Mlesna Loolecondera BOP Black Tea Review
Just to be clear, BOP fannings is not something you should brag about. Fannings are basically tea dust. Tiny scraps of tea. Sometimes, tea fannings are even collected as waste – the leftovers from creating a high-quality tea.
BOP (broken orange pekoe) isn’t a fantastic grade tea either.
So, why one Earth is Mlesna pointing out the low quality of their tea in its title? I have no idea, but it’s a bad start as we head into my full review of Mlesna Loolecondera black tea.
This is a bitter tea to swallow.
Loolecondera BOP Fannings at a Glance
Izzy's Rating
1.3/5
- Tea: BOP fannings from the Loolecondera estate, Kandy, Sri Lanka
- Flavour: Unbearably bitter black tea with no distinct (or pleasant) flavours
I found this tea to be undrinkable. It’s bitter, so bitter! There are no other flavours coming through besides the bitterness. It only gets marks for having a semi-pleasant aroma.
Full Review – Mlesna Loolecondera Black Tea
Izzy's Rating
1.3/5
- Type: Tagged paper filter teabags
- Tea: BOP Fannings black tea
- Origin: Loolecondera tea estate, Kandy region, Sri Lanka (Ceylon)
- Flavour Notes: Bitter, unpleasant
- Aroma: Tannins, fresh bright, malty, minerals
- Milk or Lemon: Milk
- Where to Buy: Amazon
Initially, the tea has a bright aroma. The foil wrapping around the teabag locks in that freshness, so you get a hit of tannins and fresh black tea when you rip it open.
It brews into an extremely dark red brown tea liquid. You cannot prevent this – the colour emerges as soon as the water hits the Loolecondera teabag.
The aroma transforms along with the colour. Malty, mineral rock notes hit your nose as you breathe in the steam of the brewed tea. It’s quite pleasant.
Unfortunately, this tea is disgusting.
If you’re a regular reader here at Immortal Wordsmith, you’ll know that I can usually find the bright side in any tea, no matter how much it doesn’t appeal to me personally. But this tea is genuinely unpleasant, and I can’t see anyone enjoying it.
The only flavour it has is bitterness. There’s no body at all. In fact, I wouldn’t even know this was tea if I hadn’t seen the wrapper beforehand. It’s just bitter. Bleh.
After drinking as much as I could, I had a grimace on my face and felt completely disappointed.
Avoid this tea!
How to Brew BOP Fannings Teabags
Use boiling water and one teabag, which is roughly 2g of tea. Brew for 2 minutes using boiling water fresh from the kettle.
If you can stomach this tea, maybe try it with biscuits or something sweet to lighten the bitterness. I could only manage a few sips before it went down the sink.
Milk is a must for this tea. It’s definitely dark enough for some extra creaminess.
Why Mlesna Ceylon Loolecondera Tea?
It’s odd – on Amazon, this is one of Mlesna’s highest rated and most openly available teas. Yet it’s vile! The tea quality is unbelievably fine and dusty, which I imagine is why it gets so bitter so fast. If the leaves were large, it could work.
So, if you find this tea available as loose leaf instead of teabags, go for it.
Besides that, I like that Mlesna Loolecondera BOP fannings tea has a clear origin. Loolecondera is a specific tea estate in the Kandy region of Sri Lanka. It’s actually quite famous and one of most well-known Ceylon tea estates.
Summary
I don’t recommend this tea for drinking. Loolecondera may produce some amazing teas, but this isn’t one of them. I’ll use my remaining teabags in baking, with spiced biscuits, cupcakes and tea breads. You can find this tea on Amazon if you want to check it out for yourself. Some people enjoy it, so perhaps there’s a hidden silver lining that I just can’t detect.
Tea Recommendation
For a tea that’s miles better than Mlesna Loolecondera, head to my tea review index. This is where I’ve organised all my teas into categories. Search by origin, from Indonesia to Argentina, or peruse the full range of teas from your favourite tea brand. Head there now to find a better single origin black tea that won’t leave a bitter taste in your mouth.