Good morning, dear tea friends! After a week of rain and fog, this morning dawned clear and bright but quite cold for this time of year. The forecast last night called for a freeze, which means a temp of below freezing for several hours or more. Brrr! The temperature decline is always inevitable at this time of year but is still a shock after being warm for so long. On to tea…

I chose a strong, bracing Indian black tea this morning to chase away the chill, a broken-leaf Assam tea from the Doomni estate.

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 I find lends a complexity and depth to the flavor of the tea.

I steeped the leaves for only 3 minutes in boiling point water (212F). Even at this lower steeping time, this tea has an astringent kick that I can feel in my teeth.

The aroma is strong and malty with a whisper of walnut and blackberries.

The beautiful, deep-amber tea liquor is hearty and thick with strong notes of malt and a light sweetness. I experienced a burst of flavor in my mouth, which lingered for quite some time.

This is one of those Assams that is perfect for adding milk to smooth out the astringency and bring the flavor forward even more. For those of you who don’t put milk in your Assam, perhaps try a shorter steep if you want to smooth out that astringent bite.

What’s up for your weekend? Well, my spring bulbs have arrived, a whole box of them, and they’re calling to me to plant them in the ground today. So, on go the overalls and garden gloves and it’s out into the sunshine-y fall day to plant for the afternoon. I am looking forward to the burst of color in my garden come next spring!

As always, thanks for visiting and sharing a cup of tea with me.

“Boldness has genius, power, and magic. Engage, and the mind grows heated. Begin, and the work will be completed.”

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe