First cup of the morning; 1 tsp of leaf, 3 minutes in boiling water, plus a splash of milk. This particular assam is a second flush single estate variety from Borpatra, picked on 25th March 2014. The dry leaf is short, a little twisted, and a pretty uniform black. There’s the odd golden-tinged leaf scattered throughout, but no more than that. To taste, though, this is such a sweet, malty assam. It has strong raisin notes, which I love, and which are reminding me a little of some of my favourite Taiwanese assams. It’s faintly reminiscent of fruit cake, although nowhere near as intense. It’s smooth and not especially tannic, so a good choice for a morning cup. I’m impressed with this one.