Exotic Assam

I drank this tea right after a particularly good Chinese black tea from Yunnan, which may be influencing my feelings right now, but I think I prefer Chinese black tea to Indian as a general rule.

Anyway, about the tea: the tea leaves are in interesting tiny nuggets. The first steeping was bitter but I believe that was simply because I oversteeped it. Second and third steepings were not bitter. However, the third steeping (although still dark golden brown in color) seems to be waning on the flavor scale. Not that it tastes watery, it just doesn’t taste as much like tea. Except for the astringency, which is still out in full force.

I realize I didn’t say much about what the flavor of the tea actually was. Well, aside from the transient bitterness and rather a lot of astringency (more than I like in my blacks teas, if I’m perfectly honest) it seemed an unexceptionable tea. I didn’t find much of the delicate floral taste that I enjoy in Darjeelings (am not sure if it is normal for Assam or not). So that was unfortunate. But overall it was an okay-to-good tea.

This is a signature blend second flush Assam from Golden Tips Tea, picked in August 2013. The dry leaf smells sweet and malty with an undertone of spice, and the leaves themselves are fairly thin and wiry, mostly black but with some lighter, golden tipped leaves scattered throughout. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 3.5 minutes in boiling water. The resulting liquor is a bright reddish-brown, and I added a splash of milk.

Assam is one of my absolute favourite black tea varieties. It’s one of the first I tried when I was younger, and it’s probably fair to say that my enjoyment of it encouraged my interest in tea generally. It’s always with pleasure that I try a new Assam, and this one is no exception.

What I’m tasting here is fairly typical of the variety, I think. There’s an initial sweetness that becomes intensely malty in the mid-sip, and a hint of woodiness in the aftertaste. There are very mild cocoa notes, but they’re fleeting and by no means a prominent part of the overall flavour. It’s a full bodied tea, with a thickly textured mouthfeel, very smooth and almost creamy. The malt becomes more dominant with successive sips, which only increases this effect.

See my full review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2015/06/19/assam-exotic-black-tea-golden-tips/

It’s hard to get my palette back into the many different flavors teas have to offer when I have started to develop a taste for good medium dark smooth coffee. The caffeine rush I get from coffee doesn’t compare to the light teas I’ve been drinking lately. Over a year of waking up a few times a night and never sleeping past 9 after years of oversleeping will turn one onto something with an instant kick. The huge downside with coffee is that it becomes addicting rather quickly and drinking it for pleasure soon becomes drinking it so I don’t get a grumpy massive headache. During my days of drinking lots of black teas, I did notice withdrawal symptoms when I hadn’t had my cup or two but it wasn’t anything a cup of green tea couldn’t fix. I’m in an adjustment period in my life, one that seems to be lasting awhile. I would like to get back on track with tea, as it makes me a better person, and I’m confident I will. I just need some more time and lots more black tea.

In my attempts of getting back on the tea train, I have been have one cup of coffee in the morning and one cup of tea in the afternoons, usually a black tea- with milk and honey. Today I’m drinking this Exotic Assam. I set some aside before tainting it with the sweetness of the honey and the creaminess of the milk. Naked, this tea is very very smooth. It’s not an offensive black tea at all. I could very well drink a full cup of it without my english ways. In fact, I’m starting to regret I made a cup with milk and honey. As the tea cools, I find I much prefer it very hot on the tongue. The velvety smoothness in my mouth is much more powerful at a higher temperature. The tannins are also noticeable sightly cooler. The aroma is sweet and golden. It’s a tea I can see myself drinking more of. Even with the milk and honey, I’m starting to no longer regret my choice as the tea settles into the cool air. It blends well and holds onto my taste buds coaxing them for more.

Exotic Assam is a signature blend from Golden Tips that is a pretty straightforward assam flavor profile. It has a simple medium maltiness with a touch of woodsy spice and a slight aftertaste of malt that stays on the tongue. Nice is a good word for this tea. It is smooth, has a medium mouthfeel and enough body to do what Assams do well: make it feel like you’ve had breakfast even when you haven’t. Nice tea.