I haven’t been posting reviews for a few days now. I mostly wanted to take a break. I am getting ready to begin a new job after the holiday and will then be leaving immediately for a conference out of town that will last a full week. It is doubtful that I will be posting many reviews or taking part in discussions here on Steepster during this time. I will try to pop in before I leave to share some thoughts on whatever it is I will be drinking between now and then.
I have been working on a 1 ounce sample of this Assam for a couple of days now. I have mostly been using it as a breakfast tea. For the most part, I have been preparing it Western style and only doing one infusion. Most of the time I have been favoring a 3 minute infusion of 1 teaspoon of loose leaf material in 8 ounces of 212 F water, though I have also tried slightly longer infusions of around 4 and 5 minutes and will comment on those briefly.
I was not able to get much of an aroma from the dry tea leaves. After infusion, I noticed mild aromas of wood, spice, and malt. In the mouth, I picked up on notes of oak, cinnamon, nutmeg, cream, toast, leather, herbs, straw, roasted nuts, and malt. Compared to many of the other Assams I have been drinking, this one was not as smooth or as sweet, displaying woodier, spicier, and more herbal flavors. The longer infusions struck me as being woodier, nuttier, and slightly more herbal with a fairly pronounced astringency.
The first time I tried this Assam I really liked it, but my subsequent experiences with it have modified my first impression somewhat. It is not that I find this to be a bad-actually, I rather like it. I just kind of find it a little odd. It definitely would not be an everyday Assam for me. Still, I think if one were looking for a rather distinctive, atypical Assam that retains a full body and smooth texture in the mouth, one could do far worse than giving this tea a serious shot.
Flavors: Cinnamon, Cream, Herbs, Leather, Malt, Nutmeg, Oak, Roasted Nuts, Straw, Toast
