Assam Deluxe FTGFOP

I’ve had this one plain and it showed a lot of potential but ultimately disappointed me because of the bitter-nut taste at the end. So I thought I’d try it today with some half & half and sugar. Because of the remembered icky end note, I added a little more sugar and half & half than I normally would but I figured better safe than sorry, right? I do believe I was rewarded. With the additives, this tea actually brought to mind Thomas Sampsom (always a good comparison). It wasn’t quite as smooth and there was still a tiny hint of the bitter-nutty unpleasantness at the end which I never get from good ole TS but it was still stout and bake-y with a nice, thick texture that made me want to chew on it a bit. So while this is not something I’d want to have plain (because of the end note), it is a good morning tea when doctored. Thomas’ place in my heart isn’t at risk, but one day Thomas will not be and I could see this being an acceptable (if not quite as good) substitute.

Far Too Good For Ordinary People.

I’d nearly forgotten this one. I was shaking tins to see if there were any that I might be able to finish off all quick-like. Preferably today, to be honest. My Lockdown criteria are very nearly met. One more tin to empty and then I’m allowed to buy some tea again. That means stocking up on two Kusmis and looking to see if I can get a third easily around these parts. After that, I expect I’ll do another Lockdown round because this first one doesn’t seem to have made much of a dent, especially not in the samples. I want to get the supplies good and low before I do anything else than simple re-stocking.

Anyway, I found this one and made me a good strong cup with a generous helping of honey. On its own I tends to have a fairly prominent honey note, I think, and adding real honey to it seems to bring it out more. It’s one of the few teas where I’ll automatically add stuff to the cup without thinking too much about it.

Apart from that, it wasn’t a very successful cup today. I used more leaf than usually (I’m trying to empty the tin, remember!) but it still seems a bit watery and weak in flavour today. Odd. It actually tastes a bit as if I used less leaf than normal which just doesn’t make any sense at all.

I did turn the steep time down somewhat due to the extra leaf, but not that much.

Maybe it’s a good thing this tin is nearly done. I don’t think this is one I’d be stocking up on. It’s not my perfect Assam.

Stomach is fine now. Head, not so much. A good strong black is needed, to-be-finished pile be damned. Nothing is working properly inside my skull today. I tried checking my dashboard, and JacquelineM’s post about the (by now) infamous and tres yummy raspberry oolong was on top. After that one though, I suddenly found myself realising that I was just scrolling and forgetting to pay attention.

This has a strong wood-y sort of aroma which promises a kick in the rear and a clearing of the mind. After brewing the aroma turns towards the sweeter and more honey-y, but still as strong, and still definitely the same smell as the dry leaves. Just altered a little bit.

I’m suddenly beginning to understand what Auggy means when she says Assam has a cardboard like flavour. There is a strong unmistakeble cardboard flavour here. It’s not unpleasant, it’s just… odd. This is uncomplicated. It’s an Assam that tastes of Assam and that’s really all there is to it. If I had been more in favour of Indian teas over Chinese, I’d probably have rated this better.

Not sure if it really helped my mental state much though. It might be just placebo.

Really messy post, this. I’ll just stop it here and go away and go back to being a sporadic presence for another few days. I’m sure you won’t mind.

Goodmorning Steepsterites.

sigh

I have NOTHING to DRINK!!!

I briefly considered trying one of the remaining Auggy-teas, but eventually came to the conclusion that early morning boredom wasn’t really the right circumstance for that. Considering how quickly the cardboard-y note incarnation of the Tan Yang Te Ji vanished yesterday morning, I eventually decided to let myself be inspired by that and make some real Assam.

Ouch, hot!

Yes, it’s definitely reminding me of yesterday morning. A bit stronger perhaps but very similar.

I checked that I took the right tin yesterday.

But can we ever really be completely certain?

Unrelatedly, my TTB participants can look here (http://iarnvidia.livejournal.com/) for the first part of a couple of posts about the box. The second part should be up soonishly, I hope. (Yes, I know it was posted ages ago, but I thought it would be used for someone else so I didn’t tell)

I’m falling asleep at my keyboard here, and I need a pick-me-up. So, a strong black tea, yes please. So I picked this one.

It wasn’t until afterwards that I realised that this was the tea that I had yet to manage to brew successfully. This time I was careful not to oversteep though.

This tea has two very distinctive primary notes, and they are entirely, it seems, independent of one another. There’s a very sweet, honeylike smoothness and then there’s a somewhat astringent malty kick. It kind of feels a little disjointed. As it develops, the malty note starts to take over, but with the promise that the sweet will be back with the addition of a little milk to smooth the astringency.

(Given how sleepy I am as I’m writing this, there’s NO WAY I’m adding milk to this. That would knock me out for sure.)

I met a friendly kitty on my way home from work today. That saved the otherwise seriously boring day.

It put me in the right frame of mind to do a proper first-time review of a tea and I remembered this one that I got from Lexitus for Christmas and didn’t have the energy to review properly the last time I had it.

I did today. But then I got distracted and it oversteeped, resulting in a rather bitter bite.

So, still no rating, still no review. Just steeping fail.