Laudamus te, Victory Tea (review)

As a kid growing up in the Soviet Union, I found the British love of tea and the five o'clock ritual utterly fascinating. Tea seemed to be an inseparable part of life in the UK.
I used to imagine Her Majesty waking up to a big breakfast in bed, served on a fancy tray, with a butler standing nearby to pour more tea whenever the cup was empty.
Then there was Alice in Wonderland and the most famous tea party.

I would never have imagined then that one day I would be living in England. Years passed, I have been in the UK for nearly 17 years.
So what do I think of the Brits and tea? If anything, the love affair between the Brits and tea is quite astonishing. I read that there are more than 1,500 different teas in the UK and they vary in type, style and colour.

Image credit:Victory Tea

In this sea of tea how do you pick the one that suits you best?
If you regularly read my blog, you might know already that I love tea and always get excited when I find yet another tea to talk about.

I was recently offered to test and review Victory Tea.
What is Victory Tea? It is a premium black tea which was created using specially selected tealeaves from East Africa. It is vacuum-packed and gas-flushed in the UK for the long lasting freshness.
This tea is only available online from victorytea.co.uk in order to cut out the middleman and the arbitrary prices inflicted by the supermarkets. If you buy this tea, you tend to be saving up to 50% per sachet.

Image credit: Victory Tea

This tea was launched by the young businesswoman Sarah Holmes. Sarah's career started in the fashion industry, and she introduced her designer skills into the new venture. She marketed the new quality tea as one would a designer bag. She said she noticed a gap in the online market for a premium quality, cost-effective tea that would appeal to both tea-snobs and the budget-conscious buyers. Thus Victory Tea was born. In a perfect fashion-speak she called the "Primarni of the world" Victory Tea a designer bag with a High Street price tag.

Personally I would always (and I stress always) choose a good cup of tea over any designer bag. I can happily live without designer bags (and I do), but I cannot function without tea.

Tea arrives in a stylish packaging with a Union Jack branding. A Superior box conatins 16 sachets, while a Victorius box contains 40 sachets. Which means 640 teabags in the Superior box (£2 per 80) and 1,600 teabags in the Victorious box (£1.50 per 80).
My box arrived just in time for the Jubilee weekend.

What did I think of Victory tea? It is a full-bodied tea, it has a lovely bright golden brown appearance. It is not bitter or flat, like some bog-standard black teas (won't be mentioning names, but they are available everywhere). It doesn't leave a long-lingering aftertaste or the dark oily stains on the mug.
If you love black tea without any additions, it is lovely as it is. It works well with milk. It is even better with a slice of lemon and a spoonful of sugar (that's how I like my black tea).
Or be adventurous: add some rose petals or a couple of strawberries, or even a few slices of apple to your tea and take it to the next level.
Enjoy your cuppa!