Assam Harmutty Black Tea

This is a first flush Assam from Golden Tips Tea, picked in March 2014 on the Harmutty Tea Estate. I’ve only tried one first flush Assam in my life before, so I’m interested to see how this one compares. The leaves are fairly small and wiry, mostly a uniform black-brown, but with some lighter (milk chocolate) brown leaves scattered throughout. The scent is heavily malty, with a moderately strong spiciness. I used 1 tsp of leaves for my cup, and gave it 3 minutes in boiling water. I added a splash of milk.

To taste, this is the mildest Assam I’ve tried for a while. It doesn’t lack flavour, but it seems somehow softer and more gentle on the tastebuds, unlike some of the very punchy, tannic Assams I’ve been drinking recently. It’s sweetly malty, and there’s still a bit of a kick lurking there, though. Golden Tips do some of the maltiest Assams I’ve come across yet, and this one is no exception! A wonderful treacle-like flavour emerges in the mid-sip, maybe not quite as deep a flavour as molasses, but along those lines. The aftertaste is remarkably savoury after the intensity of the malt, veering more towards potato or yam like notes. This is a very smooth tea, very easy to drink, and makes for a good mid-morning pick-me-up.

I like the variation it’s possible to find between Assam from one estate and Assam from another. It’s like there’s one for all seasons, and for all times of the day. I’ve been impressed with those I’ve tried so far from Golden Tips – it’s certainly a site worth checking if you’re looking for a new Assam, or for another Indian tea. The 10g sample size is enough for 3 or so cups, and is just perfect for trying something new! I’ll certainly be looking to repurchase a selection of their Assams in the future, and maybe to broaden my horizons still further.

I loved the dry and wet leaves’ smells, more unique than other assams from GTT. The flavor itself was more mild than comparable assams, but also with less astringency. I felt there was a more nutty flavor than the typical malt. Yummy, but not so bold.

Cooking TTB #2

With a 5 am conference call this morning I desperately needed some caffeine to help keep my eyes open!! I couldn’t wait to dig back into the Cooking TTB and was looking for something a little more breakfasty to help in this endevor and this Assam jumped right out at me. Since there was only one cup’s worth of leaves in the bag I thought it best to start off with the tea black, then add milk and finally add sugar! Black the tea was honestly a little bland… nice and malty but nothing to really write home about. With milk the tea was a little more creamy and a slight nutty taste was also suddenly present. With sugar this became a typical breakfast tea for me, the sugar masked some of the more complex notes, the nuttiness was definitely gone, but it became easy drinking tea for me. Big thank you to Flyawaybirdie for including this in the TTB for me! I’ve been curious about Golden Tips for a while now and really appreciated the chance to try one of their teas!!

I really like this – it has surprisingly low astringency, as most assams are rough on me, but it is very strong for me to sip plain. It tastes best for me with a dash of milk, so the nutty malty flavor can really come out and shine.

So turns out I at least got like…three pretty good teas from the TTB. Wasn’t a total loss! I’m glad I got to participate in one. This one is less woody than the last Golden Tips Tea that I tried, but it’s still there, and still noticeable.
Tasting more malty-ness with this one though. Ahh, malty teas…one of my favorite parts of black teas! Need more malty teas!

I hadn’t realized I’d missed trying this one from my monthly sampler last month, but I had. I found it when I was going to put it away.

It’s a pretty good assam. I’m still learning about them. A decent amount of malt, but not too malty. It’s pretty good.

It felt like Christmas yesterday when I got my first box from Golden Tips Tea. Everything about the experience was top notch – super fast shipping (They sent Friday from India, I got it Monday in the US), excellent resealable foil packaging, and more information on the labels than I have seen before. There is even a picking date on there.

All that I was missing was the actual tea! And it was too late in the day to try it at that point.

I had ordered both the monthly sampler and the Assam sampler, since I love Assams. I picked this one first because it was both an Assam and was from the monthly selection. I love knowing which estate the tea is from, since it makes me feel like I am learning about India and the tea growers as I experience the tea.

I am not disappointed! The leaf smelled lovely, a little malty like so many of the other teas I love from that area. Brewed, it was dark and a perfect first tea of the day. I won’t say that it made me see rainbows and unicorns, but not every tea is like that. This to me would be a fantastic staple tea, one that I could drink and know what I was getting – a reliable friend so to speak. I am excited to try some of the others from the box next.