Kanoka Summer Breeze Black Tea From Assamica Agro

Today, my review will focus on the Kanoka Summer Breeze Black Tea from Assamica Agro. You can purchase 250 grams of this tea for USD $19.90 from the Assamica Agro website.

This black tea is a TGFOP grade (Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe). The leaves were harvested during the second flush season of 2017 from the Kanoka Tea Estate, located in the Sonitpur district, Assam region of India. In accordance with the other partner growers involved with Assamica Agro, Kanoka Tea Estate engages in organic and eco-friendly farming practices. The estate covers about six acres (2.4 hectares). Unlike many now organic estates in the Assam region, the owners of Kanoka Tea Estate historically did not use pesticides or chemical fertilizers on their land. Instead, the team regularly engages in manual removal of weeds from the garden. Vermicomposting and cow-based fertilizers are used to maintain a natural growing environment.

I provided more details of the great business model being enacted by Assamica Agro in my previous reviews of the Queen of Assam Black Tea and the Assam Green Adventure Green Tea. Check out both of those reviews to read about Assamica Agro, and click the links to buy some of their amazing quality teas. The prices are quite amazing also!

Let’s get to the review…

Kanoka Summer Breeze Black Tea – Dry Leaves

The dry leaves have a fairly uniform dark charcoal gray color, with a few spots of pale brown, and a few small silverish buds. The blend consists of mostly large leaf fragments, with a few unbroken leaves, some medium fragments, and a few young buds and bud fragments. There are one or two bare stems. The leaves are rolled, and the appearance is similar to other high-end TGFOP black teas from Assam. The aroma is very nice, with scents of grapes, raw cacao, dry rose petals, and a touch of hay.

Nine grams of dry leaves were placed in an eighteen ounce (530 mL) cast-iron tetsubin teapot, and infused with 190°F (88°C) water for 4:00 minutes. I would normally have used 200°F water for 3:00 minutes, but the package suggested the lower temperature of 190°F for 4:00 minutes.

Kanoka Summer Breeze Black Tea – Infusion

The infusion has a rich, vibrant red-orange color. The aroma again is very attractive, with scents of cocoa, roses, wild flowers, and a touch of hay. The body is full, with a lively, mouth-filling texture that seems to coat the tongue. There is a nice, brisk character, and no bitterness. The taste carries the notes of cocoa, roses, wildflowers, and a light touch of grapefruit. The aftertaste is sweet and lightly floral, and pleasantly lingers on the breath for a longer time than expected.

Kanoka Summer Breeze Black Tea – Infused Leaves

The infused leaves have a uniform copper brown color. The blend consists of mostly large leaf fragments, a few unbroken leaves, and some medium leaf and bud fragments. All leaves are detached from stems. The leaves appear to be younger, but still have the more pronounced hardiness and smooth leathery feel typical of the assamica bush. The aroma is very floral and sweet, with scents of roses and grapes.

As I have come to expect from the products offered by Assamica Agro, this Kanoka Summer Breeze Black Tea took a classic tea like Assam TGFOP black tea, and crafted it into something truly unique. Yes, one can tell this is an Assam black tea by the color and body of the infusion, but the more pronounced cocoa aroma and taste is the twist on the more commonly found malty qualities found in Assam teas. The floral notes add to the high quality character of this tea. The leaves give at least two very high quality infusions, and the third was certainly worthy of drinking. Again, for the price that Assamica Agro offers this tea for, it is worth every penny!

Many thanks to Assamica Agro for providing this sample of Kanoka Summer Breeze Black Tea, and my compliments to the producers at Kanoka Tea Estate. Keep up the amazing work!

Queen of Assam Black Tea From Assamica Agro

Today’s review will focus on the Queen of Assam Black Tea from Assamica Agro. You can purchase 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of the Queen of Assam Black Tea for USD $6.90 from the Assamica Agro website. For this price, you will want to make a purchase! A kilogram (2.2 pounds) is only USD $39.50! Add another $11.00 of purchases and you even get free shipping. That’s a lot of seriously high quality Assam teas for $50. And no, I am not accidentally looking at the wholesale pricing!

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. This Queen of Assam Black Tea is graded as TGFOP, short for Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (sounds pretty good, right?). This is from the second flush harvest of the 2017 year, hand harvested by the Prithivi Small Tea Growers cooperative, located in the Dibrugarh area of Assam, northern India. Currently, the Prithivi Small Tea Growers cooperate consists of six small tea farms, all of which are Certified Organic by OneCert Asia. In total, the six farms consist of 16 hectares (about 40 acres) of land under tea cultivation.

I have several teas from Assamica Agro that I intend to post reviews of, so let’s save some information about Assamica Agro for those posts.

Let’s get to the review…

Queen of Assam Black Tea – Dry Leaves

The dry leaves have a uniform dark charcoal grey-black color, with a few slightly fuzzy, golden tips in the mix. The mix consists of almost all unbroken leaves and buds, with maybe a few large fragments, maybe not! The pluck appears to be one leaf, some of which include a bud. There are no totally bare stems in the mix. The leaves are hand plucked and twisted, giving them a long, “leggy” appearance. Full, 100% oxidation has been allowed. The appearance in general is very high end, giving it a true “artisan” look. The aroma is also very attractive, with scents of dried Turkish figs, touches of malt and chocolate, and a sweet acidity that I compare to the smell of fresh brewed kombucha. All very good first impressions!

Eight grams of dry leaves were placed in an eighteen ounce (530 mL) cast iron tetsubin teapot, and infused with 200°F (93°C) water for 4:00 minutes.

Queen of Assam Black Tea – Liquid

The liquid has a beautiful, rich orange-red color. The aroma is very attractive, with scents of fresh cut figs, light malt and chocolate, delicate flowers, and a touch of licorice. The body is full, with a deep, layered texture. There is a mild, pleasant astringency, and no bitterness. The taste has notes of fresh figs, malt, chocolate, licorice, and a touch of lemon. The aftertaste carries the sweet malty notes with a touch of licorice. A sweet taste lingers on the breath.

Queen of Assam Black Tea – Infused Leaves

The infused leaves have a uniform copper-brown color. The blend consists largely of unbroken leaves and buds, most of which are still attached to the shoot. There are a few large leaf and bud fragments, but no bare stems. It is interesting to observe these leaves because they appear to be rather young, yet they are fairly large. This, of course, points to the character of Camellia Sinensis Assamica tea bushes, having larger, broader leaves. The leaves also have a more hearty, leathery feel than their Camellia Sinensis Sinensis cousins. The aroma continues the attractive scents of figs, malt, chocolate, and a light touch of licorice. All very good last impressions!

Seriously, when I tell you to buy a kilogram of this Queen of Assam Black Tea and you will thank me at this time next year, that is not an exaggeration. I even looked up the shipping cost for the kilo alone, and it is only USD $6.00 to Pittsburgh! The total cost being $45.50. Doing some quick math, that comes to less than $0.05 per gram. The amount used in my pot today (8 grams) costs less than $0.40, and I got three good infusions out of these 8 grams. To wrap this math lesson up, I basically can get 375 eighteen ounce pots of this tea for $45.50. Did I mention this is really excellent Assam black tea? Again, you can thank me next year, assuming 2.2 pounds lasts you that long.

This tea was truly a pleasure to experience from the first to last impressions. The appearance and aroma of the dry leaves was high end and luxurious. The appearance, aroma, and taste of the liquid was seriously incredible, and observing the infused leaves was quite entertaining. Consider this post as an expression of sincere gratitude and congratulations to the farmers of Prithivi Small Tea Growers and Assamica Agro for producing such a high quality Assam black tea. Take a bow, if any of you are reading this!

Many thanks again to Assamica Agro for providing this sample of Queen of Assam Black Tea. Keep up the excellent work! Cheers!