India Assam Latumoni 'Handrolled Tippy' Black Tea

2nd flush, June 2022

Classy and elegant yet strong and rich with a dense aroma. Big hands with scratchy palms, firm squeeze, soft touch. Teak and tobacco, malt and prune. Such a classic black tea.

Assam teas don’t often find their way into my cupboard, usually because they’re too abrasive and without much nuance. This one, on the other hand, I’d be happy to buy again when the Assam itch needs scratched.

These long, luscious leaves steeped up light and sweet. The scent in the cup reminds me of homemade pumpkin bread. A little bread in the flavor as well; a little malt; a little brown sugar. Not a strong Assam, but an extremely pleasant one.

Husband put up the little canopy tent we use in the summer to shelter cats, plants, and glider. I sat underneath it with this cup and watched it rain this morning. Delicious. Thank you, derk.

This was another of my June sipdowns. I’m generally a huge fan of the Assam black teas sourced by What-Cha, but this one did not do as much for me. It was far from a bad tea, but I found it to be temperamental and a bit challenging, which, to be blunt, are qualities I do not look for in Assam teas.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped 3 grams of loose tea leaves in approximately 8 ounces of 203 F water for 5 minutes. For my review session, I did not rinse the leaves, and I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of malt, baked bread, honey, sweet potato, and pine. After infusion, I detected aromas of molasses, caramel, cream, green bell pepper, tomato, blackberry, and wintergreen as well as some subtle scents of prune. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered notes of malt, cream, baked bread, honey, sweet potato, caramel, molasses, blackberry, chocolate, orange zest, blueberry, pine, roasted almond, tomato, wintergreen, roasted walnut, and kumquat that were underscored by hints of grass, green bell pepper, minerals, black cherry, black pepper, anise, cinnamon, and prune prior to an astringent finish.

This tea had a ton to offer, but it also presented a very challenging drinking experience. The liquor was very brisk and astringent, sometimes a little much so for my tastes, and some of the more unique and appealing flavor components had a tendency of getting buried amidst the wash of more typical Assam flavors. As mentioned earlier, I also experienced some difficulty dialing this tea in, as I found it to be very sensitive and easy to oversteep. Truthfully, I am still not certain that I was able to find ideal brewing parameters for it. Overall, though, this tea was a mixed bag. There was a lot to like about it, but it most certainly had its flaws. Thankfully, there was more to like than dislike about what it had to offer.