In praise of a good Assam

Assam is a province in north-east India where tea is grown.  When it comes to uncomplicated black tea, Assam is a tea's tea.   It's smooth and dark and slightly malty, with a fresh finish.   It stands up to milk, sugar and honey.   So don't reach for some crappy, characterless orange pekoe thing.  Reach for some Assam!  

Twinings sells a darn fine Assam that can be purchased and shipped through Amazon.

I like Harney & Sons' Assam in both caffeinated and decaf forms

Taylors of Harrowgate's Assam is findable in many high-end supermarkets and again, orderable through Amazon.

The lovely +Cezilia Raposa brought me some excellent small-batch Assam this weekend, from Soluna Garden Farm.   I've been limited in my ability to appreciate it by the awful head cold of death, but I plan to try some as soon as I regain my sense of taste.

Tea tasting: David's Teas Apple Custard

I am working my way through the David's Teas tea sampler that +Joseph O'Malley and +Michelle O'Malley got me for Christmas.   Not wanting caffeine this evening, I decided to try the Apple Custard herbal.    It's . . . odd.

The tisane is decidedly more custardy than apple.  It's got that creamy note that David's somehow gets into some of its teas, and a definite vanilla aftertone.  But I'm not really getting apple as anything more than an afterthought.  I'm almost inclined to do a blend of this with a Celestial Seasonings Apple Spice to see if it strengthens the apple flavor.  I may also experiment with sweetening it with honey or that apple ice cider I like so much.

I don't dislike it.  It's just not what I anticipated from a tea billed as a "apple" custard.

Tea tasting: David's Tea Bubbie's Baklava

I ended up working from home the last two days because the ferocious cold disagrees profoundly with my joints.  As a result, I had the chance to sample some new tea:  David's Tea Bubbie's Baklava.   Despite the silly name, I found it quite good for a wintery day.

It's an oolong tea with nuts, cinnamon and a host of other flavors added.  The cinnamon is the most noticeable tone -- it's most prominent in both the aroma and the flavor.  The other flavor notes include a little bit of fruit and a little bit of rose and a hint of ginger.  All in all, it is almost exactly like drinking the aroma of a bakery.

This brew is very much a matter of taste.  Some people will like it (me), but I expect most people will find it too cloying.  But fresh baked goods are among my greatest food weaknesses, and there's something about this tea that captures in liquid form the aroma of a fresh, nutty, cinnamon roll just out of the oven.

I can't imagine icing this tea or adding sweetener too it.  Icing it would kill the subtlety.

Tea tasting: David's Tea's Lime Gelato Green Tea

On a nasty snowy day, what better than a tea intended to taste like lime gelato?  David's Tea's Lime Gelato Green Tea mostly succeeds in its aim.  It's a gentle, light lime flavor, not overly fruity.  There is a slight smoothness that suggests the creaminess of gelato.  Apparently there's some sort of yogurt flavoring in here, which probably contributes to the cream note.

What it lacks is the tartness of a lime, the snappiness that you find in a good key lime pie.  This is one of the few times that I'd like a little more fruitiness.

It's not bad. It's light and sunny and not overwhelmingly sweet or fruity.  I give it a generally favorable, although not enthusiastic, recommendation.