Tea Review: The Rich Milk Tea - Twinings

Brand
Twinings (Japan)
Price
$6 for 190 g
Type
Instant/Powdered
Recommended Brew Time, Temperature, Amount
(Hot) Add three teaspoons (17g) of powder to 120 ml of boiling water
(Iced) Add three teaspoons (17g) of powder to 20 ml of boiling water, and then add 100 ml of cold water
Leaf Appearance
Very fine, light brown powder with some dark brown and sparkling specks
Rating
B- | 81/100

Tasting notes and thoughts:
So, I know a lot of people have an aversion to any instant tea, especially since its not even real tea, but I personally like it. The only reason is that during the time I spent in Philippines there wasn't any tea at all so I had to drink this stuff, which turned out to be somewhat decent (also the fact that I can be lazy in the mornings).

Anyway, I ended up buying this at a Japanese supermarket because I'm a sucker for Japanese milk teas (especially the canned/bottled ones). In fact, each time I've gone there I've bought a different brand or flavor of milk tea; I usually get Royal Milk Tea. As for this brand, I think it's one of the better instant milk teas I've had, especially since the taste is pretty close to the canned drinks. Unlike most other brands, it's not prepackaged into sticks so you can customize the strength of your flavor and reduce waste (I enjoyed the customization). The powder smells somewhat fruity and is obviously black tea; from the taste, I'm gonna guess that it's darjeeling mixed with ceylon tea, since it's very similar to the royal milk tea I make myself. It's not too bitter and not too sweet, which gives it a plus. It's hard to describe, but all I can say is that it tastes a lot like canned black milk tea.

My only problems with it is that the powder is weak-tasting, even if you follow the instructions (which leads to a really small cup), and that it isn't 'milky' enough. To add to this, it looks like the powder is also a bit hard to dissolve, which is a little weird.  To fix this, I suggest just filling up a cup 3/4ths of the way with hot water, adding the powder to taste, and then pouring in some milk. Adding milk works with almost any instant milk tea, and in my opinion, makes it taste so much better. Overall, this is one of the better instant teas that I've had but the price point makes it a tough buy; try it iced and with milk!

Other Notes:
Gonna do 2 reviews today since I haven't done them in a while + this isn't even actual tea. July is coming to an end and I've ended up not doing a lot of what I've planned, so I'm going to spend today setting up work for August and writing stuff. On another note, I'm surprised at how much I could read on the back of this teas' packaging, especially since it's all in Japanese (thanks katakana skills!).