TeaChat

I got a bag of this read cheap.
Its sorta light or maybe its stale Assam?

Has anyone ever tried this affordable black tea before?

Barooti its a Assam tea. Its a dust?

chado.my.teaway wrote:Barooti its a Assam tea. Its a dust?

Apparently so.
Apparently that may be the reason why its so cheap...

Probably yes;)

I've had Barooti Assam sold by Ahmad Tea that was definitely not dust, more like fannings, but was actually a pretty decent quality tea...it had visible pieces of golden tip and a fairly complex aroma...and was very good for the reasonable price I bought it for...under $7 a pound. It had cocoay tones and was minimally tannic...I could steep it as long as 5 minutes and get a cup that tasted very good unsweetened, which I think is a mark of pretty decent quality as a lot of finely-broken teas taste awful if steeped that long.

I strongly prefer Ahmad Tea's whole-leaf Assam though, which is similarly inexpensive. It requires a much longer steeping time to extract a similar amount of flavor, but I find it is much more subtle and complex.

If you buy Ahmad Tea, they stamp the packing date on each box, so check that. I generally won't buy boxed tea in a store with no packing date. Even lower, broken-leaf grades of tea can be pretty good if they're reasonably fresh.

+1 for comments of Alex about Ahmad's Assam long leaf tea. In Boston it cost $9 a pound in most shops. I have used 1 1/2 teaspoons for 8 oz. steeped for 5 minutes or more to mix w/ milk. I'll try less tea to drink it straight. I like the Earl Grey from Ahmad also.

I like almost everything I've tried from Ahmad, but I am more partial to their Kalami Assam, than their Barooti Assam; the Barooti infuses faster, but if you can wait the 8 minutes recommended to steep the long-leaf Kalami Assam, I find it has a richer, more complex flavor.

I also love their two Ceylons, and they're very different from each other. I just drank a cup of their regular loose-leaf Ceylon, which is actually one of the maltiest Ceylons I've ever had, very Assam-like in character. The Ceylon OPA is very different, a more subdued but very dark tea, with cocoa-like tones.