Strawberry Shortcake Assam

I’ve determined that brewing teas at work generally is a suboptimal experience – it’s probably the water, somehow, but tea definitely just doesn’t taste as good as it does at home (where we have softener, brita-filtered water… which doesn’t seem like it should be the ideal combo but seems to work). This tea lived at work for a while, and I’ve only drank it there, to mediocre results. Different story tonight at home – rich and bready base, roasted strawberry near the back. A slight bit of astringency to remind you that it’s tea. Definite creaminess lingering on the palate after swallowing. This is really quite good. At its core it’s really just a strawberry black, done by countless tea companies, but the execution is definitely the best I remember tasting. Yum. Too bad I only have one packet of it!

Sipdown 33

More strawberry than shortcake. Slightly tangy, bright fruit. Not getting too much cakey-ness, more of a slight vanilla. Still a nice strawberry blend.

The flavoring here was much milder than I would have preferred. I did get a bit of strawberry, but nothing cakey. The resteep was almost as flavorful as the first steep. The second time I had this, I unfortunately found it to be too boring to have a third time. Nice black tea, but flavoring too mild.

I don’t know what is worse: not being able to order more of this incredibly delicious tea because it’s out of stock or hoarding it knowing that I can never replenish it because it’s limited addition. The possible moral of the story is that “sometimes it’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all,” or whatever.. (Nope, I hate the moral).

I don’t normally even like strawberry flavoured things all that much, but the juxtaposition of a bold assam and a rich buttery cookie flavours is sublime. Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m going to cry over my empty pouch.

Steep Count: I usually managed 3

This is the tea of the week for July 4, 2022 (it was just added to the website) & since I have yet to complete May’s scavenger hunt (and a Strawberry Tea is one of the prompts for May’s scavenger hunt) I decided to post here as I do my final taste test of this tea & also post it as part of my scavenger hunt teas. :)

This is so good. I love how it turned out (I know I say that a lot.) The solid Assam base is hearty & malty. It’s the primary flavor of this tea – however, as I continue to sip, the flavors of strawberry shortcake continue to develop & make themselves known. It starts off as a very gentle note of strawberry & hints of vanilla & butter. By mid-sip, I can taste buttery shortbread & a more pronounced strawberry note & a lovely note of cream. The butter really becomes defined as it continues to cool & I continue to sip.

Because this is an Assam, attention to the steep time is important. I recommend somewhere between 2 1/2 minutes to 3 minutes, but not beyond that because the longer this one steeps, the more risk of bitterness. When you do hit that sweet spot (for me, it is 2 minutes 45 seconds) you get a really rich, flavorful, malty black tea that is exactly the flavor I look for in a breakfast tea.

The cool time is also essential for this particular tea. It needs at least 10 minutes to cool before you start sipping. If you drink it fresh & hot right out of the teapot – it’s going to taste like black tea. A really flavorful, delicious black tea but if you want that strawberry flavor, wait a few minutes (at least 10) – the flavor will continue to develop..

It’s also a delicious tea to come back to about an hour later after you’ve forgotten that it’s waiting for you on the counter – (this is my way of saying it’s a good iced tea!)