Assam Melody

Not a fan. Didn’t have the rich malty notes typical of assam tea. Lacked interest. I far prefer Harrod’s assam or Positively Tea’s assam.

Discovering Adagio teas, episode #2 (out of 12).
My second Adagio tea and first from a small sample bag. And I just love the idea of a zip bag. So practical.
As I expected, this one is rich and malty, with typical to Assam teas wet cardboard in the background. It tastes a bit bitter (steeped for 4 minutes), but I certainly don’t mind a little bitterness in a decent tea, and a bit astringent, with solid, malty base and threshold sweetness.

Received with September 2016 subscription. Subtle, standard black tea flavor. Could use longer steeping.

[First 100 tasting notes! I have other notes in standby, but i needed a worthy one to celebrate this milestone]

How i got it: A birthday gift from my parents and sister

Experience: Going from soft to mild, its aroma is delicate but very well defined, following a classic Assam style with slight hints of honey. Its flavor has a medium intensity, doesn’t have the usual Assam strength (at least the ones I’ve tried have been quite strong), but in exchange it gives a well defined, lasting and quite complex taste, that’s not so easy to define (I would call it “fruity”). The honey notes in the aroma have a match in the flavor, and the cup ends with a wooden, nice aftertaste, plus some astringency. I could never sense a hint of bitterness in this tea. I can easily count Adagio Melody among the best teas i’ve tried.

Would i buy it?: Surely

Trying out another sample from my Adagio tea shipment. I brewed this tea too long. So it was kinda bitter and astringent but it’s strong in taste. To make this drinkable I added 2 tablespoons of milk and a teaspoon of sugar. I really like it this way. The flavor is strong so it still comes out through the milk. Now that I think about it really reminds me of the malta goya drink. And I like that drink. So now when i crave that I can drink this and it’ll be healthier. I may try steeping this shorter to see if I can like it without milk but I like how it tastes as of now.

Love this tea. It’s a nice, hearty, plain tea. It’s slightly sweet and not at all bitter.

Dry leaves smell like blueberries, dry moss, and an herb store. Once brewed, the color is a bit like an orange oak finished wood. Smells in the grain and malt region. What I like about it is it doesn’t have biting bitterness. I taste some malty, some sweet. Astringency that leaves my mouth watering after I’ve finished the swallow. Lingering hints of caramelized fruit (banana or yam maybe?) maybe along with that bit of bitter astringency. But really, the bitterness is subtle. I like it better than their Assam Harmony. Basically, this tastes like a nice, enjoyable Earl Grey, without the bergamot… which I suppose is what a nice Earl Grey is.

The smell of the dry leaves reminded me of a high quality tobacco shop I walked into in Bath, England, just down the street from Bath Abbey and the Ancient Roman baths. So I popped over to a cigar aficionado website. Black tea aroma has a lot in common with cigar store aroma, to me. Certainly different things come out stronger in the tea. It may also be that I had a lot of tea when in Bath, so I’m just relating the two in my brain.

This tea is good, but not my favorite assam. I’ll have to try adjusting the steeping time and amount some. I followed the recommendations but it was too bitter.

This is a good Indian black tea if you looking for something that isn’t going to be chalked full of bitterness. They claim to have notes of raisins but honestly I don’t taste it… However, I do enjoy the light malty flavor it offers!

I would suggest this tea if you are new to Indian blacks (which I am). This will give you an idea if you need to go sweeter (Maybe a nimbu) or if you need to go more bitter with a straight Darjeeling. Maybe you need to stay about from Indian blacks and stick with the more sweet flavors in Chinese blacks.

I don’t particularly think I would like anything much more intense then this. I don’t like it as much as a nimbu, but I do like it more than some of the more bitter Darjeelings I have tried. Overall I would purchase this tea again but am also looking forward to experimenting with more assams.

Please give me some recommendations if you know of any particularly good assam teas!

Delicious, makes for the perfect unsweetened iced tea!