From a Chadotea sample I made a pot of their Silver Tips Assam this morning. For me, Assam has meant the strong unremarable tea served in English monastery refectories, tea capable of absorbing large quantities of milk and sugar. I do keep some Assam on hand‹for blending with flavorful China blacks.
So I did not know what to make of this strange Silver Tips Assam from Chadotea. The dry leaf is puffy, twisted, and gray. I followed the direction to "use one heaped tsp per cup. Use just off boiling point water & steep for 3 min for best flavor." Out came a pale orange liquor without much smell. Spoonfulls of it tasted pale in the mouth too. Next I added a little sugar and low fat milk to it in a mug. The brew jumped to life! It produced a light and flavorful beverage, so good that I drank two more mugs of it while it was still hot.
The steeped leaf turns into light brown needles.
This is Assam for people who would not give Assam a second thought.
Robert