Review: 365 Organic Black Tea

Most organic teas seem to run in the range of $4.99 and up for 16 or 20 bags, and as lovely as the tea may be, it is hardly what I'd call frugal. So when I saw that Whole Foods has some organic teas at $3.99 for 80 bags under their own "365 Organic" label, I knew I had to snap some up to try it. The range includes black tea, green tea and a pomegranate/cranberry green tea. It also had a decaffeinated green tea with some other flavorings, but that was $3.99 for 40 bags so it was twice the price, and therefore didn't get a second glance from me.

Inside, the 80 bags are portioned out into 8 sachets of 10 teabags each. While this doesn't please the plastic-hating part of me, because it means more plastic has been used in the packaging, it does please the tea-loving part of me because it keeps the teabags fresher for longer.

The tea itself was very nicely refreshing and definitely not stale, so I know the packaging had the desired effect. It isn't a strong tea, but has a pleasant flavor (sorry, my tea vocabulary is not up to snuff so I can't describe it very well). The black tea is a standard English-style blend, and it has a fresh, almost fruity tang to it (somewhat reminiscent of a perfectly brewed cup of PG Tips, and definitely better than Lipton). It's no lapsang souchong or bohea, either of which would have me swooning with ecstasy over finding an organic tea for this price, but it is a wonderfully smooth cup of regular, everyday tea that will give you a great pick-me-up. And at slightly less than 10 cents a cup (or 5 cents if you use a pot and eke at least two cups out of one bag as I do), it seems like a veritable bargain compared to the other organic teas out there. It is going straight onto my "must-have" list as a regular staple item.

Four and a half stars. It's only lacking a half star due to my predilection for more robust, smokier-flavored teas. Which isn't its fault, really, as it is perfectly fine for what it claims to be - a standard black tea blend. OK, maybe 4 and three-quarters stars.

Update: I'm bumping this up to 5 stars. It has really grown on me, and is now my go-to tea. WTG Whole Foods!