Assam Signature Malt Black Tea 2nd Flush

Here’s Hoping TTB

This one will wake you up in the morning! It isn’t a CTC, but it drinks like one: strong, malty, and rather bitter. I didn’t care for it straight, but it made a pretty nice morning brew once I added a splash of milk.

Thanks for this one, JakeB! The only black tea in an amazing tea box! I can’t wait to try everything. The leaves here don’t look like a CTC but the sharp flavor certainly tastes like one. Yowzas. It must be a kick of caffeine! Possibly I shouldn’t have used a teaspoon and a half. I will try one teaspoon next time and thankfully I didn’t use two. Not much of a tasting note this time around, but I shall retry it.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 10 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep

Next day with one teaspoon: This one is much tamer and actually tastes like ASSAM this time. And it definitely is less bitey. I’m not sure if I particularly loved either way it was steeped though. I’m surprised it gets an 87 rating from others. It’s so odd there is such a difference with a teaspoon or a teaspoon and a half but that is what makes tea FUN… all the different variables of parameters.

First and foremost, thanks to Nicole for being my first tea swap partner and sending me this tea. It is always nice to have someone show you the ropes and give you a boost of confidence going forward and she did this for me.

So, I tried this tonight as soon as I got it. I even made breakfast for dinner and it paired as good as I wanted it to. My wife and I both drank two full teacups worth.

It was so good. A deep orange tinted liquor. Malty/woodsy scent. Bright, smooth, slightly malty, slightly fruity flavor. I expected some of the puckery bitterness but none appeared. Loved this tea.

I think this is the one I received in my secret pumpkin gift from Flyawaybirdie. It doesn’t say 2nd flush on the package but this is the only one that came up when I typed in the name of the tea.

I boiled my water and waited around 2 minutes to try to obtain the 180F suggested by Flyawaybirdie. There was a note included with these stating, “I know you haven’t been feeling blacks lately. Hopefully these can change your mind”. Flyawaybirdie has given me hope for plain blacks. While this definitely tastes like a black, there is something tasty lurking in the cup. I don’t even have to sweeten it! Thanks for giving me the chance to try this :)

https://instagram.com/p/88OUdVJnruB1xg2Vu2FII_QJh6JsvrjnZOrks0/?taken-by=kkpeltzer

First tea from this morning. Not much more to write except that it was tasty delicious and the perfect start to what is going to be s long day of dog. Sitting.

My Golden Tips order arrived this morning with this tea being amongst them, something I purchased 100g of after craving Assam. Usually when I eat Indian food (which is a few times a week) I like to follow it with a pot of tea, unfortunately my supply ran dry of everything but Darjeeling. So during the promotion of spend $75 and save $25 I thought it was too good to pass up. From those I ordered this is the first I am tasting, it called to me in particular today.

Again this is quick notes as my back is still bad and I’m not in the right frame of mind to write a full review.

The leaves were thin, long, a bit squiggly and very wooden smelling with a hint of sweetness.

Steeping in my new teapot (red clay measuring 125ml) with approx 1tsp/3-4g leaf.

Flavour is malty but not as thick as you would think. Dominantly sweet wood with soft dark fruit tones (date and mature plum) before the malt and dryness kick in during the after taste. Some musk/smoke in the after taste which leaves a thick and full flavour in my mouth.

I liked this tea quite a bit, the flavour had authentic Assam tones I had expected but was also more delicate and pure tasting than I had anticipated. This had no bitterness and was not overly rich as some Assam can be, perhaps helped by the rather large leaves. Glad I got 100g of this rather than a sample as my husband would probably like this too.

In other news it looks like I’m too ill still to attend tomorrows concert, which with the hotel booked has cost us £80 and now shall go to waste. Money isn’t everything though and we agreed to spend the day together regardless. We also have tickets for Saturday so with some luck I will be able to make that one.

I had 2 steepings of this over the day today. With the second steeping I was also eating Darkside Skittles. OMG… the intense malt and the fruit and the sweet? A-MAZ-ING. Such a plebian desecration of this gorgeous tea, but it was soooo good. Now I need to try it with a splash of cream but I get the feeling that might be dangerous. I love it so much unaltered.

Yay!!! It’s Friday afternoon, I got off work a little early and my plan for the rest of the afternoon involves nothing more than a cup of tea or two and a couple of chapters of my most recent book while lounging around on the couch ignoring all the things that need to be done around the house… After all, tomorrow is another day!

This tea is a little cup of deliciousness! Its malty, seriously hoppy, has a hint of vanilla and a touch of wood and I hope this cup never ever runs out! Bold but silky, bitter but sweet, this is pretty amazing cup! Thanks to Nicole for sharing this with me… It’s looking more and more likely that I’ll be making an order with Golden Tips very very soon!!