VAHDAM, Assam Black Tea Leaves (340g/12oz) 170+ Servings | High Caffeine, Non GMO, Gluten Free | STRONG, MALTY & RICH | Pure Unblended Single Origin Black Loose Leaf Tea | Vacuum Sealed

Delicious. My favorite rose tea. The scent alone of Vahdam's Blooming Rose is out of this world. The saffron and cardamom really enhance the rose flavor, in my opinion - of course, your mileage may vary, since saffron can be a bit of an odd taste! I know that at first I wasn't in love with the saffron part, but it's completely won me over, and again, the scent? Perfection.

Let's start with the packaging: This tea comes vacuum sealed in a nice package that "pops" when you cut the seal. It has a very long neck so that, after you cut it open, you have a nice long top to pour it into the container it's going to stay in. Vahdam has included a thick, dark plastic, zip top bag for you. The bag is folded up inside the cardboard box and unlabeled. But never fear: There is a VERY LARGE full color label that looks just like picture on the box.I peeled this label and applied it to the zip top bag, then poured the pound of tea into it. It seals solidly and is light proof. This is a great addition so the tea will stay fresh for a long time.The taste and smell: Initially I was a little put off by the "flowery" smell of this tea. I have only had a few other Assam teas, so I'm not sure what a very high quality Assam should smell like. This has kind of a sharp note, as opposed to the warm notes I get from Ceylon tea.I initially used about the recommended amount of tea: Approximately 4 grams for 12 to 14 oz of water. The recommendation is 2 grams for 7 oz of water. I use a bigger cup!That cup of tea was flowery at first and then a little bit malty as it cooled. It was fine, but not really what I wanted.For my next cup the following day I used more like 5.5 grams for 12 to 14 oz of water. This cup was very different. Very little flower taste. The malt became much more prominent and increased as the tea cooled. The flower and (very mild) astringency showed up in the after taste. This was a much more satisfying cup of tea for me. I like malt and this muted malt was nice and seemed to keep changing as I drunk it. The last few sips seemed to have a (very mild) chocolate flavor.For me, using a good bit more than the recommended amount of tea is the way to drink it. I like this tea and will be drinking more.So a very nice tasting Assam with the best, most useful, packaging I have ever seen. Recommended!

Favorite loose tea!

Ok I have been using this tea for about 2 years or so now, have previously used Harney and Sons and Rishi, this tea is significantly more expensive than Harney and like wise less expensive than Rishi. Overall the quality of the tea is excellent, the blending and amount of bergamot oil is just about spot on. It is an absolute necessity to keep the tea leaves properly, the flavor will degrade rather quickly if you do not keep the tea sealed tightly.What we do is vacuum seal about 1/2 the bag and use the open half, however if we made 2 cups side by side with a brand new bag and the tea from the previous batch it becomes very obvious that the tea flavor is not the same. My only problem with this company is that they switched from 16 oz bags to 12 oz bags and the price stayed the same. Which means they raised the price 25% and didn't say anything about it, just repackaged it in a bit of a different way, if your going to do that at least be upfront with your customers, they are in fact the life of your business. Anyway it is an excellent tea and I think you will like it.

I love masala chai and have mixed my own spices on occasion, so I'm a self-admitted fan of chai, but this tea is an outstanding discovery. It's the Rolls-Royce of chai! The spices are well blended, and assertive but not overly strong or rough. The tea itself is flavorful and has a rich depth (sorry, I don't speak tea-taster). It makes you notice your tea, and feel special.The company is committed to supporting workers and the environment, which makes IT special.

Update 2018-02-09 Vahdam teas are my daily beverage, all day long, now that i quit drinking coffee and alcohol. I am giving as gifts to friends and family in the convenient to use pyramid bags. The attractive boxes make a nice, affordable gift.I have been drinking Vahdam teas for a couple of years now. I received an email from Bala Sarda, the company founder, and decided to take the time to share about their products. If you like high-quality teas, you really need to check these out. I have a friend at work who visits the prime tea country back at his home in mainland China every few years, and brings back some of the most wonderful teas. They are prohibitively expense for me to purchase here in the US. Vahdam teas are the only teas that I have tasted that remind me of the high-quality, very expensive products from mainland China. Different products but similar high quality. And Vahdam teas from Amazon are very affordable.Here is Bala's story from his email, which I thought worthy of copy/pasting here:"I wish to introduce myself as the 25-year-old, Founder of Vahdam Teas .Your Amazon shipment is Out for Delivery and should reach you very soon.Firstly, thank you for choosing our teas.And before you try them, I wanted to share MY STORY with you.I come with a lineage of over 80 years in tea & I am the 4th generation in my family running a tea business. However, it is when I joined my bulk-tea-export family business, I noticed that most of the tea being sold across the world is passing through multiple middlemen & reaching consumers like you , a minimum of 6-12 months after harvest in the plantations . And by then, most of the PRIME freshness & flavour found in tea is lost.And even though, world famous tea brands are growing every year, the millions of tea growers back here in India are plagued with problems like low wages and are also facing an uncertain future . Yes, even though India grows some of the finest teas in the world (30% of the world's production), the absence of a home-grown brand has made the industry dependent on bulk tea exports to brands who move to poor quality teas from other tea growing regions in order to compete on price points & earn higher margins, as soon as the farmer's increase their price.And to initiate a journey to solve these problems, is when I decided to launch Vahdam Teas, a home-grown Indian tea brand, a couple of years back.How are Vahdam Teas exceptionally fresh?Unlike your everyday cuppa, V ahdam teas do not travel in containers for months before being packaged and sold. All our teas are procured direct from plantations & tea growers within 24-72 hours of harvest , packaged garden fresh and shipped to Amazon warehouses directly from source in India . By eliminating all middlemen we are not only able to make available garden fresh high quality teas but are also able to retain all earnings in the region where these divine teas are grown & nurtured by millions of growers with immense love, care and passion . A process which ultimately helps every farmer get a better price for their produce. Additionally, instead of a date of packaging, most Vahdam Teas come with a Date of Picking/Harvest which is the true indicator a tea's freshness.I would like to thank you for joining our tea family & patronizing a truly ethical, fair-trade tea.I am every excited for you to try our teas & taste the VAHDAM difference.We are honest company, working hard to get better every day & if for some reason you do not like your cup of tea or if they is any other feedback, please don't hesitate to mail me here, directly.I will personally ensure to send you a replacement or a refund. "The Earl Grey Citrus is my favorite, and after years of drinking Starbucks Verona, this is now my daily beverage.