Kamakhya Estate GBOP Spl. (TA35)

Wow, this is some tea. If it were a beer, it’d be Guinness stout. If it were a coffee, it’d be sumatra. It’s one strong dark note. I really enjoy it. It’s not sharp like some equally potent teas I’ve tried. It doesn’t taste of coffee at all, but somehow it seems more like having a cup of coffee than of tea. Maybe it’s partially because it looks like coffee in the cup- a deep mahogany that’s black once the cup is full.

I’ve tried it plain and with milk and raw sugar and it is good both ways and really holds its own against milk.

I’m only just learning about tea so I don’t yet know how to describe things with correct tea vocabulary. This tea is dark, smooth, rich, deep, and delicious.

Upton’s catalogue lists this one as being described by their Indian tea dealer as “absolutely cracker!” That intrigued me. Usually Upton’s descriptions are a bit more sedate. They also said that it had a sweet malty character and was a great value.

It took me a good while to understand this tea. Compared to some of the breakfast monsters out there, and compared to some of the much higher priced assams that really taste strongly of toast and malt, this one was rather more reserved.

I’ve tried 3,4, and five minutes- 4 is the upper limit before it starts getting too bitter, but up to that point it’s truly very well behaved. A splash of milk really brings out the best in this one, but while I usually don’t add milk to my tea I’m doing so with this one.

At just under 6 dollars for 125 gm, it was truly a very good value. Enjoy!