87

Here’s another one from the backlog, though this one is more recent. I finished a sample pouch of this tea a little over a week ago and forgot to promptly post a review here. Judging from the product description on What-Cha’s website, this was a favorite of the Assam teas they have sourced recently. Personally, I found it to be a very solid, appealing tea, though I am still not entirely certain I would place it alongside some of my favorite Assam teas.

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

Prior to infusion, the loose leaf material emitted pleasantly malty, woody aromas. After infusion, I noted scents of malt, wood, raisin, caramel, and molasses. In the mouth, the liquor presented a nice, mellow mix of malt, cream, caramel, molasses, brown sugar, leather, raisin, black walnut, roasted chestnut, brown toast, and wood notes accompanying a moderate astringency that became somewhat more pronounced on the finish. Oh, and speaking of the finish, I mostly noted lingering touches of wood, cream, and malt in the mouth.

In a lot of ways, I found this to be a rather typical clonal Assam black tea. I did not notice anything odd or remotely out of place. Compared to some of What-Cha’s other Assam offerings, I think I prefer the teas from Prithvi for their full, rich, almost decadent maltiness and the tea recently sourced from Kanoka for its quirkiness. Still, this was a very nice example of a proper Assam black tea. I could see it making a rock solid daily drinker and/or a great introduction to quality Assam teas.

Flavors: Astringent, Brown Sugar, Brown Toast, Caramel, Chestnut, Cream, Leather, Malt, Molasses, Raisins, Walnut, Wood

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

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Bio

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.

Location

KY

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