This tea is absolutely sublime. It is by far my favorite Assam I've sampled.

Ghograjan Tea Estate got my attention years ago, when they brought some STGFOP tea to a tea expo I was attending, and it impressed me, but I did not order from them until recently, and now that I have, I honestly regret not ordering sooner!

The dry leaf is incredibly aromatic, a strong, rich, and complex aroma, with the dominant tones malty and bready, with fainter notes of dried fruit and spice and perhaps a hint of wood. This is among the most aromatic Assams that I've ever tried. It smelled incredibly fresh too. It's interesting because previously, I tried the STGFOP, slightly higher grade than this, but this one smelled even better to me. I am not sure exactly what grade this is but it looks/tastes more like TGFOP or TGFOP1.

The brewed cup smells and tastes exactly like what I would expect from the dry leaf, and it's incredible. It's the perfect mouthfeel, just enough astringency to make it full-bodied, thick, and brisk, but never too much, and still quite smooth. The flavor is also close to perfect. There is a strong savory quality, a light-to-moderate bitterness, and a subtle but ever-present natural sweetness.

The aroma is so complex. The dominant notes are malt or grain. I find it smells more like rye than other grains, which I like. I love the smell of rye. There are also strong fruity notes, and some floral notes, hinting at honey. There are also notes of wood, and rich, nutty notes as well. There is a lot going on.

The commercial description says this tea is best enjoyed with milk. I don't know if it's just a matter of personal taste, but I think they are downplaying the quality of this tea by writing that, and I think this tea is so smooth, subtle, and balanced that it would be wasted to put milk in it. I can see it being strong enough to hold its own against milk though, but I did not consume it that way. It certainly doesn't need any milk or sweetener!

As for brewing, I found this tea tastes best with slightly more leaf, but a slightly shorter brewing time. Relative to how unbroken the leaf is, I found it infused faster than I expected. I normally do 3 minute steep and then a resteep, but doing that on this tea, too much strength and flavor comes out into the first cup so I recommend a 2-2.5 minute first steep, then a long second steep. This better balances the strength of the two cups. This way it resteeps well.

Lastly, I love how I feel after drinking this tea. It is pretty boldly caffeinated but also calming. Based on the strong savory flavor I suspect it is high in L-theanine. Even brewing strongly, it does not make me jittery, instead promoting a sort of calm focus. This tea also feels more warming than most Assams; in this regard it reminds me more of some Chinese teas. This would be a really good tea for winter, although I enjoy it in hot weather too.

You can buy this tea in 5 pound bags direct from the estate, or on Amazon in a 1-pound bag. The price is great either way. It's cheap for a tea of this quality; it is going to be very hard to find something of this quality for this price. This is a sort of tea I would not tire of easily, so the bigger quantity is safe to order. Like if I had to pick a single black tea to carry in a restaurant or cafe, or to stock in my house, and drink every day, this would be a great choice.

I would recommend this tea for someone who likes "typical" black teas, breakfast teas and other strong black teas. Among these styles of tea, this tea is pretty much spot-on, nothing really unusual or out-of-the-ordinary, it's just a really top-tier example of the style, delivering everything I expect and then some.

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