As I sip my tea this morning, I’m mesmerized by the 2 foot long icicles drip, drip, dripping from my neighbor’s roof. With a snowstorm arriving regularly every week, it’s hard to imagine that spring will ever arrive. This last one brought 14 inches of snow to my neighborhood. My garden lies in a deep sleep under an immense world of white.
Inside, however, it’s nice and toasty and my hands draw warmth from the hearty Assam tea in my cup. It’s a single estate Assam from the Doomni estate, a black tea.
The Doomni tea estate is one of 3 tea gardens located in the Nalbari district of western Assam in northeast India. The leaf has been plucked and processed with a bounty of golden tips which lend a complexity and depth to the flavor of the tea.
I steeped the leaves for 4 minutes in boiling point (212 F) water.
Ahhh, what a rich aroma greeted me as I lifted my infuser out!
The first word that popped into my mind as I took a sip was
stout
The dark amber liquor is very hearty yet smooth with notes of rich maltiness. This tea would take milk very well. I recommend steeping the leaves longer if you plan on adding that. I used to always add milk to my Assam tea but have moved away from doing that unless the tea is really astringent. With most Assam teas, you can pull back on the steeping time to control that astringency.
This is the perfect “wake you up in the morning” tea. With its thick liquor, it is the tea equivalent of a pint of Guinness stout.
Well, I’ve finished my teapot and am ready to start my day!
What helps you to start your day?
“It is a good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end.” ~Ursula K. LeGuin
Art and Tea 
This tea sounds great so I looked it up. At over $28 / 100g I’m puzzled at the cost being so high. Usually Assams are not so pricey. What makes this one special?
Thanks for your weekly reviews and photos. BTW I get two each week one Sat. morning and one later in the early evening, both to the same email address. I’m not sure what is going on but I’d prefer to only get one.
Hi, thanks for visiting! I’m not an expert on how tea is priced but my guess would be because it’s a high grade leaf. very tippy and a small, special production lot. The higher grades have lots of complexity in their flavor.
You’re very welcome! It sounds like you might be subscribed twice? My advice is to cancel one of those subscriptions.