assam melody

based on 1974 reviews

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23g sample

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85g

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454g

16c per cup

€31⁶¹

PACKAGING GUIDE

Assam tea is known for a deep red colour and strong flavour. Our Assam Melody is perfect for tea drinkers who may be new to the powerful character of an Assam. This Assam black tea has a rich and sweet aroma. With slight notes of raisin, it is not as over-powering as other Assam teas. A solid, 'friendly' variety of Assam, from the well-regarded Meleng Estate. Assam Melody is a bold black tea from the Assam region of India.

Black Tea | High caffeine | Steep at 100°C for 3-5 mins

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Customer Reviews (1974)

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fresh from origin

You’ve all heard of teatime, that lovely slice of the afternoon where “everything stops for tea” (or, if you love tea as much as we do, the time known as “any time of the day”), but have you heard of Tea Garden Time? Also known as Bagan Time, it is one hour ahead of Indian Standard Time (IST), and is a time zone used exclusively in Assam’s tea gardens. Originally introduced by the British to accommodate earlier sunrises in the region, it has been in place ever since, helping tea garden workers complete their work during daylight hours.

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Assam Melody

What Is Assam Tea?

Assam tea is a black tea from the Assam region of north-eastern India - specifically the Brahmaputra River valley, a broad, low-lying plain running at close to sea level. Its tropical climate, exceptionally heavy rainfall, and the distinctive large-leaf Camellia sinensis var. assamica plant combine to produce some of the most malt-forward, full-bodied black tea in the world.

The assamica cultivar is an entirely separate variety from the small-leaf Chinese plant (Camellia sinensis var. sinensis) used to produce most Chinese teas. The assamica grows considerably larger, produces bigger leaves, and generates more theaflavins during oxidation - the compounds responsible for Assam's characteristic malty, brisk character, and the reason it forms the backbone of most commercial breakfast tea blends worldwide.

Assam is the most widely drunk black tea origin in the world and the base ingredient in most English Breakfast, Irish Breakfast, and everyday commercial tea blends. Assam Melody - our version from the Meleng Tea Estate - shows what that origin actually tastes like when it comes from a single named estate rather than the commodity auction system that supplies most commercial breakfast tea bags.

The Meleng Tea Estate

Meleng Tea Estate is a named, single-estate source in Assam's Brahmaputra valley - a specific origin that stands apart from the commodity auction system that supplies most commercial breakfast teas. Growing Assam at estate level means consistent, identifiable character from season to season, rather than the blend-to-consistency approach that large-scale Assam production relies on.

Sourcing from a single estate means we can guarantee not just that the tea is from Assam, but that it is from Meleng specifically - a provenance that makes the roasted plantain sweetness, molasses depth, and rounded malty character of Assam Melody consistent and traceable, rather than variable and anonymous.

Assam Melody Flavour Profile

Roasted plantain sweetness

- the most distinctive flavour note in Assam Melody: a starchy, naturally sweet quality that sits closer to roasted banana or plantain than any generic notion of sweetness. It is the character the assamica cultivar delivers at its best - sweet, but with real substance behind it.

Molasses and dates

- the deeper, darker layer sitting beneath the plantain note. Together, the two create a sweetness that feels rich and complex rather than flat or one-note.

Rounded mouthfeel

- the texture you get from well-sourced whole-leaf Assam: substantial and full without tipping into harshness or dryness. The large assamica leaf produces a more enveloping mouthfeel than smaller-leaf Chinese varieties.

Pleasantly malty

- the signature Assam quality. The malt in Assam Melody is pronounced but well-balanced - closer to the malt in a good real ale than the flat, aggressive note you get from over-extracted Assam fannings.

Brisk astringency without being pungent

- lively and invigorating rather than harsh or mouth-coating. This is exactly what makes Assam the right base for a strong morning brew with milk, and it is the balance point that single-estate sourcing keeps consistent.

Assam Melody as a Breakfast Tea

Assam Melody is one of the most practical single-origin teas in the Adagio range for everyday breakfast use. The malty depth, brisk character, and full body make it a natural fit if you:

Take your morning tea with milk and want something bold enough not to disappear behind it
Prefer the Assam-forward strength of Irish Breakfast - over the Keemun-influenced softness of English Breakfast or the four-origin complexity of Scottish Breakfast - and want to drink the Assam component on its own
Want to understand what Assam actually tastes like before encountering it in a blended context
Are starting to blend your own teas at home - Assam Melody is one of the components in our Scottish Breakfast, so having it as a standalone lets you experiment with Assam proportions in your own breakfast blend

Assam Melody's Role in Scottish Breakfast

Assam Melody is one of four named single-origin teas that make up our Scottish Breakfast - our highest-rated tea in the entire range. Knowing what each component brings to the blend gives tasting it a whole new dimension:

Assam Melody

- contributes the malt backbone. The deep, malty richness that makes Scottish Breakfast feel substantial and bold comes primarily from the Assam. Without it, the blend would lack the body that makes it the right morning tea.

Keemun Concerto

- contributes honeyed depth and a touch of smokiness.

Yunnan Jig

- contributes natural sweetness and a gentle peppery note.

Ceylon Sonata

- contributes brightness and a brisk finish.

Brewing Assam Melody alongside Scottish Breakfast is the clearest way to understand how a single-origin Assam and a multi-origin blend that uses it actually differ - and why the blend reaches a complexity that even an excellent individual component doesn't quite manage on its own.

How to Brew Assam Melody Tea

Water temperature

- 100°C, a full rolling boil. Assam's assamica cultivar needs maximum heat to fully extract its malty character.

Leaf quantity

- one heaped teaspoon (2–3g) per 240ml. For a breakfast-strength cup with milk, 3–4g per 240ml gives a more robust result.

Steep time

- 3–5 minutes. Three minutes emphasises the plantain sweetness and roundedness; five minutes develops the full malt and brisk astringency. Most breakfast tea drinkers settle on 4–5 minutes - and as the product panel notes, steeping longer is especially worthwhile if you are adding milk.

With milk

- Assam Melody is made for milk. Its full-bodied, malty character holds up to a generous splash without tasting thin or washed out. Whole milk gives the richest result; oat milk works particularly well too, its natural sweetness pairing nicely with the molasses-dates note.

Plain

- worth trying plain on your first brew to appreciate the roasted plantain and molasses character before milk softens the picture. The sweetness is fully apparent in the straight cup.

Assam Tea Caffeine Content

Assam Melody contains approximately 50–70mg of caffeine per 240ml cup at standard brewing - towards the higher end for black tea, reflecting the assamica cultivar's naturally elevated caffeine levels relative to smaller-leaf Chinese varieties. At the 4–5 minute steeping times that most breakfast Assam drinkers prefer, expect the top end of that range. That puts it roughly on a par with a moderate cup of coffee - well below a strong café brew.

For a caffeine-free option that still has the full-bodied character of a proper breakfast tea, our Decaf Breakfast uses CO2 decaffeination to preserve the base tea flavour at 2–5mg residual caffeine per cup.

Assam Melody Tea as a Gift

Assam Melody makes an excellent gift for anyone who drinks strong black tea with milk every morning and has never come across an estate-level single-origin Assam. The difference from a standard Assam-based breakfast tea bag is immediate and unmistakable - the roasted plantain and molasses character is simply absent from commodity Assam blends, and first-time drinkers of estate Assam almost always notice it straight away.

Available as a sample, 85g pouch, or 454g pouch in loose leaf, as well as pyramid tea bags. The 85g pouch is the right starting size for introducing someone to estate Assam for the first time. Pair with the Teas of India and Sri Lanka sampler for a gift set that covers Assam, Darjeeling, and Ceylon together - a complete tour of the Indian subcontinent's finest black teas in one package.

Buy Assam Melody Tea Online

Order Assam Melody loose leaf tea online - single-estate Assam black tea from the Meleng Estate, highly rated by our customers. Free UK delivery on qualifying orders from our UK warehouse. Available as a sample, 85g, or 454g loose leaf pouch.