Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Assam Black Tea’

From the moment at which I remove the pyramid infuser from its cardboard cover, I know there is something different about this Earl Grey. The smell of bergamot is not very strong. In fact, it is hardly present at all. Popping the infuser into my Tea Forte Cafe Cup, I fill the cup with just boiled water and let it steep for four minutes…a happy medium in the 3-5 minute range that was given by Tea Forte’s website!

The tea being now prepared, I take a whiff of the steeping, once again surprised by the smell. It is spicy with a bit of a fruity smell. Intrigued, I go on to try this cup of tea, sip by sip. My first sip is possibly the most astringent Earl Grey I have ever tasted! The bergamot is finally hinted at in the aftertaste, but the tea itself is so incredibly astringent that I wonder if I mistimed this tea. I ditch this cup and prepare to steep a new one.

This second cup I steep for only two and a half minutes. I know this is less than what was suggested, but I figure it is better to be safe. This second cup still smells exactly the first one, which worries me slightly, but I forge onward with this tasting! Still astringent, even after such a short steep time. But it is not as bad as the first cup was. The bergamot flavor is very fake and overdone, which is a bit of a turn-off, considering that this is supposed to be Earl Grey, not cologne.

If hunting for a cup of Earl Grey, this is not the tea to which to turn. I recommend trying a different brand. Sorry, Tea Forte, but this tea needs to go back to the mixing room. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would give it a 45/100.

You can purchase the Earl Grey directly from the Tea Forte website.

My uneducated acronym for Assam is A Specially Strong Awakening Morning tea, and this selection from Tea Forte’ fits perfectly.

You’ll find it in Tea Forte’s organic filterbag selections, although my sample was loose, which gave me the opportunity to really enjoy the bready aroma of the small loose leaves.

Steeped toward the five-minute edge, Forte’ Breakfast is a beautiful red-brown color and has the strong and hefty kick you need to boot yourself out the door on a cold morning.  It lives up to the malty and full-bodied adjectives typically connected to an Assam. Need a little milk and sugar? It’ll take it.

Should you feel a need to procrastinate and drink a second steep, you may be glad you did (little less water, little more time). Minus the “boot prints” of the first strong cup, you’ll pick up some lighter, nuttier notes that continue to coax you up and around: “Come on, dear, it really isn’t that bad; take off the ratty bathrobe, splash a little warm water on your face and you’ll be fine, just fine.”

This is a good one: a tea you can spend a whole morning with.

You can purchase the Forte Breakfast directly from the Tea Forte website.

I’ve had Tea forte before and consider it a premium tea. This whole leaf organic tea comes from a single estate Assam. Assam tea from India is known for its exceptional malt flavours. The packaging indicated that the bergamot oil used in the manufacturing is a 1st pressed Italian bergamot. Like a good olive oil, forst pressed offers higher quality and more desireable flavour. The package temps you with words of ” citricy and lightly floral infusion” and prints a single word “caffeine” on the front to let you know this tea is not a caffeine-free. The ingrediatent listed areblack tea, corn flower petals and natural flavours. Both the Fair Trade and USDA Organic seals were printed on the package. After opening the package, I could smell the bergamot and citricy oils I weighed the sample in at 5 grams. The packaged direction were 12 0z. Boiling water and 5 minutes steep time. Milk and sugar were a compliment for this tea, I read.

When I opened the package I was suprized that the leaf was whole and not in a tea bag . The Broken Orange Pekoe looked uniformly dark and the intense dark blue cornflowers provided an interesting visual depth. I grabbed my teaball and found the 5 grams fit perfectly. I prepared boiling water and pre-heated a traditional porcelain tea pot, noting the line for 12 oz. I also knew 5 minutes was a long time for tea to steep, so I prepared a burner on my stove with a protective ring to maintain the heat. A tea light on a tea stand or trivet could also have been used, but I was in a hurry to get the tea at 5:30 to revive my spirit after a stressful day at work. I noted a strong chlorophyll rim in the tea pot.

After 5 minutes, I poured off 10 oz into a large porcelain tea mug and had a sip of the clear brew. I noted a low astringency to the tea and soft bergamot and floral flavours. Lets stop for a moment and look at what cornflowers do for tea. First, they are decorative. In Victorian times, adding fresh flowers to food provided a lift from gloom and celebrated the floral tones of the tea. There is a slight clove-like flavour to the flowers. Secondly, the flowers are an aid to digestion, aid in healing wounds and scrapes, and are used to treat ailments of the eyes.

I added milk and took a sip. Milk cuts astringency. As this tea is already low in astringency, the milk enhances the malt flavours but now they come in secondary to the citrus high notes. There is more fullness in the mouth. Amazingly, despite the addition of milk, there is a very long lingering taste of the bergamot, an aftertaste of bitter orange. If you were having an afternoon tea, this flavouring would easily last through two tea scones loaded with jam and clotted cream.

I know there are many who need more “earl” in the earl grey, so I’d recommend this tea to those wanting those citrus notes and that bitter orange bite. Enjoy then, as this tea is forte!!

You can purchase the Earl Grey directly from the Tea Forte website.