unless you're making a good amount of money this is not an every day tea. This tea is consistent with the same price point tea from the other company, though slightly less money. In other words this tea tastes like it's supposed to. I happened to love this tea, but it's got an odd flavor, not like this tastes like boiled peanut odd, but it's a very expensive higher grade tea, that's single estate. These teas have a different flavor than a $10 black tea. First off, it's not going to brew black, it's going to be clear looking, you're not doing it wrong, just follow the directions, it's not old stale tea either. Please don't buy this because you see it's expensive and want to impress people or something not having a clue what it is you're buying and then come to Amazon to complain. This tea has wine qualities, you can taste the different notes, and it will have a red wine astringent quality that will get stronger the longer you brew it. Like tannins in wine. When I personally drink it, I brew it stronger and taste fruit notes, but everyone is different. However that is what the tea is supposed to taste like. I lean towards peaches and melon. While the tea has floral grassy notes when smelling it, I personally like to let the second cup cool off, because this tea will lean way towards fruit the cooler it becomes. I was lucky enough to be provided this tea at a discounted price for reviewing it, and I'm very picky about my tea, if I didn't like it or it wasn't done right I would let you know. This is a pretty rare tea, and when you open the foil lined bag, you see silver tips, and nicely twisted leaves. Looking at the brewed leaf, most of them are whole, that means a very high grade leaf. While writing this I thought of the color, your liquor will be Amber in color, not black. This will be a good gift for a tea drinker. Like I say if you enjoy brown water pretending to be tea then move on, if you want real tea, here it is, until it's gone of course.
