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The Mangalam Estate has in recent years become a reliable source of top-grade Assams. This tea is no exception. The young leaves have a high concentration of golden tips. The cup color is sparkling copper-red and the infused leaf has notes of dark chocolate. This year’s Mangalam is a perfectly balanced, top quality Assam with outstanding, complex malty character and a lingering creamy aftertaste. This tea has much in common with a full-bodied, dry red wine, making it the perfect wine lover’s tea.
Recommendations: Use 1 heaping tsp. per 6oz. cup; heat fresh water to a roaring boil; let steep for 3-4 min. Try with milk and rock sugar.
Ingredients: Black tea
I got a bag of this at SpecialTeas going out of business sale a few months ago, so it’s a bit old now, but still enjoyable – I just up the leaf a little. Rich malt and honey flavors, but emphasis on the honey; it’s sweet for an Assam.
Taken with a dash of milk.
This is the 3rd place holder in my taste test with three assams from SpecialTeas. This is a complex malty assam tea that has some other notes that adds a bit of mystery, maybe a hint of pine or smokiness, but very subtle. It’s a nice assam, at 2 minutes steep doesn’t really have any noticeable bitter aftertaste. It likely would do well with dairy (milk or h-n-h) but I usually drink my assams black with sweetner. For this taste test I used just sugar.
I’m sad to say I’m not too pleased with this one. It has a lovely flavor, but it is too mild! Maybe my water should be hotter, maybe I should steep longer…I’ll try again later with some different circumstances and see.
It was very smooth, and had that nice, earthy Assam taste I love so much (malty with honey-notes), just not enough of it. I’ll update once I try it again.
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I tried it again at a rolling boil for 5 minutes, and it was marginally better. I think this tea is old! I can’t help but wodner if my friends at SpecialTeas (whom I normally trust and who usually send me GREAT teas) sent me stale tea from last year? It is just plain ol’ lackluster, with little flavor and none of that Assam POP that I love so. Sigh.
