Assam Gold

First cup of the morning! Once again thanks to the Tea Merchant for their generous sample! This is a nice cup for the morning. I was inspired by a comment made by kittena yesterday so I actually have a smoothie in a water bottle and two tea mugs full of tea lol. YAY for drinking it up in the morning! Especially nice since it’s a cool (but still nice) wet, rainy dark morning here in toronto.

This assam has a toasty warm flavourful taste this morning. A bit like a warm hug on a cold day, cuddled under the blankets listening to the rain patter on the windows.

Good second steep potential on this one: I tossed in a pinch (maybe 1/4 teaspoon) of fresh leaves in with the used ones, left it sloppily for uh, a while, and I just looked at the tumbler and wondered where it all went :)
Getting something a little sweet and fruity at the end of each sip.

Tea of the morning earlier today.

Malty assam, you are so perfect for the morning. I always just melt over the smell of freshly brewed black breakfast teas, and this was no exception. While steeping I went for about 30 seconds less than I normally do for a black tea just to try and have this without additives. I really just wanted nothing but bold black tea this morning.

I could have actually gone about 30 seconds lighter, even, as this was still a bit astringent. It certainly was bold and earthy and chewy and all things a good black tea should be though. I’m sure sugar would have smoothed out the rough edges but for some reason it being all the way across the kitchen just seemed too far to go, haha.

Eh, I have plenty of this to give it another go with a bit lighter hand on the steeping. With the way I’ve been drinking pure black teas lately, I’m sure I’ll be revisiting it sooner rather than later.

Sooo… I’m halfway through this package already and no notes! How did that happen?

Not a whole lot to say I guess, other than this is a really good, smooth Assam. Simply excellent and I’m glad I got it with my last order from The Tea Merchant.

Sample package label:
“The Perfect Tea for the coffee lover looking for a healthier alternative. This impossibly smooth malty organic tea comes from the Assam region of Northern India. It brews a rich golden infusion with lots of character and may be steeped multiple times.
Ingredients: Organic black Tea
USDA Organic, Caffeine: Medium, Steep: 3-5 Minutes”

Thanks to Joey Landford, The Tea Merchant, for the additional recommended brewing instructions: A little less than 1 tsp. / 205*F / 8oz.

Technique:
8-oz water with total dissolved solids (TDS) of 21 ppm, heated to 212*F and allowed to cool to 205*F – verified with DAVIDsTEA digital thermometer.
1 scant Tevanna teaspoon, without sweeteners, milk or cream.

The fragrance of this tea has hints of tobacco
Golden hue

First cup:
3-min: Smooth but light-bodied I then steeped it an additional min.
4-min: Improving
5-min: Smooth & medium bodied. There was zero hint of bitterness or astringency. Since this is an Assam, I suspected more tea was needed.

2nd Cup – 1 Rounded Tsp.:
3-min: Smooth and medium-bodied.
4-min: Smooth and full-bodied.
5-min: Smooth & full-bodied with a malty character. There was zero hint of bitterness or astringency

6-min re-steep:
Smooth & lighter than the first infusion.

Impression: This Assam is a full-bodied, malty tea without any bitterness or astringency.

Thanks to Joey, The Tea Merchant, for providing this generous size free sample.