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This tea stopped me in my tracks….2 teaspoons…ok. I went to stick my measuring spoon in the bag and came back up with 4 little shards. Tried again….5 little shards. DANG! This is leaves!! How in the world am I going to measure 2 teaspoons when the leaves are too big and go across the measuring spoon instead of IN it?? Those of you that follow me know I have had issues with “steeping exactness” in the past, but this was a new one. So I guessed. Not exactly what you should do when you are planning on writing a review of a tea, but the leaves had me curious. So take this review with a grain of salt, until one of my “followers” helps me figure out how to measure this tea correctly. :) Onward~ this tea smells very different from the upgrade version. This has more bottom notes…more malt, more raisin, more dark caramel. I still have a cold, so I can’t give any top note info, but PTA is very much a Butiki tea. Lots of lovely notes for your nose and your tongue, very little astringency (with the steep I did anyhow) and the hallmark of a good tea….it’s already making me look forward to my next cup (and I still have half of this one left!) No number rating being given due to my cold and my steep issue. I will update soon!

I’m back into this tea again today… it is such a complex warm-flavoured assam with great notes of sweet potato, malt, baking bread…mmmmmmmm… not so much raisin today, as I had to use a nasal spray for sinus allergies and I fear the meds are killing some of the delicate deliciousness…but truly, it’s just what the doctor ordered. If you’re used to Assams being IN YOUR FACE black tea, surprise yourself with this one. I doubt you’ll regret it.

A straight up deliciously malty assam. There’s a bit more astringency than I usually like here, which is why I prefer their Good Morning blend, but I am not one to complain about a tea that takes milk and sugar with aplomb! A simple tea for a hopefully simple Monday! (Warning: steeps quickly for an assam, as there is ctc here….2 minutes max!)

So I’m on the uphill climb of getting my husband to take the time to actually TASTE tea instead of just looking for the teabag of his childhood taste. I chose this tea for him to try this morning, and he actually could taste the “smoothness” of tea! Yaaay! Baby steps! Royal Teas of Kenya have a great Kenyan tea here, even though it masquerades as a “plain old CTC”…. I really enjoy this malty straightforward kenyan tea. Just enough maltiness, chocolate and baked bread notes, but with a nice “breakfast” feel to it in your mouth. I will be keeping this around for as long as it is made!

This was the tea I was EXACTLY in the mood for today….nothing too heavy, and the pecan note was calling my name (isn’t THAT a funny picture in your head.) The more I drink this tea the more I like it. It’s beautiful in it’s subtlety….light earthy, malty nuttiness that fills the mouth but doesn’t weigh it down. I have learned that it takes my milk and sugar quite well, as long as I’m not heavy-handed. The weather has gone all summer out here in California (90 already), and this is a wonderful breakfast tea without the heaviness. nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom

My husband brought this bagged tea home from the UK a few days ago…. He is an “80 bags a box” kind of guy, so it was nice that he tried to bring me " fancy" tea. I steeped up a cup for both of us this morning. His response? “Tastes like tea”. Gotta love the husband! This tea actually has a pleasant biscuity aroma and taste. It’s a lighter brown tea, but I couldn’t detect much bitterness, which works for me. I add milk and sugar and this tea held both well. I didn’t have the guts to open a teabag, but I suspect there’s weensie pieces, or perhaps dust….. But this is a nice and easy alternative to the standard bagged in a box breakfast tea.

…This is the first Yunnan I’ve ever tasted. My guess is that it’s going to ruin a whole heck of a lot of yunnans for me! I’m getting closer to a “good steep”, and when I get there I will give a rating number….but til then I can tell you that this tea seems malty in a different way than my coveted Assams….but still a lovely maltiness. I can also taste a nuttiness in this tea, but I’m not quite to the floral yet. This is a very different tea for me, so I am taking my time reviewing, which is making me taste more…. which is lovely!

I should have been paying more attention…. I set my tea timer and then got caught up in reading reviews of this tea…and didn’t hear the timer go off! I ordered a sample of this from Harney, so I have one more cup to do this right. For this steep, all I’ll say is that it’s a bit on the astringent side, but with milk and sugar it is a good honest cup of Assam. Nice and malty, and gone from my cup rather quickly!

…interesting! I’ve not had Golden Monkey, so this is new for me. The tea smelled malty and a touch smoky while steeping, but now that I’ve added milk and sugar, I’m getting a caramel note with the malt and the smoky has disappeared. There is a bit more astringency in this tea that I expected by Harney’s rating of 2….for me it would perhaps be a 3 on their scale. I just had a Nilla Wafer with this tea (astringency and my stomach aren’t particularly friends), and afterwards I got a blast of almost citrus notes from the tea….that was weird! ok, I just did it again…. cookie chemistry!
Sorry, I digressed. This is a nice cup of tea, a nice option to a straight Assam. I’m sure I’ll use the sample up, but beyond that, who knows!