Khongea Golden Tippy Assam

On day 3 of a migraine, which started with crazy psychedelic visual effects on Tuesday afternoon. There for a minute I thought my computer monitor was frying, then I realized it was me, not the monitor. Then I thought maybe I was having a stroke or something, it was pretty crazy, even for this old (reformed) hallucinogen lover. My sons were both home studying for finals, so I made them come sit with me for half an hour. Leif said, “maybe you’re having a flashback” & we all laughed. We drank tea & talked, & gradually my vision cleared up as the headache emerged. I haven’t had a migraine in years, & probably not coincidentally, I’ve eaten some things over the weekend that have made me feel like crap anyway (will I ever learn?), so it’s no real surprise.

But the show must go on! I taught at the school yesterday, then played a 3 hour gig last night, mostly with my eyes closed. Today I have students on & off, & will spend the off time practicing because I’m going into the studio with a vocalist on Monday to create backup tracks for his upcoming CD.

So I’m starting the day with a potent Assam! I’ve written numerous reviews of this one, & even won a Haiku contest (yes, I’m still milking the glory from that, LOL).
Onward through the fog…

Having some of this in an effort to try and stick to teas that my tastebuds won’t find wonky. I really don’t want to waste any of my tea with not being able to taste it. I seem to be ok for spicier chai like teas and the darker, bolder teas. This is a bit off today but not to the point of being disappointed. I still love this tea and will continue to enjoy it! I really enjoy the flavour of it, though it’s not my favourite straight tea from stacy. :)

Thanks Stacy for providing this VERY generous sample!

She said this tea was not on her website yet, so with her permission, I will be the first one to review it…

I have tried many assams, as I love bold black teas. Before I «met» Stacy and discovered her «TeaWonderLand» , I had only encounter your regular malty slightly astringent black Assam. Very effective morning black tea that I would go to as a «favourite comfy pair of jean» type of tea…

I am excited about this one, cause I never had a golden tippy assam. Not knowing much about Khongea plantation other than it’s location in India, I did a little research and I’m very pleased with what I found out, and the knowledge added to the appreciation of my tasting.

Stacy will correct me if I’m wrong, but from my reading, this would be a second flush (may-june harvest), the period when the finest Assams are produced with chunky golden tips.

Khongea is one of the highest yielding gardens in Assam, and is often referred to as a model by the tea industry to exemplify good practice in field management, where labor workers are treated fairly and environmental issues are carefully considered.

I love the fact that these issues are important to Butiki, so kudos for that!

What comes to mind first as I’m examining the dry leaves is: tobacco! Short, thin, slightly curly with beautiful bright golden tips. I don’t get much smell from it, so I have no clue what to expect…

I’m using quite a bit (about 2tsp for 10oz), I pour the hot water in my favourite clear glass cup and within a few seconds, the colour intensifies to a point where I decide to stop the infusion at only 90 sec. (I usually steep assams for about 4min!)

Wow! The colour is a dark reddish copper, and as the morning sun comes in from my kitchen window and hits the glass, I see it turn to an almost crimson red !

The aroma is powerful and I can’t wait for it to cool down a bit…or shall I burn my tongue just a little?

Thankfully, the taste is as rich as its colour! Very malty, I get undertones of tobacco and spices with a hint of smoke. It has a sweet finish, so the slight astringency and bitterness I detect are toned down into a non harmful way.

It is said that if Darjeeling tea is referred to as “the Champaign of tea”, a good quality Assam such as this one could be referred to as “the Best single malt Whisky of tea” .

I have to agree. Basically, if I was a smoker (and a little less girly) I would (in a very manly way) cut the tip of a very expensive Havana cigar, and instead of washing it down with bourbon and whisky, I’d have this tea!

Another hit from Butiki, and I can’t wait to experiment a little more with it…

Note: I later emailed Stacy for brewing recommendation and will not be afraid next time to let it steep longer. As she was pointing out, even more complexity will emerge. Thanks to the large sample, I’ll be able to just do that!

Made this morning with a dollop of cream. Drank some of it with my painkillers, then went to bed and slept the whole day. I’m still in a lot of pain, unfortunately. (I sneezed. Glamorous, right?)

Still decent cold, but I ended up dumping the last half cup or so, which was sad, but there was a bug in my tea, waiter. I took a sip before I noticed. Oops. :)

Ah, yes, I see here in the description that astringency is to be expected. No wonder it’s not sitting super well with me! Anyways, in the comparison between this and Khongea’s Assam Leaf, this one wins out by the barest margin simply due to being a little bit sweeter. Neither is my favourite sort of black though, given that I prefer my blacks to be ultra-smooth and chocolatey (and with raisin notes if possible, haha!)

Thanks for Boxermama for letting me sample the two of these!

Still rolling through my samples from Terri Harplady and I decided to do a random grab into the pile and see what came out. This was the winner. It’s pretty good. I don’t love it as much as others I’ve tried, but I’m enjoying it. As it cools the flavors start popping out a bit more, so that’s cool. I think the astringency doesn’t work for me though. Something is not quite right, but like I said, I’m definitely still enjoying it.

Dry leaf smells fruity and yeasty. The steeped tea is malty, strong and honest. I’m not sure Assams are in my top teas but this one is high quality and very good. I’m glad I got more than just a sample, but I probably won’t add it to my next order. Nothing at all against the tea, just isn’t particularly one for me to keep around.

I like it, but, like stray animals, I can’t keep the teas I like all in my house. Gotta have room for the Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black. :)

I always have a cup of black tea in the morning. I turned to Butiki this morning out of sheer excitement. Stacy is going to be doing a custom blend for me. Not with this tea, but another black tea. I’m long over due for an order though, I didn’t quite realize how low I was on most of my butiki!

Question: is the mark of a really good tea one over which you linger for a-g-e-s, carefully analyzing every little flavor nuance? Or is it the one you drank so enthusiastically and rapidly, you look at the empty tumbler and wonder, “Darn, where’d that go?”

This morning, Khongea Tippy Golden Assam (doesn’t that sound sophisticated?) fell into Category 2. Out of the potpourri of adjectives used to describe this one, oaky is probably the one that aligns the best. A warm flavor; not temperature, taste.

Delicious day-starter. So was the temperature. 57 degrees in mid-August? Preposterous!

Once again so happy I placed an order with Stacy! I ordered my tea on maybe Saturday or Sunday and they arrived today. Which I consider pretty awesome considering NJ was pretty hard hit last week and this week from Sandy and a snow storm!

So the tea…dry leaf smells like rye bread? Yeah weird I know, but still so good! (I can’t eat regular bread stupid gluten) I’m also getting an oaky smell here too. The tea once ready to drink smells amazing with hints of citrus and clove. As I’m drinking it there is a bit of cinnamon that I get on the finish. This is so yummy after a very long and busy week at work!