Assam Black Tea, CTC Loose Leaf, 2 lb

I was a bit nervous about ordering a 2 lb. packet of tea, but the price was so tempting that I threw caution to the winds, and now I'm so glad I did. At less than half the price of the UK blends I've been ordering, this large sack will go a long way, even when I'm making 1-2 quarts of tea at a time. I opened the bag and immediately portioned it out into Mason jars for long-term storage, and there wasn't an excessive amount of dust. For my first pot, I used 5 level teaspoons of tea and enough boiling water to fit a Bodum caffetière without the plunger (about 1 litre), allowed it to brew for a long time (might have been 1 hour? it was still fairly warm), then carefully poured off the tea through a fine mesh strainer, and while it's quite strong, it's not excessively bitter or astringent. Given that Indian people boil this type of tea for a long time when making chai, I felt safe letting my tea brew a long time, as is my usual practice when making tea for iced tea. In this case, I had my first mug of tea hot (I have a heated mug), and put the rest in the refrigerator. This tea is strong enough that I think for subsequent pots, I can leave out the extra teaspoon "for the pot". I'm Asian American, and American enough that I drink most of my tea as iced tea, but I also enjoy it hot, and usually take my tea with sugar and lemon. I will definitely continue to buy this tea, and I will recommend it to friends who want something much better than what comes in tea bags or sachets. This is now my pantry staple.

When I first learned about CTC, or the cut-tear-curl method of processing tea, it sounded downright destructive. "CTC must produce an inferior grade of tea," I thought. This Tea India purchase proved me wrong. Not only is this a big package of tea, which can easily supply one person for 10 months or more, but it tastes great and is sold at a bargain price. I've been buying large amounts of exotic teas from overseas for a decade or more, so I consider my tea standards to be rather high. I am very pleasantly surprised by this tea. I'm glad I have the 2 pounds (and dwindling) of it in a jar in my cabinet, available whenever I need some nice, fast, tasty black tea. Despite the fine, almost powdery texture, I think it will retain its flavor for a year or more. "Fast" is certainly applicable to this tea and is one of its virtues. The fine granularity of leaf produced by CTC makes it possible to have a rich, dark cup of black tea after steeping for a mere minute or two. Don't use too much tea (it's concentrated) or steep it much longer than 2-3 minutes, or it may get too strong and bitter. Nonetheless, these features make for convenient brewing--Just steep for a few seconds, and pour! I find the flavor to be very comforting. It brings me back to my early memories of drinking Lipton or Tetley tea, the kinds I grew up drinking as a kid. But that doesn't mean it has a mundane or supermarket taste. It's very rich and full bodied. It calls to mind a warm and cozy kitchen. It has a smooth taste when prepared right, which is not difficult. At first I thought it might be too strong a tea to enjoy without milk, but later I accidentally drank a cup of cold Tea India tea with no milk, and it was great! I do think this tea pairs perfectly with milk, however. It's not labeled organic, but it certainly tastes clean and natural. Regarding the question of whether the tea has a "malty" taste, associated with its assamica pedigree, I'd say, yes, it does have a mild malty taste, and that contributes somewhat to the comforting character of the drink. I continue to buy more exotic and expensive teas while enjoying this one at the same time. I like to maintain a collection of teas, so I'm happy I bought this product and would do it again.

The India tea is great. Brews easily, excellent flavour. Use Raw honey for sweetening.

I’m a big fan of Assam and have been eyeing this one for a while. I was hesitant about the CTC tea but based on the reviews and the fact that you get two pounds of tea for slightly more then I usually pay for one pound, I gave it a go. Overall, I’d say this is a good but unspectacular tea that nonetheless is reliable and does certain things very well. This is my first non teabag CTC tea and it took a few tries to figure out how to brew it optimally. If you are used to orthodox loose leaf tea, you will probably find yourself using less leaf and steeping for less time. I do think it is higher quality tea than what you usually find in teabags, but not as much so as with orthodox Assam. It brews quickly and makes a dark, red, powerful cup of tea. It’s aroma is recognizably Assam with malt and a faint ghost of fruitiness. The aroma pales compared to most orthodox Assams but it is pleasant. On the palate, the tea is strong and flavorful, though less malty than I expected. The flavor is perfectly fine, if rather one note. If brewed carefully, it is tasty enough to drink straight, though quite plain. It is better with milk, a classic Assam milk tea taste when brewed optimally, though again lacking in the more nuanced flavors of an orthodox tea. The tea is at its best with both milk and sugar. If you take your morning tea strong and with milk and sugar in a classic British style this does quite well. Unsurprisingly, it makes magnificent Masala chai and karak chai. Even if this is not how you usually take tea, I recommend trying it using the chai recipe on the tea India website. It truly is amazing stuff brewed in the Indian style. Finally, this makes outstanding iced tea, particularly when cold brewed. Overall, I prefer orthodox Assams and would recommend either of Ahmad’s Assams over this one. They are just more interesting and have more depth and nuance of flavor. I’m not hostile to CTC tea but it is its own thing. This is a workmanlike tea; a builders tea. Know what you are getting and what you want it for. If you like your tea strong and are planning on making Indian style chai, iced tea, or classic British tea with milk and sugar this is an excellent tea at great value.

A purchase inspired from my late night binge watching of a British TV miniseries. As an American, I know very little about drinking tea. Who better to take direction than from that of our British cousins in the U.K.? So, I was watching the "Slow Horses" miniseries on Amazon Prime, a show about a dysfunctional team of MI5 agents and their obnoxious boss, played by Gary Oldman. When the show came to a scene where a character offered to brew her guest a spot of late night TEA, she asked him to pick his choice of "Builder's" or "Assam" to which he enthusiastically replied "Assam!" She looked inside her canister and said "Sorry, (I'm) all out of Assam, you'll have to settle for Builder's. Suddenly, I, too, was craving a hot spot of tea! But what of this "Builder's" and the preferred "Assam" of which they speak? I knew only of Lipton & Nestea. Immediately, I'm on my Amazon Prime account searching for "Assam Tea". My search led me directly to this magnificent find, which I ordered & received in mere days. All I can say is "WOW!" This tea is a game-changer for me and what I knew about tea! First off, the bag was HUGE, much larger than anticipated! (using my FoodSaver vacuum sealer, I subdivided this enormous bag into roughly ten smaller packets of various sizes, I stored some and shared the others with my family members. My sister was most enthusiastic of all, she loves this tea every bit as much as I do. She commented "great tasting, and this tea is VERY STRONG!" I said, "Well that just means you USE LESS!" as the strength is a direct result of your measure. She said she had been re-brewing the tea leaves for a second cup, I said "Well don't do THAT, just use a smaller measure!" Overall, I think you'll love the flavor and sheer value of this Assam Tea, a real game changer for this American tea drinker!

One of my favorite teas. The item arrived intact with no damage. The product has a fresh aroma and I love the size of the bag for the price. This tea's appearance is coarse as expected and has that great potent taste.

I'll start by saying that I was specifically looking for a substitute for (or at least a decent approximation to) Lipton Yellow Label loose tea. I love LYL, but it's become very difficult to find in stores near me, and it's gotten insanely expensive online. I have no idea why, but...whatever...I was looking for a substitute. Tea India CTC Assam came highly recommended, so I tried the 1-pound bag. I'm very happy with the product - it's a perfectly drinkable approximation to LYL. For the price they're asking, this is a fantastic deal. Now, this is a CTC Assam tea. CTC stands for "crush tear curl," and that's how the assam tea leaves are processed. What you get are fine grains or pellets of leaf tea (see photo). The grains are less than 1 millimeter across, so it resembles a coarse ground coffee. I used my standard ratios for making hot tea -- 2.3 - 2.5 grams of loose tea to about 8 US ounces (about 240 milliliters) of boiling water, steep for just under 4 minutes. (For what it's worth, the LYL tea is the same basic thing - it's a CTC style tea, but I think the leaves are Ceylon). This is very solid straightforward tea. Massive amounts of body, nice malty flavor, it tastes like tea. It's a little more astringent than LYL, but that's not a bad thing. This is by no means a subtle tea -- there are no subtle floral overtones with hints of stonefruit etc. etc.. If you're expecting that, you will be disappointed. This is solid, unfancy, tea. And it's very very good for exactly that. Other things you can do with this... --- standard Indian masala chai = some CTC + some cinnamon & clove crushed in a mortar & pestle, steep, serve with milk if desired --- mix in a pinch of lapsang souchong (which is a very smoky Chinese tea) to add a nice smokiness to your cup of tea, great for camping or winter mornings

It is fine, this is what I would expect for an Assam CTC in this price range. It is a step above grocery store black tea. Packs a nice caffeine punch, definitely gets the job done in that department. Unremarkable in the aroma/flavor department, I would describe the flavor/aroma as "A boring Assam", as expected. Medium malt/body as expected. Brewing it more than 3 minutes is a detriment. This is a good basic black Assam for milk and sugar tea drinkers that are looking to buy in bulk.

Looking for great tea , better than red rose, full flavor and priced well below red rose. My wife loves it.

great value...current daily tea

Thank you

I used to buy this tea in bulk at a local store until I moved It’s mellow and flavorful. Just love it!

Beware, it’s not as advertised. My husband was drinking this tea daily and gradually started feeling ill (dizziness, headache, weakness, fatigue). He’s recovering now but we were able to pin point when he got sick and what correlated and upon reading the other 1 star reviews I can confirm that this product is not what it says it is. My advice, stay far away!