We just added three new Assam teas to our offering list, and they all make great Breakfast Style Teas.
A 'breakfast style" tea doesn't have to be only consumed at breakfast, of course. I like them throughout the day, especially on these colder, darker days. A breakfast style tea really just indicates a strong cup of black tea that usually takes some sort of milk and/or sweetener well.
Assam, in northeastern India, is one of the premiere origins for this kind of tea. Tea grows in Assam year round, at a low elevation, with plenty of sunshine. The type of plants here is the Assamese variety - a big leaf plant that naturally has a lot of structure and potential for astringency in the liquor. All of these factors make Assamese teas quite well-suited for breakfast style black teas - sturdy, strong, dark.
Yesterday, I decided to do a comparative tasting of several of our Assam black teas. Assam black can be fairly similar to one another - the room for variety within the category can be a bit smaller than the room for variety within other subcategories of tea. It was a great exercise for me to revisit all of these tea side-by-side and I rode that caffeine high all day!
Mangalam Estate Assam Black Tea: Sweet upfront with flavors of dark dried fruits and a bit of incense or spice. With milk I noticed nice woody notes and an astringency that seemed to stand up to the milk.
Exceptionally smooth and a touch floral with a faint wintergreen aroma to the wet leaves. Noticing a nice honey aroma. The most expressive of the lot. Enough astringency to take milk well.
Buttery and sweet on the tongue. Smooth and soft - perhaps the softest of the lot. Can easily enjoy this without milk but it takes milk too.
Organic CTC Assam #1: BOLD. Nice throatfeel. Drying. Very solid but not super expressive. Exceptional with milk.
Organic Assam Black Breakfast Tea: Darkest liquor of the group. Less sweet but quite sturdy. Dry finish, with some molasses and wood notes. Still quite nice with milk.
In addition to these more estate style Assam teas, we also have several small holder, artisanal Assam black teas on offer. Check out Latumoni Assam and Kathaldanga Assam.
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