REVIEW: Clipper Fair Trade Organic

My Tea Swap partner (Thank you, Evelyn) sent me a number of teas, and I'll try to describe them as I drink. A fun diversion for a rainy morning, when I need some caffeine!

CLIPPER FAIR TRADE ORGANIC
I assume this is the "Organic Everyday Tea" by Clipper, which can be found here: http://www.clipper-teas.com/ . The description on the site says, "The original Fairtrade Tea using the finest leaves from tea gardens in South India, Sri Lanka and Africa." Also, "Delicious and natural with a full rich flavour and bright fresh colour. Perfect growing conditions make this an excellent tea at any time of day."

PREPARATION
It's simple black tea in a tea bag, so I am going to steep 3 minutes, in a bone china cup, covered. The tea leaves (before steeping) have a nice, candy smell to them-- sweet, evocative of maybe a candy apple or something. No, that's not right. Maybe I should not have just brushed my teeth 2 minutes ago, because I think it's confounding my senses. Drat modern hygiene!

Evelyn wrote of this tea, "The Clipper is from my mother-in-law, who is English. This is a pretty typical Brit brew that will knock your socks off, but your review of it might be interesting and add fuel to the ongoing American vs. British tea debate on Facebook!" I hope it's all right, Evelyn, that I put that in here, just for fun.

THE CUP
Pretty typical black-looking tea. Quite dark in the cup. Nicely fragrant, again, with this candy-apple or caramel smell. Upon first taste (black), I found it a bit bitter, not to my taste. But then, I don't typically drink this kind of tea black. So, a dash of milk and a tiny bit of sugar to take the edge off, and we'll see what we get.

Very nice! Flavorful, bright, cheery, and a bit relaxed. Definitely a blend, and a rather nice one. This tea isn't a revelation-- it's not opening up new flavor vistas or overwhelming me with complexities-- but it's the kind of tea one can get along with every day, and not grow tired of it quickly. It kind of hits the mouth all at once-- one smooth, direct flavor, without lots of "flavor notes" or "undertones" or such nonsense.