Organic Assam

Tea of the morning…..

Not sure why I keep trying to like these strong breakfast teas. This one is definitely more brisk than I normally drink. Chinese black teas tend to be less brisk and more smooth. This one is a kick in the pants for the morning. The leaves are fairly broken up. I would not call it a CTC like Harney’s Irish Breakfast, because it is missing the last C. I also get strong malt.

I decided today was the day to try adding some almond milk, so I splashed some in there. My almond milk is the flavored vanilla type. I am trying to cut back a little on my dairy, but still can’t live without small amounts of real cheese, real butter, and Greek yogurt. It did take the edge off a little. One thing that is weird compared to adding milk, the almond milk doesn’t lighten the tea as much. It is not a bad addition to tea for me, but honestly, I like my almond milk in a smoothie with frozen bananas and raw cacao powder……tastes more like a chocolate milkshake!

Mug method with a 3 minute steep. Sweetened and with a splash of almond milk.

I’m sitting down to a breakfast consisting of this tea and, wait for it, pumpkin pancakes! Made from fresh pumpkin and loaded with spices. So tasty.

This is a bold cup. It’s quite brisk, but not too much. Perhaps I’m just ultra sensitive today, but having just drunk a cup of this has made me feel ultra wired. The maltiness is oh so inviting though.

Overall, this is a well-balanced Assam if you’re looking for one on the bolder side. Not too astringent at all and very smooth considering how assertive it is.

It seems difficult to believe that I am the first person to log this but I did not see it in the database so I decided to add it…

So it was a late night last night and I am feeling kind of tired, I decided to pull his out of the cupboard and it was definitely a good choice. It’s a fair trade organic assam from Harney in one of cute little 4 oz tins. I like the tea tins because I will reuse them for other things once the original tea is gone and you can also recycle them.

This tea is delicious and smooth, not exceedingly malty and a tad bit brisk… bold but not too assertive. very nice. If tea was a comfort food this would be it for me, a great assam to gently wake me up.

An Assam morning. Began with my true love Taylors of Harrowgate Scottish Breakfast, proceeded to their Pure Assam for second cup with no changes on either.

I am being assisted by Angus the Cat Who Will Have His Way, so hope I can finish this note.

The packaging on the front of the sample says “Revitalizing” and on the back it says “Strong and Malty.” First couple of sips confirm the strong and revitalizing parts, although this IS my 3rd cup of tea this morning. I am still struggling with the “malty” part. To me that suggests sweetness. This is smooth and mellow and pleasant, but so far I am not detecting sweetness specifically, or any dramatic differences among my 3 cups of Assam/Assam blends this morning.

I need to change my ratings on a couple of others, I see.

I have yet to try a H&S tea that I truly dislike. I picked this out of my samples because I wanted a tea to give me a kick in the pants. I expected it to be harsh and jolting, like coffee, but I was surprised… pleasantly surprised. I always thought Assams were a bit on the harsh, sharp side, but this one is great! It’s bold, smooth and a bit sweet. It’s just strong enough to be a great morning tea without making me cringe. And it doesn’t really need milk or sugar! This is likely to become one of my staple morning teas.

I was expecting this to be quite sharp, but it’s very smooth and and a little bit sweet. I’m going to have trouble picking my default black now that it’s entered the fray!

Good, good, good. Not one of my top picks, but it has a nice flavor. It is one we go back to every now and again.