Today’s tea is Kalami Assam long leaf black tea with golden tips, grown and harvested in the Brahmaputra Valley in Northern India, sold by Ahmad Tea London. I must have really liked this tea when I first bought it because it nowhere weighs anything close to 454g. But that was awhile ago—I forgot about this tea until I rediscovered it recently. To reiterate yet again, I love Assam tea. People often assume that I’m all about Chinese and Japanese teas but my favourite black teas tend to be made from Assam. And this is because Assam has a bold, malty flavour that’s unforgettable. Unfortunately, the subtlety of Assam is often ruined because commercial sellers prefer to push CTC, fannings, and dust. So people often assume all Assam is this way when it’s not. Now I have no idea if “long leaf” means “whole leaf”. I have found that, in practice, whole leaf Assam is hard to find. Even leaves that are advertised as whole leaf tend to be cut—even if just slightly. And this is because, like it or not, some people have a pre-determined taste profile in mind when they buy Assam. Not saying that this is the case with this tea. Just how it is quite often. The instructions on the box say to brew this tea for 5-7 minutes, which is about right if you’re brewing the Western way—which is 2g of leaves per 250mL with boiling water. And to be sure, I will try this because I’m interested in what the seller says is “best”. But then I’m going to try in the traditional gongfu way by brewing with 5g of leaves, in a 120mL teapot, with water heated to 95C for 30 seconds. We’ll see which way is best for this particular tea.