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Okay, I’m finally back on Steepster after quite a long layoff. I always despise taking breaks from reviewing because getting back into the swing of writing reviews is so awkward for me after any time away from it. Unfortunately, my work schedule has been crazy the past few weeks, and even when I do get some free time, I am rarely alone in the house, so I end up dealing with lots of noise and interruptions. Believe it or not, I’m posting this review from my actual office. My grandmother and parents are home today, so getting any peace was out of the question, but everybody cleared out of work early, so I came back to the office to write in peace.

Anyway, this ended up striking me as a very enjoyable, high quality Assam black tea. I have not been drinking many teas like this lately, mostly because I am so familiar with what they tend to offer, but this one was not predictable or boring. As a matter of fact, it struck me as being fruitier and more floral than many of the other Assam black teas I have tried.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped approximately 3 grams of loose leaf material in 8 ounces of 203 F water for 5 minutes. I did not rinse the leaf material prior to steeping, and I also did not conduct any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry leaf material emitted aromas of malt, tobacco, straw, cedar, and sweet potato. After infusion, I noted new aromas of raisin, cream, roasted almond, and toast as well as a stronger malt aroma. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of malt, raisin, cream, straw, toast, butter, leather, roasted almond, cocoa, sweet potato, cedar, orange zest, earth, and caramel that were balanced by hints of orchid, rose, black cherry, brown sugar, raspberry, strawberry, and tobacco. The finish was smooth, creamy, toasty, woody, and malty, though I did note some lingering fruity and floral hints in the aftertaste.

This was a very pleasant, nicely balanced Assam black tea with just enough depth and complexity to satisfy me. It also struck me as being lacking in any harsh bitterness or astringency. Overall, this was a very nice tea that I could see working on its own or with additives. I am fairly certain that fans of Assam black teas would be pleased with it.