Tea: Halmari Gold Assam Black Tea Second Flush (Clonal)
An Assam from Golden Tips
This tea has been retired/discontinued.
Brand: | Golden Tips |
Style: | Assam |
Region: | Dibrugarh, Assam, India |
Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
Loose? | Loose |
# Ratings: | 1 View All |
Reviewer: Alex Zorach
✓ 1453 teas reviewed
✓ 71 of Assam
✓ 501 of Black Tea
✓ 10 of Golden Tips
✓ 15 from Dibrugarh, Assam, India
✓ 91 from Assam, India
Review of Halmari Gold Assam Black Tea Second Flush (Clonal)
February 3rd, 2015
Aroma | Flavor | Value | Total |
9 of 10 | 5 of 5 | 4 of 5 | 91 of 100 |
Superb | Excellent | Good Value |
Golden Tips describes this on their website as a pretty exceptional tea, and I think it fully lived up to the description.
The dry leaf, beautifully curled and full of bright orange tip, is the most aromatic of any Assam I've encountered, with an intensely malty aroma, suggesting rye malt, and spicy as well.
Upon brewing, produces a surprisingly alien and novel aroma, fruity, vegetal, but with a lot of unfamiliar aromatic notes. A little dirty tasting, earthy. When brewed more strongly, I find the aroma is also floral.
Potent, yet with an almost ethereal smoothness. Fleeting notes of fruit, wintergreen, vegetables, and flowers emerge and vanish against a background of malt, and a rich, full-bodied cup full of flavor.
I resteeped (3 minutes followed by 5) and the second cup, while not quite as aromatic, was bold and almost stronger than the first. This cup tasted more spicy and edgy than the first. I was then able to produce a third cup, which was less complex but still bold and drinkable.
I also tried starting with a 5 minute steep and brewing two cups; this made the first cup outstanding. Interesting, I found the longer steep made the first cup sweeter, not more bitter. It tasted almost like I had added honey.
This tea was delightful and quite different, recognizable as an Assam but with a smoothness of flavor, and aromatic notes that were something new for me. One of the priciest Assams I've seen on the market, but it's truly an exceptional tea and I think you get what you pay for.