I’ve told myself many times before that I’d never try another decaf tea again, yet here I am. Maybe if I wish really hard, a good — at least a decent — decaf will come my way, and I’ll get to enjoy real tea in the evening.
Is Barry’s Decaf the one I’ve been looking for? Probably not, but it’s the best one so far.
I continue this journey through the teas of India courtesy of Golden Tips Tea Company. Several teas were covered in Part One; it took me a few more weeks to get through the rest of the samples. It’s a tough job having to try so many Darjeeling teas, but somebody’s gotta do it.
Tea produced in India can come from several regions, and Golden Tips Tea Company has them all covered. They sent me a small sampling of teas, which arrived in a carefully assembled package, boxed the usual way in cardboard but with an outer wrapping of firmly sewn muslin cloth with fancy wax seals.
Impressed already with the packaging, I couldn’t wait to start sipping. There’s no point in drilling into details such as tea leaf grade or flush; you can find all that information on the Golden Tips Tea website. Instead, I’ll just give my brief opinions of each tea.
A pack of Tetley Extra Strong arrived in the mail the other day, which is fine except I had actually ordered my beloved Tetley Blend of Both. I’d considered trying Extra Strong years ago but dismissed it as a kind of PG Tips wannabe with nothing special to offer.
The truth about fluoride in tea (and water) is a topic too important to ignore. Tea consumption used to be something I would limit solely based on daily caffeine intake. Nowadays, I take fluoride content into consideration as well.
