I know stevia is arguably one of the most polarizing ingredients a tea company can put in a tea blend. Like, holy fuck, do I intimately know that. I have so many conflicting personal and professional opinions on stevia. So many. Though, I do generally agree with the overall idea that people should have control the amount and type of sweetener in their tea blend.
With all that said… I don’t usually mind the taste of stevia when I’m just drinking teas for my own enjoyment. In fact, I would say this tea is like 90% delicious. It’s exactly the flavour I picture and want when I see “caramelized biscuit” as a flavour. Golden, malty, buttery, rich and just kind of cozy in a nostalgic way. Sometimes I find Bird and Blend’s black tea base (especially the Sri Lankan one they use so often) abrasively astringent, but I didn’t here. It was just a really good tea.
Except for the stevia in the finish. It did, actually, kind of bug me. Not enough to ruin the tea, but just enough to knock like 10% off an otherwise perfect score.