Using 7.10g in 4 oz municipal tap water for seven steeps, starting at thirty seconds, at or near boiling in a gaiwan. The combined time of all was six minutes, like ISO 3103; it went 30-30-40-50-60-70-80 (seconds).
The tea expresses an incredible range for a black tea, especially one undergoing multiple steeps. There is a sweetness that appears early on, followed by smokiness, a tiny bit of bitterness in the middle, lightening to something resembling an oolong as it nears the end. The tea changes its shade slightly, going more yellow as the steeps increase. It’s a very interesting effect.
The tea also shifts gears as it continues steeping: It is aggressive on the first two, and then cycles into almost complete passivity, nonetheless retaining its iconic Assam flavour and continuing to produce very good cups of tea. I get the impression I might have even gotten more steeps out of the Assam, had I kept adding time to it.
