2.5 tsp for 250mL water @90C, steeped 5 minutes.
(Packet recommends 2 tsp for 180mL water. Packet also says the caffeine content is high not medium as noted in the Steepster listing.)
Picking date 17 July 2020.
Dry leaf is dark brown with lots of gold. Dry aroma is malty and bready with a whiff of cocoa.
Wet leaf is deep brown with light brown. Aroma is very malty.
Liquor: medium copper, a little lighter in colour than I expected. Aroma of malt and dates.
Malty but not mouth-stripping astringent. Bready. Sweet finish with a ghost of cocoa which then morphs back into malt. Pleasantly brisk. Good full body. This would take honey extremely well, though I’ll keep mine plain. I find I want it a tiny bit hotter, but I wonder is 95C water would bring out bitterness. I also want to blend this one.
I’d recommend this one to both Assam fans and someone trying Assam for the first time.
It does get a bit more astringent as you move down the cup, but the finish remains smooth and sweet.
Blending this 1:1 with a second flush Darjeeling makes a lively, refreshing, and delicious pot of tea.
I never thought Assam and Darjeeling would mesh well, but I recently tried a blend of the two and it was delightful.
I got the idea from Harry & Sons’ Harsha, a blend of Assam and Darjeeling, and I was knocked over. Assam and Darjeeling together bring out the best of each other and then combine for something really lovely. I want to order ore of the Hallmark Special Some Black — it’s a wonderful Assam and my new favourite.
I’ve still got Teabox on the shopping list…now that I think of it, I need a carrot-and-stick motivator to get a difficult writing assignment knocked out by April 30…I may have just found it :)
:) Tea makes all writing better.
i’ve bene very pleased with everything Ive tried so far form Teabox. I’ve got a fair bit of Darjeeling on hand, so I haven’t tried any yet from Teabox, but I can recommend their Temi Summer Muscatel Black — which also goes well with an Assam.
Eyeballing their CTC Assam this morning, too.