Assam Harmony

Added 1t of sugar. This tea is like being wrapped in a warm blanket. The flavor is woody and rich.

Being newer to loose teas, I’ve been trying different black teas trying to find one I like. This one doesn’t have the bitter aftertaste I find in some blacks I’ve tried, but there also isn’t much to describe in it, to me. A little hint of caramel and malt, maybe. But there’s also an elusive flavor at the end that I find in most blacks, which I don’t find appealing, myself (something kinda like a ghost flavor of toasted cigarettes). My teapot makes two cups, so I put some fresh lemon in the second cup, which helps sometimes. But in this case, it made it completely unenjoyable. Not the tea’s fault though. I’m gonna make some iced right now, I think it’d be great (though kinda pricy for an iced tea…) Tried it again on another day with milk (but steeped it 5 min to hopefully bring out some “boldness”). I still cannot find much to enjoy.

This reminds me of standard lipton type of tea growing up without the astringency at the end. Seems like a smooth black tea. Would have it again but not sure if I would buy it. Will have to do a taste test next to my Teavana English Breakfast to see which I like better.

I was looking for a malty tasting tea, which Assam is supposed to be. I don’t know if I got a bad batch or what but it’s very weak tasting and hardly malty at all. The second time, I tried using twice as many leaves. It gave it a beautiful amber color but was bitter and dirty tasting. Tastes like socks!

Ok, this tea deserved one more try and I think i figured out why it tasted so terrible last time. I don’t think I was using warm enough water. This time I made sure the water was boiling. What a difference! Slightly sweet, smokey, and most importantly, malty! I added just a tiny touch of sweetener to bring out the maltiness.

I definitely enjoyed my two cups (second steep was as good as the first) this time around. I bumped my rating from a 5 to the 55-60 range. Still not going higher than that because it was inconsistent. Maybe if I finish off the sample with favorable cups from now on, I may change my rating again.

Now that I know how to brew this properly, I’ve been drinking it all day. I’m on my fourth cup. The first three were all steeped from the same leaves. It gets a little weaker with each steep but with a little sugar, it tastes more like a baked sweet roll each time. I really misjudged this tea. Re-rated again :)