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__Morgana__ drank Gilapukri Estate Assam Special Silver Tips STGFOP by Todd & Holland

2036 tasting notes

No info about this available on the T&H web site as they no longer offer this. But even more puzzling, I googled Gilapukri Estate and very little came up. It does appear that this is one of the ingredients in the Todd & Holland Assam Heritage Blend. It’s a never before opened sample.

An interesting, green note to the dry leaf aroma. The steeped tea has a mineral note. Stones from one side, raw potato from another. And yet there’s also something sweet, a little like molasses. And something vaguely floral. The tea is clear and deep red, like the darkest part of a cut garnet stone.

The complexity of the aroma also characterizes the flavor. It has a little sourness, a bitter edge, but its additive rather than reductive. The body is lighter than I would have expected, and there’s no malt here, nor are there any chocolate notes that I can taste. There’s a sharpness to the flavor, and an unfortunate throat grab.

Hard to decide how to rate this one. It gets points for being interesting, but it’s not what I usually think of when I think of what makes Assam appealing and I could do without the throat grab.

Flavors: Floral, Mineral, Molasses, Potato, Wet Rocks

Preparation

Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 17 OZ / 500 ML

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I got obsessed with tea in 2010 for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it. I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I write fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I drink tea without additives. If a tea needs milk or sugar to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’ll rate it high. The exception is chai, which I drink with milk/sugar or substitute. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs, but as my tastes developed they became less appealing — I still enjoy nicely done blends. I do not mix well with tulsi or yerba mate, and savory teas are more often a miss than a hit with me. I used to hate hibiscus, but I’ve turned that corner. Licorice, not so much.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. But I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas in relation to others of the same type, for example, Earl Greys against other Earl Greys. But if a tea rates very high with me, it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is

90-94 Excellent; first rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Very good; will likely buy more

70-79 Good; would enjoy again, might buy again

60-69 Okay; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but likely won’t buy again

Below 60 Meh, so-so, iffy, or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.

I don’t swap. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that I have way more tea than any one person needs and am not lacking for new things to try. Also, I have way too much going on already in daily life and the additional commitment to get packages to people adds to my already high stress level. (Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.)

That said, I enjoy reading folks’ notes, talking about what I drink, and getting to “know” people virtually here on Steepster so I can get ideas of other things I might want to try if I can ever again justify buying more tea. I also like keeping track of what I drink and what I thought about it.

My current process for tea note generation is described in my note on this tea: https://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6990-the-des-impressionnistes