It’s naughty I know but even though it’s not my birthday yet (only a few hours to go) but I am trying this tea from my birthday stash. Thank you to my mum for this tea, she bought me a Tea Palace sampler with 8 different teas.
The tea in raw form consists of dark and golden brown leaves that are short and thin. They have an earthy, malty yet floral scent.
I am using my Gongfu with my usual 3 steeps. (1m,2m,3m) using two heaped spoons of tea.
Steep 1 – 1 minute
The tea is now dark red (Baltic Amber) in colour with a sweet malty scent. Strong, rich, smooth, malty, sweet, fresh, smoky, woody. The strength is strong (to my particular taste) and carries so bitterness. Malty with a smoky touch but quite light too, you simply sip, admire the flavour and then as though by magic it’s gone. It is very refreshing.
Steep 2 – 2 minutes
Orange in colour. Not as strong but still smooth and refreshing. I would even say this steep is sweeter than the first, honeyed almost. There is also a floral dryness that edges on becoming perfume like.
Steep 3 – 3 minutes
The malt has vanished and been replaced with a buttery floral very mellowness. A little on the dry side now.
Overall it was very enjoyable and showed great quality. I’m not a huge lover of Assam and I was not expecting much but this has made me realise that I do like Assam….good quality Assam. I’m going to treat myself to another pot of this before bed :)
