No. 49 Assam FTGFOP1

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Almond, Apricot, Caramel, Cherry, Cocoa, Cream, Leather, Malt, Molasses, Plum, Raisins, Astringent, Bread, Honey, Fruity
Sold in
Not available
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by LiberTEAS
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 30 sec 3 g 9 oz / 270 ml

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60 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Damn you Terri! No orders until June! WANT! MOAR! NAO! Holy hannibel, i had this in the morning and let me tell you, i have a single normal person cup’s worth left and it might just be hoarded....” Read full tasting note
  • “My 1000th Posting on Steepster! I really felt that I had to pick something especially good to celebrate, but I’ve got about 300+ teas here now, & I love so many of them. I thought about going...” Read full tasting note
  • “Okay, I decided to try it again this morning at 3 minutes 30 seconds… it is a delightful assam. Malty and very rich, an excellent breakfast tea. There is something floral about it, but the finish...” Read full tasting note
    90
  • “I’m finishing off the last that I had of this tea in my stash, it is one that will be missed. One of the nicest Assam teas I’ve had. Lovely, rich, malty … caramel-y. YUMMMM!” Read full tasting note
    98

From Steven Smith Teamaker

The legendary breakfast tea from the upper Assam valley of India. Full-flavored, rich and chewy with notes of caramel and malt, this tea is bright and coppery in the cup and makes a great wake-up any time of day.

About Steven Smith Teamaker View company

Company description not available.

60 Tasting Notes

98
790 tasting notes

Holy cats. This is one awesome Assam. Caramely and malty. Yeah, this will have to be purchased. The question will be if I can wait until going there in person next May/June or if I will have to order it before then. :)

Thanks for sharing, Sil!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec
Sil

YAAAAAY!!! so glad you like this and now you know why brahim is “good” but not AS good… haha

Nicole

Oh, yes. :)

TeaBrat

That’s what I had this morning also. ;)

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75
493 tasting notes

It’s bitter and I don’t want to drown it in milk and sugar. Tried diff parameters. At Steven Smith the lady suggested to make it 12 oz water 1tsp 5min steep. Bitterness decreased but it was kinda diluted not enough flavor. I prefer H&S Nahorhabi Full leaf Assam

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec
Terri HarpLady

I don’t know what’s going on with this tea. I used to love it so much. After my last drinking of it, I did notice a lot of tea powder in the bottom of my cup, that had managed to slip through the finum basket. So I’m thinking that powder sat in my cup & continued sleeping, resulting in a bitter brew. That’s my theory.

boychik

Mine is fresh and nowhere near the bottom, no powder. I also noticed that H&S has much more golden tips and smells soo sweet

ifjuly

i tried this one finally recently too, boychik, hoping it’d be awesome because it was so popular here and was disappointed. not terrible or anything, but nothing to write home about. and my experience with the brisk SSTs is that the recommended 5 minutes is way too long (i almost always am fine with recommended info and they’re a rare exception for me).

Nicole

Hm. I’ve liked the batch I got on BF. I haven’t tried it side by side with Nahorhabi though.

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1220 tasting notes

This is another one of those things I have been holding on to forever, but I wanted something robust and tasty to have at midnight so I didn’t fall asleep on my paper. Surprisingly this was REALLY good despite being old and in a zippered plastic bag.

So. Much. Caramel. Very malty too but in that ice cream malt kind of way. I noticed Whole Foods has some Stephen Smith tea, but in sachets, but I think I may have to try more anyway and that’s an easy way!

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812 tasting notes

TastyBrew to the rescue!
it’s an Assamalanche!
capital A.
big and bright and i can even taste the caramel notes. malty on the nose for sure.
big personality. a strutter.

Sil

happy sigh steven wins over another lady with his 49..

TeaBrat

I might need to pay them a visit when I go to Portland.

Terri HarpLady

Ah, yes, another convert to #49 :D

Nicole

Yeah, the reasons to go to Portland next year just keep adding up… :)

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464 tasting notes

Thanks, Sil, for this sample! I kept resteeping this at work today. It has a sweet, full-bodied fruity flavor with a spicy knock in the aftertaste. I could see how this one could get addicting.

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52 tasting notes

Another sample from Anne from LiberTeas (still working my way through this box).

I’ll start off by saying that I chose this tea because I needed something to really get me motivated to get my cleaning for the day done. I’m on vacation from work and wanted to really enjoy the rest of the week in a nice clean apartment. The only problem – I woke up this morning feeling extremely lazy…so I brewed up a nice hot cup of this black tea for a little inspiration as I sat lazily watching TV.

That’s where things get kind of crazy. I ended up spilling the entire fresh cup all over the coffee table. After hastily throwing everything on the floor to avoid the tea flood that was coming its way and wiping up most of the liquid, I looked down into my now empty mug of inspiration. Boo. Good thing I saved the leaves…I’ll just resteep it. Put some hot water in my mug, dropped the tea ball in, grabbed more rags and some cleaner and started cleaning the rest of the mess up. After getting the table wiped down and everything back in its place, I noticed some of the tea had spilt on the carpet so I got my carpet cleaner and started cleaning that up too.

Ah…nice clean coffee table. Okay. Now I’m cleaning and the coffee table looks so good…better just continue on so into the dining room I went. After cleaning up in there I was really going so I decided to continue onto kitchen.

There it was. My second steeping cup of tea…with the teaball still in it. Yup. Definitely oversteeped this one.

So long story short, I ruined both cups of tea and didn’t even get to enjoy any of it. Not even a good sip. BUT – I did however get all of my cleaning done for the day which was exactly what I was hoping from the tea this morning. So in a way I guess this tea did do exactly what I was hoping for. I just wish I’d have been able to enjoy a little of it.

Time to dump the leaves and try again….wish me luck! (I’ll have to reserve my rating until I actually taste it)

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100
8 tasting notes

This is the perfect black tea. With just a dash of 1% milk, it tastes creamy and rich. It goes perfect with breakfast. Yum!

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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94
1048 tasting notes

It seems that I have been really slowing down on my reviews lately. A lot of that has been due to me starting way too many new teas and now having to take time to complete a bunch of sipdowns in a fairly short span of time. I have been plowing through a two ounce bag of this Assam for the better part of the last five days and expect to finish it by Wednesday or thereabouts. I know I’ll be sad when this is gone. It’s an excellent Assam.

For the purposes of this review, I prepared this tea using a one step Western infusion. I steeped 1 teaspoon of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 212 F water. Obviously, I did not attempt additional infusions.

After infusion, the liquor showed a dark, clear amber in the cup. I noted aromas of caramel, malt, molasses, and cream. In the mouth, I picked up on robust, well-integrated notes of roasted almonds, malt, cream, leather, molasses, and caramel. I also noted undercurrents of cocoa, raisins, and stone fruits, namely ripe plum, apricot, and perhaps black cherry. The finish was smooth, offering lingering impressions of malt, cream, caramel, and roasted almonds, though I thought I could still detect faint chocolaty, fruity underpinnings.

Again, I found this to be an exceptional Assam. I normally enjoy the teas offered by Steven Smith Teamaker, so my enjoyment of this one should not come as a surprise. If you are looking for a tasty full-leaf Assam with some complexity, then look no further. I recommend this one very highly.

Flavors: Almond, Apricot, Caramel, Cherry, Cocoa, Cream, Leather, Malt, Molasses, Plum, Raisins

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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80
333 tasting notes

Very sweet, with a hint of raisin and lots of caramel. I can see why this is a favorite for so many on here, but, weirdly, I prefer my black teas on the harsher side—this Assam actually reminds me of some of the popular Chinese blacks I haven’t cared for on grounds of having too much in the way of sweet dessert notes going on, though I can’t think which ones exactly. Thanks for the sample, Cameron B.! I’m happy to be able to knock this off my wish list, since it’s a tea I’d been curious about for a while.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec
Cameron B.

Hah, I love how we’re complete opposites. I love the sweeter fruity black teas! :P

greenteafairy

Yep, I think I must have the least refined tastes of anyone on Steepster, but I’ve learned to just go with it!

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70
3986 tasting notes

This is going to be a lazy note for a lazy morning… Boychik sent me this sample, thanks dear. The leaves are fairly broken and dark with only a few scant golden pieces. I did my general black tea steep.

Meh, this one is just okay for me. It’s fairly generic with just malt and some bread notes, along with a fair amount of astringency, which I do not enjoy. Maybe just a touch of honey sweetness on top. Overall, it’s drinkable, but not something I would reach for.

Flavors: Astringent, Bread, Honey, Malt

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
boychik

i didnt like it either. too finicky. either too bitter or flavorless. not going to restock.

Cheri

It’s disappointing when one wants a tea to be good and it’s just maybe mediocre.

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