Duflating Estate FTGFOP1 Cl/Spl.
This tea has been retired/discontinued. Formerly TA96.
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Commercial Description
Several selections from this estate set record prices in the Calcutta auctions this year. We were fortunate to pick up this lot, which has an intense flavor profile, rich maltiness, and stunning leaf. An exceptionally fine Assam tea.
Brewing Instructions: (from Upton Tea Imports)
2¼ g/cup, 212°F, 4-5 min.
Ratings & Reviews
Page 1 of 1 page with 2 reviews
85 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 3/5Trailesque (156 reviews) on Feb. 13th, 2019
This is a very nice Assam with a complex and enjoyable taste. Pricey but good.
73 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5Alex Zorach (1453 reviews) on May. 4th, 2014
One of my friends had a rather old set of Assam samplers from Upton that she had received as a gift, and she recently passed them off to me as she's less a fan of Assam. As Assam tends to keep longer than a lot of teas, I gave it a try, and I was pleasantly surprised. All four teas seem to have kept quite well. This is the first one I am reviewing.
The leaf consisted of short, broken pieces, but it looked to have a huge portion (over half) of golden tip. The dry leaf had a mild aroma suggestive of rye, and was slow to infuse upon brewing.
I brewed in a Teavana bottom-pouring plastic infuser (a lot like Adagio's ingenuiTea) and watched as the color slowly progressed through a rich orange to finally reach a dark brown after the 4 minute recommended time.
The cup was very strong, with only a little up-front bitterness, but a fairly tannic finish, more astringent than bitter. Very full-bodied, with strength and depth. Aroma was quite complex, somewhat malty, but more fruity, suggesting raisins or other dried fruit, hinting at spice (perhaps cinnamon, mace, or allspice). I think this would make an outstanding base for a masala chai.
Brewed a second cup using about an 8 minute infusion. This cup was similar in overall character, but weaker, leading me to conclude that this probably isn't the best tea for making multiple infusions with, unless you want to use a lot of leaf. Although the leaf seemed to infuse slowly at first, four minutes seemed to extract most of the flavor.
Like any single-estate offering from Upton, I didn't expect this to be in stock when I checked, because it was a couple years old, but I was impressed with its freshness. It had a classic Assam flavor profile, intense, but much more aromatically complex than a typical Breakfast blend of similar strength.
Page 1 of 1 page with 2 reviews
