While I’m an avid learner, sometimes I like reaching for a classic like an Assam black tea.
Description: “A classic Assam black tea rich and full bodied in flavour with a robust character and earthy linger.”
Instructions: 1 flat teaspoon | 350ml | freshly boiled water | 5 minutes | To be served straight or complemented with whole milk
Review: When it comes to black teas, I tend to gravitate toward sweet and malty ones. From experience, Assam black teas hit the mark! The dry blend had a warm roasted aroma and was made of a mixture of CTC and ashy brown broken leaves and stems.
After brewing for 5 minutes, the liquor gradually became a dark burgundy colour and imparted a woody, roasted, stone fruit smell in the air. The taste was similar to how it smelled – woody, roasted, with some malt and sweetness. It also had some briskness at the end of the sip and was drying on the tongue. When cooled, the astringency was more apparent in the back of the throat. Adding a splash of oat milk to the liquor gave it a reddish-tan colour and creamy consistency. It also cut away at the astringency and highlighted the malt and roasted quality of the blend.
The wet leaves had an earthy, malt, and roasted smell and the dark tea leaves were broken. As some of the leaves were on the finer side, so there was fanning at the bottom of the cup when I used a tea strainer.
Overall, this had a nice classic taste and was what I was hoping for. While I generally like more sweet teas, this had a nice woody and roasted quality that wasn’t overly drying. I did find the addition of oat milk gave the liquor a nice creamy consistency and highlighted the sweet and roasted flavour (3.5/5 rating).
- Type: Black tea
- Origin: Assam, India
- Caffeine: Unknown
- Ingredients: Indian black tea
- Company: Sloane Fine Tea Merchants
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