Malt is the first thing you notice in this TGFOP-grade Assam, backed by a spicy note and something close to a coffee edge, with a cup that reads thick and full-bodied rather than brisk. It comes from the Koomsong estate in Assam, in northern India, one of the region's better-known gardens and one that has been growing and processing tea for more than a century and a half.
That long history sits alongside Assam's particular climate: temperatures at the estate can swing from hot to properly cold across the growing season, and that range is part of what shapes the leaf's character. Koomsong still follows traditional harvesting and processing, with attention paid to timing and temperature at each stage rather than shortcuts. The garden grows more than this one tea and turns out several other black teas with their own distinct profiles, but the TGFOP grade is the one most closely tied to the estate's malty house style.
A cup this thick and malty takes milk well, and a splash of milk or a little sugar rounds out the spice without covering it up. Use around a teaspoon of leaf per 8-ounce cup of freshly boiled water and let it steep for about four minutes, adjusting up or down for strength. Expect roughly 60 to 70 milligrams of caffeine per cup, in line with most robust black teas.
Tea like this has long been drunk as much for its reputed benefits as for its flavour. It's traditionally credited with antioxidants, and used informally to help with digestion and steady blood sugar. None of that is medical advice, just how the tea has been talked about for a long time.
