Causes fly infestation
The actual basil was fine but don’t buy it unless you want your house to be infested with tiny flies. Each time I’ve bought this, within a couple of days little flies appear from the soil and hover around this and all my other houseplants. I love fresh basil but won’t buy it again simply because of the flies.
Fantastic, lasted for 6 months
No word of a lie, this wonderful basil plant lasted me around 6 months (possibly longer)! I have used it on average about once a week, sometimes twice- it definitely benefits from regular picking. I just pick the leaves off, and only cut off a stalk from the base when I want to use the stalk itself in my dish too. I personally adore the flavour of this basil, and have have many compliments on it, but it is true that it is rather aniseedy- it's one of the first things I thought when I tasted it for the first time. I can understand why some people would dislike that. However, it is just how this variety tastes; it still has a strong basil flavour, but it's more complex then the cheaper variety- and in my opinion, more interesting and delicious! Worth the extra pennies for sure, in my view. 5 big stars!
Ok, although not as good as usual basil
Costs more than usual basil although appears to grow very differently. The stems were very long and had good leafage at the top. However, there was little growth below the top so it could not be pinched out so it would start to grow further down. So each stalk only gives a small bunch of leaves. Not worth the extra money.
Good product
Bought on my click and collect order and asked for a fresh plant. Got what I asked for...a nice fresh plant. Using it for a home-made bruschetta so would recommend this product.
Good product- unfortunate name!
In the Romantic movement, John Keats was a major force due to his evocative and sensual imagery. One of his poems: Isabella, or the pot of basil, which this product is named after, has some less than family friendly imagery. Namely, the fact that the basil is grown from a pot containing a severed head! Furthermore, Keats writes "thick, and green, and beautiful it grew/ so that it smelt more balmy than its peers". Here, we can clearly see implementation of phallic imagery! These two aspects of the basil make it a strange choice of name for a family supermarket such as Tesco. But, I love basil - 3 stars!! ; )
Easy to grow Basil
Amazing Basil. If you pot them into larger pots they keep going all summer & provide many leaves in rotation - enough for loads of pesto :)
horrid smeel and taste of aniseed
It has the aroma and taste of aniseed!!!!! YUK!
Perfect for Thai dishes....
This is some of the best basil I've had. I needed thai basil for my dish, there was none available so decided to try this. It's amazing, and has the perfect flavour for thai cooking! Don't stop stocking this Tesco! Love it!
Poor
Highly variable quality. With luck, these plants last a few days - never a week - and you might beat the onset of wilt/ mildew/ dropping leaves etc, hence two stars to be strictly fair. Last week's offering scored zero stars as it was pretty well DOA. At best, flavour and aroma are faint. From now on I'm going to grow my own.
Aniseed flavour
Warning - this variety of basil tastes of aniseed, not basil.