No. 49 Assam FTGFOP1

Holy cats. This is one awesome Assam. Caramely and malty. Yeah, this will have to be purchased. The question will be if I can wait until going there in person next May/June or if I will have to order it before then. :)

Thanks for sharing, Sil!

It’s bitter and I don’t want to drown it in milk and sugar. Tried diff parameters. At Steven Smith the lady suggested to make it 12 oz water 1tsp 5min steep. Bitterness decreased but it was kinda diluted not enough flavor. I prefer H&S Nahorhabi Full leaf Assam

This is another one of those things I have been holding on to forever, but I wanted something robust and tasty to have at midnight so I didn’t fall asleep on my paper. Surprisingly this was REALLY good despite being old and in a zippered plastic bag.

So. Much. Caramel. Very malty too but in that ice cream malt kind of way. I noticed Whole Foods has some Stephen Smith tea, but in sachets, but I think I may have to try more anyway and that’s an easy way!

TastyBrew to the rescue!
it’s an Assamalanche!
capital A.
big and bright and i can even taste the caramel notes. malty on the nose for sure.
big personality. a strutter.

Thanks, Sil, for this sample! I kept resteeping this at work today. It has a sweet, full-bodied fruity flavor with a spicy knock in the aftertaste. I could see how this one could get addicting.

Another sample from Anne from LiberTeas (still working my way through this box).

I’ll start off by saying that I chose this tea because I needed something to really get me motivated to get my cleaning for the day done. I’m on vacation from work and wanted to really enjoy the rest of the week in a nice clean apartment. The only problem – I woke up this morning feeling extremely lazy…so I brewed up a nice hot cup of this black tea for a little inspiration as I sat lazily watching TV.

That’s where things get kind of crazy. I ended up spilling the entire fresh cup all over the coffee table. After hastily throwing everything on the floor to avoid the tea flood that was coming its way and wiping up most of the liquid, I looked down into my now empty mug of inspiration. Boo. Good thing I saved the leaves…I’ll just resteep it. Put some hot water in my mug, dropped the tea ball in, grabbed more rags and some cleaner and started cleaning the rest of the mess up. After getting the table wiped down and everything back in its place, I noticed some of the tea had spilt on the carpet so I got my carpet cleaner and started cleaning that up too.

Ah…nice clean coffee table. Okay. Now I’m cleaning and the coffee table looks so good…better just continue on so into the dining room I went. After cleaning up in there I was really going so I decided to continue onto kitchen.

There it was. My second steeping cup of tea…with the teaball still in it. Yup. Definitely oversteeped this one.

So long story short, I ruined both cups of tea and didn’t even get to enjoy any of it. Not even a good sip. BUT – I did however get all of my cleaning done for the day which was exactly what I was hoping from the tea this morning. So in a way I guess this tea did do exactly what I was hoping for. I just wish I’d have been able to enjoy a little of it.

Time to dump the leaves and try again….wish me luck! (I’ll have to reserve my rating until I actually taste it)

This is the perfect black tea. With just a dash of 1% milk, it tastes creamy and rich. It goes perfect with breakfast. Yum!

It seems that I have been really slowing down on my reviews lately. A lot of that has been due to me starting way too many new teas and now having to take time to complete a bunch of sipdowns in a fairly short span of time. I have been plowing through a two ounce bag of this Assam for the better part of the last five days and expect to finish it by Wednesday or thereabouts. I know I’ll be sad when this is gone. It’s an excellent Assam.

For the purposes of this review, I prepared this tea using a one step Western infusion. I steeped 1 teaspoon of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 212 F water. Obviously, I did not attempt additional infusions.

After infusion, the liquor showed a dark, clear amber in the cup. I noted aromas of caramel, malt, molasses, and cream. In the mouth, I picked up on robust, well-integrated notes of roasted almonds, malt, cream, leather, molasses, and caramel. I also noted undercurrents of cocoa, raisins, and stone fruits, namely ripe plum, apricot, and perhaps black cherry. The finish was smooth, offering lingering impressions of malt, cream, caramel, and roasted almonds, though I thought I could still detect faint chocolaty, fruity underpinnings.

Again, I found this to be an exceptional Assam. I normally enjoy the teas offered by Steven Smith Teamaker, so my enjoyment of this one should not come as a surprise. If you are looking for a tasty full-leaf Assam with some complexity, then look no further. I recommend this one very highly.

Very sweet, with a hint of raisin and lots of caramel. I can see why this is a favorite for so many on here, but, weirdly, I prefer my black teas on the harsher side—this Assam actually reminds me of some of the popular Chinese blacks I haven’t cared for on grounds of having too much in the way of sweet dessert notes going on, though I can’t think which ones exactly. Thanks for the sample, Cameron B.! I’m happy to be able to knock this off my wish list, since it’s a tea I’d been curious about for a while.

This is going to be a lazy note for a lazy morning… Boychik sent me this sample, thanks dear. The leaves are fairly broken and dark with only a few scant golden pieces. I did my general black tea steep.

Meh, this one is just okay for me. It’s fairly generic with just malt and some bread notes, along with a fair amount of astringency, which I do not enjoy. Maybe just a touch of honey sweetness on top. Overall, it’s drinkable, but not something I would reach for.