70

Allow me to start this review by stating that I have long admired the Amba Estate. Not only does Amba make a seemingly honest attempt to produce their teas ethically and sustainably, but the estate also produces a fairly unique, quirky range of black teas. That being said, I have yet to try an Amba tea that blows me away. To be clear, I always find their teas enjoyable and appreciate their little quirks, but I have yet to have that one Amba tea that just clicks for me. Clearly this tea did not do that either.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped 3 grams of loose tea leaves in approximately 8 ounces of 203 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any subsequent infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of malt, toffee, and roasted nuts. After infusion, I found stronger aromas of malt, toffee, and roasted nuts accompanied by emerging scents of orange and sorghum. Robust notes of black walnut, hickory, roasted almond, and toasted cashew were evident on the entry. They were soon balanced by impressions of sorghum, honey, malt, cream, wood, leather, toffee, and orange. The finish offered lingering touches of malt, orange, and toffee with something of a nuttiness just before every other lingering flavor component faded away.

In terms of what this tea actually offered on the nose and in the mouth, I was pleased. Like many other Uva teas, however, I found this tea to be somewhat more tannic and astringent than I generally like, and as I played around with it, I could never quite seem to get it where I wanted and needed it to be. Overall, this was not a bad tea, it just did not quite do it for me.

Flavors: Almond, Astringent, Cream, Honey, Leather, Malt, Molasses, Orange, Roasted Nuts, Tannic, Toffee, Walnut, Wood

Preparation
5 min, 0 sec 3 g 8 OZ / 236 ML
Fjellrev

Aww, well that is really cool to know about the estate, in spite of not finding much luck with their blends.

eastkyteaguy

Fjellrev, I think how much you like Amba teas largely depends upon your appreciation of Uva Highlands black teas as a whole. If you don’t mind brisk nutty, citrusy teas with pronounced tannic character and astringency, then they are probably up your alley. I often find them to be a little too intense for my liking.

Fjellrev

Ah, that does sound a little too much for me too. Brisk and tannic aren’t my favourite.

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Fjellrev

Aww, well that is really cool to know about the estate, in spite of not finding much luck with their blends.

eastkyteaguy

Fjellrev, I think how much you like Amba teas largely depends upon your appreciation of Uva Highlands black teas as a whole. If you don’t mind brisk nutty, citrusy teas with pronounced tannic character and astringency, then they are probably up your alley. I often find them to be a little too intense for my liking.

Fjellrev

Ah, that does sound a little too much for me too. Brisk and tannic aren’t my favourite.

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My grading criteria for tea is as follows:

90-100: Exceptional. I love this stuff. If I can get it, I will drink it pretty much every day.

80-89: Very good. I really like this stuff and wouldn’t mind keeping it around for regular consumption.

70-79: Good. I like this stuff, but may or may not reach for it regularly.

60-69: Solid. I rather like this stuff and think it’s a little bit better-than-average. I’ll drink it with no complaints, but am more likely to reach for something I find more enjoyable than revisit it with regularity.

50-59: Average. I find this stuff to be more or less okay, but it is highly doubtful that I will revisit it in the near future if at all.

40-49: A little below average. I don’t really care for this tea and likely won’t have it again.

39 and lower: Varying degrees of yucky.

Don’t be surprised if my average scores are a bit on the high side because I tend to know what I like and what I dislike and will steer clear of teas I am likely to find unappealing.

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