TeaSource

New package of this tea arrived the other day. This is a great assam at 2 min steep. No noticeable astringency, yet a bold and smooth malty taste. For a cold but clear sunny day this is a great wakeup tea! What a great start!

Had this tea this morning. A nice malty strong assam. Steeped for 2 minutes to prevent bitterness.

The leaves of this tea are a beautiful small twisted leaf. A 2nd flush full leaf, this provides a nice malty flavor… which I like about Assams. Steeped at 208 degrees for 2 minutes to avoid the astringency. Mmmm.

Tried the new bag again this morning. Yukk! I don’t think it even has Satrupa in the bag. I will inquire of the source on this bag as it’s nasty tea. Maybe that is the nature of this year’s crop which I hear resulted in some very strong assam teas. But I had two bags of this in the same order and the first bag was wonderful. This bag is like a different tea or a different crop at least.

Opened a new bag today and found it (based on the first sampling of it) to be disappointing. If I were blindfolded I’d say it wasn’t the same tea. I’m not sure what happened but it wasn’t a great taste, the maltiness I’m used to in this tea wasn’t there. I’ll hope for better results next steeping.

Sipping Satrupa Estate Assam this morning… a favorite assam with maltiness and yummm and little bitterness if steeped about 2 minutes.

This afternoon’s after lunch tea is this hearty tippy assam with a nice malty flavor. Steeped 2 min. to help prevent bitterness.

A fine start to the week with this malty wonderful Assam.

This is my fave Assam that is currently available from the TeaSource.com. Their Special Reserve is a shade better but that is not available so this is the next best that I’ve found. I steep all assams for 2 minutes to avoid any astringency.

This is my comfort tea when things are looking bad. The smell alone is enough to lift my spirits. Who doesn’t love roses? :)

Reminds me of a Mao Feng tea, with some earthiness, chocolatey notes, a good strong morning tea.

One of my favorite kinds of tea.

Had it iced today. One of my favorite teas.

A little split on this tea. It is very unique for a green tea, far smokier than most. I like to steep my teas four times over the course of a work day (about 0.2 oz. for 1 minute for the first cup, then 2 minutes, etc.), and I get a bit tired of the strong, particular flavor after one or two cups.

This is my daily tea. Drinking a ‘fine’ grade Lung Ching is very affordable. It has a very full, ‘roundness’ to the taste. I generally get 2 infusions from each pot.

Mmm

This tastes like vaguely peppery water. :/

I was dismayed when I opened the bag to find it was essentially powder, but it still smelled strongly of both rooibos and spices. Gave it the usual seven minute steep at 180 and… well… nothing.

Turns out they suggest 2tsp per 8oz of water boiled for ten minutes… yikes! Will attempt again following their directions, but that seems like major overkill to me. We shall see.

I was surprised at how good it is. It doesn’t just taste like a lemon tea…it almost reminds me of a lemon cake. I definitely need to buy this.

As with most of my teas that aren’t in my “daily regimen”, I haven’t drunk this in a while, but I liked it enough to buy it after having a to-go cup of it.

Haven’t drunk this in a while, but I remember it being a nice, simple white tea.

So, I’m having a fresh cup of this tea, and decided to give live commentary. Brewed a teaspoon of it in approximately on cup of boiling water using a pre-heated mug for four minutes. The smell is surprisingly sweet. Taking a sip, the flavor is also sweeter than I remembered it being. If it were much sweeter, I don’t think I’d like it, but as is it’s alright. I can easily imagine myself growing to like this more, but right now I think I like the idea of this tea more than the actual flavor.
I should also comment that I am using the same mug I made the chamomile in last night, although that wasn’t very sweet itself, and I did rinse the mug out with boiling water when I was warming it, so I don’t think the chamomile could affect the flavor, at least not perceptibly.

Used 1 rounded teaspoon per cup of boiling water for approximately 3 minutes, sometimes 4. I don’t drink this too often, as I tend to prefer green tea, but when I do drink it I enjoy it quite a bit.
Insert Doctor Who joke here. :)