Wow, this one really needs a long steep time. As I was used to the usual 3 min. steep time for BOP grade black teas, I made the mistake of understeeping this one resulting in a somewhat weak cup. When steep time was increased to around 5 min., I could really feel that nice “kick” you usually get from coffee. Of course, there was some astringency with this cup, but it was not unpleasant at all. I still can’t get much of a malty flavor though, which is just a limitation of this Assam blend I guess.
205 °F / 96 °C
5 min, 0 sec