82

I can now tell where the gorgeous Taiwanese 18 tea got a lot of its parentage from.

The malted sugar and cherry fragrance on this Assam black is lovely.

Unfortunately the tea liquor isn’t sweet at all so I guess I could add some honey to it. It is mellow and has the same slight astringency that I get from 18 which is actually quite nice. Not bitter (yet… I must make sure not to oversteep this).

I added milk to the second half of my cup and it goes very nicely; the milk adds a touch of sweetness that enhances this tea a lot.

Rating: 82

Flavors: Astringent, Cherry, Malt, Wood

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 5 min, 0 sec 2 g 6 OZ / 177 ML

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Bio

Amateur tea enthusiast here. I told myself I would start with studying Chinese teas when I first encountered good tea at Song Tea in San Francisco in 2016, and it’s now 2023 and I feel like I’m still just beginning to scratch the surface of Chinese teas.

Maybe someday I will move on to Indian, Japanese, Korean, etc. teas…

For my day job I work in tech as well as write some fiction on the side.

The next step in my tea journey is to start training my nose with an aroma kit to get a more precise handle on floral notes.

My Tea Rating Scale: (adapted from @benmw)
100 : Unforgettable, life-changing tea experience.
95–99: Extraordinary – Beyond impressive.
90–94: Impressive – Deep complexity, extreme clarity, or unexpected discovery of wonderful flavor. Made me reconsider the category. Would always want to drink this if I had the chance.
80–89: Delicious – Nuanced, balanced, clear, and complex layering of flavors. Would probably buy this tea again.
70–79: Very Good – Nuanced flavors, perhaps not as balanced or complex as the next step up, but clear and very enjoyable. Would consider buying again if the price was right.
60–69: Good – Clear flavors, representative of the category, but doesn’t set a standard. Good as an everyday tea. Would not buy unless desperate (e.g. when travelling without access to better tea).
50–59: Average. Would not pay money for this, but would drink if it was provided FOC.
30–49: Below Average. Would not drink this again even if it were free.
0–29: Undrinkable. Could not even finish the cup.

Location

Singapore

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