Twinings Tea Bags Sampler - 16 Flavors in Bamboo Box | Perfect Gift for Tea Lovers at Home & Office

My overall opinion of this product is mixed. I found the selection of teas to be excellent. It gives you a chance to try out a variety of tea that you may not otherwise. As for the price. I purchased this set for $33.99. I wish I would have done my research. You can purchase a box of 20 Twinings tea bags assorted variety for $3.18. Which will cost you a total of $12.72 to get the 80 tea bags that come with this set (however the variety would not be the same). So it will cost you $21.27 for the gift box that the tea comes in. The gift box is very cheaply made. The plexiglas is thin, and the box is not very well put together. There's a few spots where some staples are coming through. The box is nice enough and does not look half bad. But it's definitely not something I would give as a gift.I will say this however. Most of the box's similar to this that cost anywhere from $16.00 to $20.00 didn't appear to be of much better quality.Do I like the tea quality? Yes I do. I noticed in some of the reviews that people complained about the tea being stale. I did not find that to be the case. Even though there is no expiration date on the tea packages, since they are found on the boxes themselves, (and the boxes do not come with this product). If tea is not steeped correctly it can give off a taste of staleness. The only tea that should be steeped with boiling water is usually black tea. All other tea should be steeped in almost boiling water. Also the amount of time required to steep tea is different. The packages will have the time you need to allow the tea to steep as well as the temperature of water needed. Typically black tea needs at least 4 to 6 minutes otherwise it will come out very weak, possibly better, and perhaps with a stale taste. All other teas will require somewhere around 2 to 4 minutes. Otherwise you will have the same outcome. It may taste week, stale, and possibly even better. Usually the bitter taste comes from over steeping. Also just because the tea in your cup looks like it's done steeping, because the color of the tea has been released. This actually does not mean the flavor has been released. It takes a very short time for tea to release its color but much longer for it to release its flavor. This is of beverage for the patient one.Would I recommend this product. For the tea yes I would recommend it. For the gift box no I would not. For the price I definitely would not recommend this product. If the price drops to $25.00 or less, I think that would be worth it. And I definitely would not purchase this as a gift for someone. The gift box seems like it can be hit or miss concerning the quality. And it would be a shame to buy this for someone and then just have to return it and look for something else. If you're purchasing for yourself you can always return it until you get one that is in good condition.