Based on an ad I saw here on this forum and the fact that one of my all-time favorite assams was called Assam Special Reserve from teasource.com (which is no longer available apparently) I opted to order this up. This is actually my third time to use this tea, the first two I must not have been careful in my prep as I rushed off to work as I wasn’t that impressed. So to give it a more fair tasting this time, I measured up the qty of both leaf and water, then steeped carefully for 2 minutes at boiling. I added sweetener but kept the tea black (no dairy.)
The leaf in my purchased bag was mostly black leaf not as tippy as the picture suggests. Initial impressions of the flavor this time around is with moderate boldness, not sure how well it would work diluting with dairy. Flavor has an initial slight astringency that fades as a moderate maltiness appears and then grows stronger as it lingers on in the aftertaste. This was a bit of a surprise for me. I now have a much more favorable opinion of this tea this time. This is very good. I look forward to my next cup.
