As I’m new to serious perusal of tea, please take this review with a grain of salt. Or a couple teaspoons of sugar.
This is the first of my Assam sampler pack I’ve tried and I’m beginning to connect some dots. There is a sour tang in this tea that I have tasted in the Bond Street Blend that I reviewed a couple days ago — though thankfully much less in this tea than the Bond Street! This taste must be what is called “malty”. It makes the tea quite strong, and is a taste I associate with a similarity to coffee. It’s strong enough that my standard 2 teaspoons of rock sugar barely temper it. The tea is thick tasting, and after half a cup there is only a little astringency. This may change as the cup progresses, as I’ve seen it do so with other teas as they cool.
I also noticed a very faint hint of cinnamon in the dry tea before steeping.
All in all, I’d recommend 2 1/2 tsp rock sugar or cane sugar equivalent, to help temper the strength of it.
