Oh, wow. I steeped at about 98C for 3 minutes like I usually do with black teas. The colour is a gorgeous red-brown, and looks like it would be a perfect base for a spiced Thai iced tea recipe.
The tea? Oh geez. Bitter AND astringent. Behind the blech are some lovely malty and floral notes.
I ended up adding a bunch of milk and more honey than I usually do, but I think I’m going to dump this and try brewing with much cooler water for 2 minutes.
Edit: And as I sat here applying for work and eating my stew, the tea is gone. Maybe I don’t dislike it as much as I thought it did? Or maybe I just wasn’t paying attention and would have drank pretty much anything.
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I had similar initial thoughts, but it has really grown on me. Because it’s a CTC leaf, I find I use about 1/3 the amont of leaf for the perfect cup. but that’s just me.
It’s so weird because I have some (admittedly old) CTC Assams that I love. This one is just those times a lot on the astringent/bitter scale. I’ll try using less leaf, as well as a bit cooler temperature. :)
I had similar initial thoughts, but it has really grown on me. Because it’s a CTC leaf, I find I use about 1/3 the amont of leaf for the perfect cup. but that’s just me.
It’s so weird because I have some (admittedly old) CTC Assams that I love. This one is just those times a lot on the astringent/bitter scale. I’ll try using less leaf, as well as a bit cooler temperature. :)