Khongea Tippy Golden Assam

Thanks Stacy for providing this VERY generous sample!

She said this tea was not on her website yet, so with her permission, I will be the first one to review it…

I have tried many assams, as I love bold black teas. Before I «met» Stacy and discovered her «TeaWonderLand» , I had only encounter your regular malty slightly astringent black Assam. Very effective morning black tea that I would go to as a «favourite comfy pair of jean» type of tea…

I am excited about this one, cause I never had a golden tippy assam. Not knowing much about Khongea plantation other than it’s location in India, I did a little research and I’m very pleased with what I found out, and the knowledge added to the appreciation of my tasting.

Stacy will correct me if I’m wrong, but from my reading, this would be a second flush (may-june harvest), the period when the finest Assams are produced with chunky golden tips.

Khongea is one of the highest yielding gardens in Assam, and is often referred to as a model by the tea industry to exemplify good practice in field management, where labor workers are treated fairly and environmental issues are carefully considered.

I love the fact that these issues are important to Butiki, so kudos for that!

What comes to mind first as I’m examining the dry leaves is: tobacco! Short, thin, slightly curly with beautiful bright golden tips. I don’t get much smell from it, so I have no clue what to expect…

I’m using quite a bit (about 2tsp for 10oz), I pour the hot water in my favourite clear glass cup and within a few seconds, the colour intensifies to a point where I decide to stop the infusion at only 90 sec. (I usually steep assams for about 4min!)

Wow! The colour is a dark reddish copper, and as the morning sun comes in from my kitchen window and hits the glass, I see it turn to an almost crimson red !

The aroma is powerful and I can’t wait for it to cool down a bit…or shall I burn my tongue just a little?

Thankfully, the taste is as rich as its colour! Very malty, I get undertones of tobacco and spices with a hint of smoke. It has a sweet finish, so the slight astringency and bitterness I detect are toned down into a non harmful way.

It is said that if Darjeeling tea is referred to as «the Champagne of tea», a good quality Assam such as this one could be referred to as «the Best single malt Whisky of tea» .

I have to agree. Basically, if I was a smoker (and a little less girly) I would (in a very manly way) cut the tip of a very expensive Havana cuban cigar, and instead of bourbon and whisky, I would have this tea with it!

Another hit from Butiki, and I can’t wait to experiment a little more with it…

Note: I later emailed Stacy for brewing recommendation and will not be afraid next time to let it steep longer. As she was pointing out, even more complexity will emerge. Thanks to the large sample, I’ll be able to just do that!

Ah, yes, I see here in the description that astringency is to be expected. No wonder it’s not sitting super well with me! Anyways, in the comparison between this and Khongea’s Assam Leaf, this one wins out by the barest margin simply due to being a little bit sweeter. Neither is my favourite sort of black though, given that I prefer my blacks to be ultra-smooth and chocolatey (and with raisin notes if possible, haha!)

Thanks for Boxermama for letting me sample the two of these!

This is a delicious tea! While i really enjoy strong teas, I find that i prefer the flavours that are in the taiwanese assam from butiki. However, this is still a great assam. I’m going to have fun brewing this one at different times to see how the tea changes. It’s not as malty as other teas that i’ve had but there is a citrusy?? note that is quite enjoyable in this tea. hmmmm more to come as i try this one out

Dry leaf smells fruity and yeasty. The steeped tea is malty, strong and honest. I’m not sure Assams are in my top teas but this one is high quality and very good. I’m glad I got more than just a sample, but I probably won’t add it to my next order. Nothing at all against the tea, just isn’t particularly one for me to keep around.

I like it, but, like stray animals, I can’t keep the teas I like all in my house. Gotta have room for the Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black. :)

I always have a cup of black tea in the morning. I turned to Butiki this morning out of sheer excitement. Stacy is going to be doing a custom blend for me. Not with this tea, but another black tea. I’m long over due for an order though, I didn’t quite realize how low I was on most of my butiki!

I’m finally sampling this, & it is bold & perfect as a breakfast tea for me. I just finished my 2nd cup, & would like to offer more by way of review, but I have to load my Harp & get ready for my gig. Suffice it to say, that it was a pleasure to drink!

Once again so happy I placed an order with Stacy! I ordered my tea on maybe Saturday or Sunday and they arrived today. Which I consider pretty awesome considering NJ was pretty hard hit last week and this week from Sandy and a snow storm!

So the tea…dry leaf smells like rye bread? Yeah weird I know, but still so good! (I can’t eat regular bread stupid gluten) I’m also getting an oaky smell here too. The tea once ready to drink smells amazing with hints of citrus and clove. As I’m drinking it there is a bit of cinnamon that I get on the finish. This is so yummy after a very long and busy week at work!

Oh, yum. I love Assam teas, and this one is no exception.

The exciting part? Even at a 4 minute infusion I’m not reaching for milk or sugar. So delicious. Goes well with peanut butter and banana for breakfast.

:)

And that’s about where my brain is stopping.

My family is Irish, so I grew up drinking Assam-heavy blends. My mother’s family emigrated from Ireland when she was an adolescent. My father’s side of the family has been here longer, but they may be even bigger tea drinkers. I have a cousin on his side who just turned a year old, and he already takes a cup Barry’s in his bottle both in the morning and at night. “Decaf at night, of course!” defends my aunt, but let’s not get into whether or not this is child abuse…

Anyway, my point was that I love Assam, and this one is now one of my favorites. It’s a little less sweet than the Assams I tend to like most. This one’s strength lies in, well, it’s heartiness and strength. A great cup!

I’ve been quite enjoying this one. I find this one is a bit of a mystery, as I’m tasting a lot of things, but this past week or two I’ve been having difficulty pinning down exactly what those tastes are.

I definitely like it more at the five minute range. I think the best way I can describe the five minute steep, is that it goes sort of walnutty. It’s like, take a walnut, sprinkle some cinnamon and cloves on it, and throw on a couple pieces of hay for good measure. It finishes with a woody sort of taste, and as the cup cools, I can then taste the raw cacao notes at the finish as well, whereas I couldn’t really taste that while it’s still piping. Even then, very mildly mind you. The finish is woody with a trace of cacao. If I wasn’t looking for it, I’d probably have missed it.

Along with how it’s difficult to describe how it tastes, it’s also difficult to put a rating on it. I’m not really sure where it stands as a number. However, I know I really like this, and while I wouldn’t order it every time, I’d definitely order it every two or three times. :)