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    "id": 1074615,
    "title": "Twinings Assam Loose Tea, 125g",
    "slug": "twinings-assam-loose-tea-125g",
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    "url": "https://teas.co.uk/product/twinings-assam-loose-tea-125g/",
    "modified": "2026-09-25T23:30:47+01:00",
    "excerpt": "Twinings Assam Loose Tea is Assam black tea sold as leaf rather than in bags, picked into the Teas.co.uk curator selection as the malty, full-bodied alternative to the everyday breakfast blends our other loose teas are.Ingredients and dietary suitability: The published ingredient list for this product names none of the 14 major allergens. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.You need an infuser or a strainer. In exchange the big Assam leaf opens fully and the malt arrives rounded rather than flat.Curator notes: the tasting profile is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description. We run same-day UK dispatch on every order placed before 2pm Monday to Friday. Common questions are answered in the detailed Q and A tab below.",
    "content_text": "Twinings Assam Loose Tea is Assam black tea sold as leaf in a carton rather than portioned into bags. Assam is the malty end of black tea: broad-leafed, heavy, and named after the river plain it is grown in. It is the tea most English breakfast blends are built around, and drinking it on its own is a noticeably different experience from drinking a blend that merely contains it. Loose leaf matters more with Assam than most people expect. The leaf is large and it swells a great deal when it wets, so a bag holds it compressed and lets the water rush past it rather than through it. Given a pot and room to open, the same leaf gives up its malt slowly and evenly, and the cup gains a rounded, almost bready depth instead of the flat tannic hit a squeezed bag produces. A hundred and twenty-five grams is a sensible domestic carton: enough to drink through without the leaf going stale in the cupboard. The Taste Profile\n\nMalt: \u25cf\u25cf\u25cf\u25cf\u25cf (5/5) The defining note, and the reason to buy an Assam rather than a breakfast blend. Deep, rounded and faintly biscuity rather than sharp.\nBody: \u25cf\u25cf\u25cf\u25cf\u25cf (5/5) Full and coating. This is a tea that holds its shape against milk instead of disappearing into it.\nBriskness: \u25cf\u25cf\u25cf\u25cf\u25cb (4/5) Strong lift, but the grip is tannic rather than bitter. Push the steep and the grip is what turns against you.\n\nTeas.co.uk Curator Rating: 4.5 / 5 - Our expert verdict from the curators at Teas.co.uk The Story Behind Twinings Twinings is the family tea house trading from London since 1706. What is worth saying is why a tea sold under an origin name exists alongside the everyday blends. A breakfast blend is engineered for consistency: it draws on several origins so the cup tastes the same in February and in August. A tea sold as Assam gives that up in exchange for character. It is maltier, heavier and sweeter in the finish than a blend, and it is the natural base for chai because the spice has something solid to sit on. Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes. What You Are Actually Buying\n\nWeight: 125 grams of loose Assam leaf. At a standard level teaspoon of about 2.5 grams a cup that is roughly 50 cups, worked out on a normal dose rather than a figure the pack quotes.\nLoose, not bagged: you need a basket infuser, a pot with a strainer, or a strainer to pour through. This is the one genuine inconvenience and it is worth being clear about before you buy.\nSold under an origin name, not as a blend: sold as Assam rather than as a breakfast blend. The precise composition and any estate statement are on the current UK carton.\nWhat it is not: not a decaf, not flavoured, not a chai. It is plain Assam leaf, which is the thing you build a chai from rather than the chai itself.\n How Does Twinings Assam Loose Tea, 125g Compare to:\n\nPG Tips Original Loose Leaf Tea, 250g: twice the weight, and the obvious everyday loose leaf. It is a blend rather than an origin tea, cut finer, and it brews faster and harder. Buy it for volume; buy the Assam when you want the malt to be the point of the cup.\nYorkshire Tea Original Loose Leaf Tea, 250g: the other big everyday loose leaf, hard-water friendly and built for milk. Again a blend. The right comparison if what draws you is the loose format rather than the origin.\nDilmah Premium Ceylon Black, 25 Tea Bags 50g: the other origin-named black we carry, but bagged and much lighter in the cup. Ceylon is brisk and citrusy where Assam is malty and heavy, so this is the comparison to make if you are choosing a character rather than a format.\n Ideal Brewing Conditions Assam is forgiving about dose and unforgiving about time. The malt comes out early and the tannin comes out late, so the difference between a rounded cup and a harsh one is usually a minute rather than a spoonful. Most disappointing Assam has simply been left standing. The Pot\n\nWarm it: a splash of boiling water swirled round and tipped out. Loose leaf needs the heat held more than a bag does, and Assam leaf is bulky enough to cool a cold pot noticeably.\nMeasure: one level teaspoon, about 2.5 grams, per cup. Adding one extra for the pot is a matter of preference here rather than a rule.\nWater: straight off a fresh boil at 100 degrees Celsius, poured onto the leaf rather than the other way round.\nSteep: four minutes, lid on. Three gives a lighter, sweeter cup; five starts to trade malt for grip.\n The Mug, With an Infuser\n\nMeasure: one level teaspoon into a basket infuser roomy enough for the leaf to double in size. A cramped tea ball is the commonest reason loose leaf underperforms a bag.\nWater: 250ml straight off the boil.\nSteep: four minutes, covered with a saucer.\nLift: take the infuser out at four minutes. Leaving it in is how the bottom half of the mug turns astringent.\n Getting It Right in the Cup\n\nWater temperature: 100 degrees Celsius, freshly boiled. Assam is one of the few teas that genuinely wants a rolling boil.\nMeasure: one level teaspoon, about 2.5 grams, per 250ml.\nSteep: four minutes, covered, then strain.\nMilk: this is a milk tea by construction. The body is heavy enough that a splash rounds it without washing it out, which is exactly what Assam is grown for.\nSugar: optional and traditional. A little sugar reads as caramel against the malt rather than as sweetness.\nStorage: sealed, cool, dark and dry, away from coffee and spices. Loose leaf takes up kitchen smells far faster than bagged tea.\nResteeping: not worth it. Assam gives most of itself to the first pass and a second steep is thin and tannic.\nBest with: breakfast, buttered toast, bacon, fruit cake, and as the base for a home-made chai.\n Safety And Purity Ingredients and dietary suitability: The published ingredient list for this product names none of the 14 major allergens. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change. Caffeine note: A full-caffeine black tea, and a strong one. We place it at the upper end of our scale, and that placement is our own editorial judgement rather than a measurement. Child safety: A caffeinated tea and not a children's drink. Keep out of reach.",
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        "servings": null,
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        "price_per_cup_pence": null,
        "caffeine": "Caffeinated",
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        "gtin": "070177010119",
        "tea_family": "black",
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        "brand": [
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            "Black Tea",
            "English Breakfast",
            "English Tea",
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            "Loose Leaf Tea"
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                "title": "Product Questions",
                "content": "What makes an Assam different from an everyday breakfast tea?A breakfast tea is a blend built for consistency across several origins. This is sold as Assam, so the malty, heavy character a blend uses as one component is the whole cup. It is rounder and sweeter in the finish, and noticeably fuller against milk. How much leaf per cup?One level teaspoon, roughly 2.5 grams, per 250ml. Assam leaf is large and bulky, so a teaspoon of it looks like more than a teaspoon of a fine-cut blend while weighing about the same. How long should I steep it?Four minutes in water straight off the boil. Three gives a lighter, sweeter cup and five trades malt for tannic grip. Cover the pot; a bulky leaf loses heat quickly and an under-hot pot under-extracts the malt. How many cups will 125g make?At that standard 2.5 gram dose, about 50 cups. That is worked out on a normal dose rather than a figure quoted on the pack, and it shifts if you brew heavier or lighter. Do I need special equipment?Something to hold or remove the leaf: a basket infuser, a pot with a built-in strainer, or a separate strainer to pour through. Avoid cramped tea balls, which stop the leaf expanding and give a worse cup than a bag would. Does it take milk?Yes, and it is built for it. The body is heavy enough that milk rounds the malt rather than washing the tea out. Lemon is the wrong direction here; that belongs with a lighter, brisker black tea. Is it strong in caffeine?It is a full-caffeine black tea and we place it at the upper end of our scale. Can I use it to make chai?This is the obvious use for it. Chai wants a base that survives milk, sugar and spice, and a malty Assam is the traditional choice. Brew it far stronger than you would for a plain cup and simmer it with the spices rather than steeping them. Can I resteep the leaves?You can, but there is little point. Assam gives most of itself to the first pass, so a second steep is thin in the middle and tannic at the end. Where does it come from?It is sold as Assam, the tea-growing plain in north-east India. Does it make good iced tea?It makes a sturdy iced tea, though it wants sweetening more than a lighter black does. Cold brewing is the better route because it leaves the tannin behind, and cold-brewed Assam is rounder and smoother than the hot version chilled. What does it go with?Breakfast food and heavy baking. Buttered toast, bacon, fruit cake, ginger cake, digestive biscuits. It is too heavy for delicate afternoon patisserie, where a lighter or scented tea belongs."
            },
            {
                "title": "Ingredients & Nutrition",
                "content": "Ingredients and allergens. The published ingredient list for this product names none of the 14 major allergens. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.Ingredient and nutrition information for this product, as published on the manufacturer's label. The pack in your hands is the final word.ComponentProportionWhat it bringsAssam black tea leafsold as Assam; the full declaration and any estate statement are printed on the current cartonEverything in the cup: the malt, the deep red-brown colour, the full body and the caffeine.Leaf gradeloose leaf, not portionedLarge Assam leaf swells a great deal. Free in a pot it opens fully and gives up malt evenly rather than in the rush a compressed bag produces.Doseabout 2.5 grams a cup, set by you rather than by a bag125g at that dose is roughly 50 cups, worked out on a standard level teaspoon rather than a pack figure.Format125 grams of loose leaf in a cartonNeeds an infuser, a basket or a strainer. The absence of a bag is the whole reason to buy it this way.Pack: Twinings Assam Loose Tea, 125g; loose black leaf tea for pot or infuser. Store sealed, cool, dark and dry, well away from coffee and spices. Read the ingredient list, the allergen advice and the best-before date off the current UK carton.Components shown are those we can state honestly from the product name, the pack weight and the format.Sourcing & blend. Twinings Assam Loose Tea is put together by Twinings, the family tea house trading from London since 1706. That is company heritage and not a statement about where this carton was filled. The tasting profile below is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description. It sits in the catalogue as an origin-named loose leaf beside the everyday loose blends, which are built for consistency rather than character.What's in Twinings Assam Loose Tea, 125g, and what isn't:In: Assam black tea leaf, loose in a carton, with nothing added.No flavouring, fruit or petals: this is plain black leaf, not a flavoured or scented blend.No bag: nothing is portioned and nothing is sealed in mesh, so there is no bag material question and no bag to dispose of."
            },
            {
                "title": "Flavour Science",
                "content": "The flavour of Twinings Assam Loose Tea is built in three layers, and reading them in order explains why the cup tastes the way it does from the first lift of steam to the last swallow.The outer layer is quiet, and that surprises people. Assam does not announce itself in the steam the way a scented or a green tea does; what rises off the pot is warm, faintly bready and a little sweet, closer to the smell of baking than of leaves. Most of the character is dissolved in the liquid rather than carried in the vapour, which is why an Assam that smells unremarkable can still taste enormous.The flavour spike is the malt, and it arrives across the middle of the tongue rather than the front. It is a rounded, biscuity depth with a faint natural sweetness behind it, and it is the direct product of a large broad leaf fully oxidised. Loose leaf matters here more than with most black teas, because Assam leaf swells to several times its dry volume. Given room it releases that malt gradually and evenly; compressed in a bag it releases the surface compounds fast and the interior barely at all, which is why bagged Assam so often reads as flat and one-note next to the same leaf brewed free.The base structure is tannic grip rather than bitterness. It builds late, coats the sides of the mouth, and is what milk is for; a splash binds the tannin and leaves the malt standing. The line to watch is time rather than dose. At four minutes the grip frames the malt; by six it has overtaken it, and no amount of milk brings the cup back.Getting it right in the cup. Use one level teaspoon of about 2.5 grams per 250ml of water straight off a rolling boil, and steep four minutes with the pot covered. Take the leaf out rather than letting it stand, because loose leaf left in the pot keeps extracting and the second cup will be markedly harder than the first. If you drink it black, pull it at three minutes instead and you get a lighter, sweeter cup with much less grip. Cold brewed in the fridge for eight hours the same leaf gives a rounder, sweeter drink with almost no tannin at all, and it is a better route to iced Assam than chilling a hot brew.How water and temperature change it. The same leaf gives a measurably different cup depending on how you treat the water. Assam is one of the few teas that genuinely wants a full rolling boil, because the malt compounds are slow to come out and water below boiling leaves them behind, giving a thin cup that tastes weak however long you leave it. Hard water suits it better than it suits most teas, since the minerals give the body something to hold on to, which is part of why Assam-heavy blends are traditional across the north of England; very hard water will still dull the sweetness and is worth countering with a slightly shorter steep. Soft water lets the malt read more clearly and sweetly but produces a thinner body, so add twenty or thirty seconds. None of this is a fault in the leaf, it is the same tea responding to the cup you build around it, and once you know which way you like it the result is repeatable every time."
            },
            {
                "title": "Recipe Ideas",
                "content": "Loose Assam is a better base for cooking, chai and cold drinks than a bag is, because you can set the dose and brew it deliberately strong without paper in the way. Five builds below cover the classical pot, a stovetop chai, an overnight cold brew, a strong mug and a malt-heavy fruit loaf that uses the brewed tea itself.\nRecipes, born here first\n\n \n The Classical Pot\n \n How to make The Classical Pot with Twinings Assam Loose Tea.\n \n 6 min\n 2 cups\n Easy\n \n \n \n You'll need\n \n 2 level teaspoons Twinings Assam Loose Tea\n 500ml water at a rolling boil\n Milk\n A warmed pot\n \n \n \n Method\n \n Warm the pot with boiling water and tip it away.\n Add two level teaspoons of leaf and pour 500ml of water straight off the boil onto it.\n Steep four minutes with the lid on.\n Strain as you pour, and add milk to taste.\n \n \n \n What you'll end up with: A deep red-brown cup with rounded malt and enough body to stand up to milk. Pulling it at three minutes gives a lighter, sweeter tea if you drink it black.\n\n \n Stovetop Masala Chai\n \n How to make Stovetop Masala Chai with Twinings Assam Loose Tea.\n \n 15 min\n 2 mugs\n Medium\n \n \n \n You'll need\n \n 3 level teaspoons Twinings Assam Loose Tea\n 300ml water\n 300ml whole milk\n 4 crushed cardamom pods, a small piece of cinnamon, 2 cloves\n Sugar to taste\n \n \n \n Method\n \n Simmer the spices in the water for five minutes to open them up.\n Add the leaf and simmer another two minutes.\n Pour in the milk and bring it back to a bare simmer without letting it boil over.\n Sweeten, then strain into mugs through a fine sieve.\n \n \n \n What you'll end up with: The reason a malty Assam is the traditional chai base: spice, milk and sugar all sit on top of it without burying it. A lighter blend vanishes under the same treatment.\n\n \n Overnight Cold Brew\n \n How to make Overnight Cold Brew with Twinings Assam Loose Tea.\n \n 8 hours\n 1 litre\n Easy\n \n \n \n You'll need\n \n 4 level teaspoons Twinings Assam Loose Tea\n 1 litre cold water\n A sealed jug\n \n \n \n Method\n \n Stir four teaspoons of leaf into a litre of cold water in a sealed jug.\n Refrigerate for eight hours, or overnight.\n Strain the leaf out completely and drink within two days.\n Serve over ice, sweetened lightly if you like.\n \n \n \n What you'll end up with: Rounder and sweeter than the hot version with almost none of the tannic grip. Cold water never pulls the hard tannins out, which is exactly what a heavy Assam benefits from.\n\n \n The Strong Morning Mug\n \n How to make The Strong Morning Mug with Twinings Assam Loose Tea.\n \n 5 min\n 1 large mug\n Easy\n \n \n \n You'll need\n \n 1 heaped teaspoon Twinings Assam Loose Tea\n 300ml water at a rolling boil\n A generous splash of milk\n Sugar, optional\n \n \n \n Method\n \n Measure a heaped teaspoon into a roomy basket infuser.\n Pour 300ml straight off the boil and cover with a saucer.\n Steep four minutes, then lift the infuser out completely.\n Finish with milk, and sugar if that is how you take it.\n \n \n \n What you'll end up with: The strong, dark, sweet mug Assam was bred for. The saucer is what keeps it hot enough to finish the extraction in a mug rather than a cooling pot.\n\n \n Assam Tea Loaf\n \n How to make Assam Tea Loaf with Twinings Assam Loose Tea.\n \n 1 hr + soaking\n 1 loaf\n Medium\n \n \n \n You'll need\n \n 3 teaspoons Twinings Assam Loose Tea\n 300ml boiling water\n 350g mixed dried fruit\n 250g self-raising flour\n 150g soft brown sugar\n 1 egg\n \n \n \n Method\n \n Brew three teaspoons in 300ml of boiling water for five minutes and strain.\n Pour the hot tea over the dried fruit and leave it overnight to swell.\n Stir in the sugar, the egg and the flour the next day.\n Bake at 160 degrees Celsius fan for about an hour, until a skewer comes out clean.\n Cool in the tin and serve sliced with butter.\n \n \n \n What you'll end up with: Assam is the right tea for this because the malt survives baking where a lighter blend disappears. The loaf tastes of tea rather than merely of soaked fruit."
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