CTC Assam Loose Leaf Black Tea Strong, Full-Bodied Flavorful Blend Of Premium Black Tea Made with Natural Ingredients Traditional Indian Tea Caffeinated Iced Tea Breakfast Tea (32 Ounce)

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.

A very delicious clean, brisk, black loose leaf tea. Very strong due to the cut-tear-curl processing so I cut back to about 60% of the leaf I usually measure out. Makes a perfect and classic iced tea.

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

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

great value...current daily tea

Very nice black tea flavour. Would buy again

Thank you

Dark and malty. Perfect with milk