Tea India Assam Black Tea, CTC Loose Leaf, 2 lb

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.

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.

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!

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.

No complaints about the tea itself (it's strong and there's a lot for the price), but I wish the tea leaves weren't chopped so small. There's so much tea dust and tiny bits of tea that will escape the strainer.

Nice generously sized bag. The tea is very fragrant, not too different from regular black tea but with deeper flavor and less bitterness (when brewed properly--not too long, not too hot!) It is very small in texture. I prefer to use disposable paper bags rather than a mesh filter because it's so fine. I use it to make milk tea and it comes out great, just like the shop but way less expensive!

I recently wondered if I could brew a cup of tea with a K-cup (refillable/Keurig style) so I looked for a loose leaf tea than might serve this purpose. Not too expensive so I wouldn't have a lot of tea around that I would not be using. This teat fit the bill. Using this product gives me a great cup of hot tea in less than four minutes. If you like really strong tea, a full K-cup will give you that; I estimate the equivalent of 6 tea bags. It makes a basic black tea that I always augment with cream and honey. Note: tea this strong is going to be a bit bitter, but less than using tea bags as the tea is not in contact with the hot water as long. One thing I noted that seemed odd was that the tea was granular and didn't look anything like typical loose leaf tea.

This stuff tastes good to me. I am probably not a tea expert but I do like to drink iced tea a lot. I make a big pot of this every day or every other day and keep I in the fridge. Was recommended to me and I like the flavor and price.

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!