Sure, might be that the thread author wasn't familiar with Assams, Steve.
But it's also possible that he/she stewed' the tea while it was infusing - continued heating or used water that was overboiled and far too hot. Teazure mentions this, above.
At five minutes steep time, overly-hot water would give a bitter infusion.
For kicks, I pulled out two orthodox broken-leaf Assams (Harmutty and Hajua estates) I have on hand. One is slightly finer leaved than the other. Unfortunately, I did not the Estate tea in question.
I brewed each in separate tests at 2, 3, 4 and 5 minutes. I repeated the test on either side of optimum, +/- 30 seconds. I did NOT rebrew, but used fresh tea and hot water for successively longer steep times. I use a small round teapot with a large basket, so the leaf contact is different than if it had been put directly into the tea pot without a basket. That would yield a marked difference in the result.
(it was a lot of tea to make, but I had time this morning and was curious).
The flavor optimum for one tea was 4 minutes and the other at 4.5 minutes. Three minutes gave a very weak infusion and two minutes gave essentially colored water, sans any flavor.
I used water just at the boiling point and washed the teas leaves (20 sec) because it's habit to decaffeinate tea and to remove residual dust. Each Assam had a smoothly malted dark red liquor without excessive bite (tested plain, without milk or sweetener) and a sweet finish.
I doubt that teas are acidic enough to cause delamination of tooth enamel.
Assams are interesting teas; they are said to stand up to hard water better than any other black tea and are especially forgiving of bad brewing technique - in the orthodox form. The higher elevation estates produce 'self drinking' teas.
I've had very finely divided 'quick drinking' Assam breakfast blends (BOP) that were distinctly subpar, that I attributed to them being past their prime or were easily overextracted, even at just 4 minutes steep time. These teas did best at just 3 minutes in water not quite a boiling - slightly longer than omegapd recommends - but that may reflect preference for infusion strength. And they definitely required milk to buffer astringency.
When I use the BOPs, it's to produce a drinkable cup quickly in the very early morning hours and these teas I don't wash before brewing, because I'm looking for a mild caffeine jolt and am less interested in flavor nuances. Same reason as omegapd, I suspect.
Given the estate quality and presuming it's truthfully labeled, I would doubt very much that it's a CTC tea.
Im so glad I found this thread because I just drank the most bitter tea Ive ever tasted 
The tea I tried was Harney & Sons assam with a teabag. Normally I like loose leaf teas but just wanted to give it a try before buying online. I boiled my water to a little above 200F and infused in a 10 oz cup for about 3 minutes maybe like 10 seconds longer than 3. Tomorrow I will have a second infusion and see what happens.
I thought assam would be perfect for me because I love malty black tea like kenilworth and some orange pekoes but I must have done something wrong or maybe got a bad batch.
Has anyone had a bad experience with Harney and sons? I thought they had good reviews.
The tea I tried was Harney & Sons assam with a teabag. Normally I like loose leaf teas but just wanted to give it a try before buying online. I boiled my water to a little above 200F and infused in a 10 oz cup for about 3 minutes maybe like 10 seconds longer than 3. Tomorrow I will have a second infusion and see what happens.I thought assam would be perfect for me because I love malty black tea like kenilworth and some orange pekoes but I must have done something wrong or maybe got a bad batch.
Has anyone had a bad experience with Harney and sons? I thought they had good reviews.
This is a follow up to my experience above.
I used the same tea bag a second time and infused for 3 minutes and this time the tea came out much better than the first so I don't think the tea quality is to blame its more of how long to infuse this particular tea bag/brand. The tea was purchased from a local coffee shop so who knows how long its been sitting around, so maybe its just gotten stronger but I will have to give it another try.
Next time I can get a bag I will infuse for 1 1/2 or 2 minutes the first time and increase with later infusions and see what happens.
I used the same tea bag a second time and infused for 3 minutes and this time the tea came out much better than the first so I don't think the tea quality is to blame its more of how long to infuse this particular tea bag/brand. The tea was purchased from a local coffee shop so who knows how long its been sitting around, so maybe its just gotten stronger but I will have to give it another try.
Next time I can get a bag I will infuse for 1 1/2 or 2 minutes the first time and increase with later infusions and see what happens.