Assam

This one came to me via the wonderful Scribbles!

Scribbles sent this to me becuase I made such a big deal in one of my posts about how much I loved assam. This one does not disappoint.

The dry tea is dark cut up leaves, not crushed though. There is a strong and thick scent of dark purple plums (you know the ones that are so dark purple they almost look black).

The brewed tea is thick and dark with a very slight sweet scent. I am not getting a lot of malt with this one as the description on Steepster states. Maybe getting a very light malt. There is definitely a dark chocolate note to this tea. I am still getting the plum notes.

This is a bold, sweet assam. There is only a very slight dryness in the aftertaste with no bitterness. I feel like I am also getting the slightest metallic tang on my tongue after each sip.

I ordered a bunch of samples from Joseph Wesley. I ordered all but the Darjeeling. When the samples arrived they were in cute little tins, but the tins were only labeled with a tag, and half the tags has fallen off in shipping. Hopefully I was able to “guess” at what each sample was correctly.

Yesterday at work I was in a straight black tea mood so I gave this a try. I tried a cup of this after drinking Nahorhabi Assam from H&S. This tea is nice. It is bold, yet smooth. It is malty and packs a punch. This was good and I think with my next cup I will try a splash of milk. In comparison to the Nahorhabi, the Nahorhabi offers a bit of a fruity finish which I really enjoy. This was a nice simple straight up assam. I will definately enjoy the rest of the sample.

Queued post, written April 16th 2014

Part of my Bad Dog! order, the primary tin of which is still unopened. ETA May 17th, of course it has been opened at this point. It was the Keemun congfu in case anybody’s curious. I have finally set a date for opening it, though. Monday, because it’s my birthday and it seems a good time to have coveted tea for the first time.

This one is one I got a sample of, and the dry leaf has a lot of that raisin aroma that I always appreciate in an Assam. I can greatly enjoy a non-raisin-y one, but I do prefer them to be raisin-y, so that’s a good sign right there. After steeping it’s still mildly raisin-y, and even the flavour has an alround raisin-y touch to it.

YAY!

The peculiar thing is that on their own I don’t actually care much for raisins. In musli or in baking or what have you, they’re good, but I would never eat a handful of raisins just for the raisins. So it’s a bit of a mystery to me why they make me so happy in Assams.

Anyway, apart from the raisins, it’s rather a strong tea but it’s not too astringent. It’s a really thick and slightly sticky flavour with a fairly long aftertaste and very suitable for this morning. It has even eased my ‘I-slept-too-long-this-morning-headache’ a bit. Husband commented that he thought it was good as well, and it always says quite a lot when he does that, because it means he’s paid some attention to what he was drinking. He doesn’t usually if I haven’t told him I’ll be asking his opinion, so if a tea can grab his attention on its own it’s either really good or really weird. :p

Shame it was so difficult to procure.

Sipdown #2!

I went to bed really late last night, and my body is paying for it right now. Despite the influx of caffeine from this tea, I’ve got a bit of a headache and really think I need a nap.

This is good, though – rich, but not harsh or astringent. Quite smooth. I’m still not a black tea connoisseur, but I wouldn’t say no if offered more of this.

Thanks to indigobloom for the sample.

Sample 1/3 I ordered from Joseph Wesley. I love a good assam, especially in the morning. These came in really cute sample tins with paper tags, though I’m afraid I will lose the tags and get them all mixed up!

I figured I would need to try this plain first, in order to get a good sense of what the tea really tastes like. It’s definitely a dark and malty brew with a citrusy, brisk note in the finish. There aren’t too many assams I could drink plain but this is definitely one of them. There’s a bit of astringency but nothing I cannot handle. I did prefer this with a splash of soymilk, which is how I drink most assams.

I prefer a little less briskness in my teas but overall I did enjoy this…

Tea of the morning…..

Yes, this is pretty hefty. I am not normally a straight Assam drinker. I do drink it in blends, but usually find them a little too hearty for me on their own. I am sure you are wondering, why did she order a sample of Assam?…..well, because there were 4 teas from Joseph Wesley that I wanted to try and they were offered at 3, 5, or all 7. You will get another jumbled review of the Darjeeling that was my free sample…..another tea that I don’t drink much, if at all.

Thoughts: I am getting some malt, there is definitely a briskness, and really, it kind of takes over. There are chocolate notes, but they are kind of dark chocolate/malt blended together with the kick of brisk. As far as Assams go, it is good. Likely, the best one I have had (but remember, I don’t seek them out and I have only had a few.) Not sorry I took the time to try it, and, frankly, it is a perfect Monday morning tea.

Usual mug method.