Black Manas

Thank you Teajo Teas for this generous Sample!

With open arms I’m enjoying the first Spring arrival of high mountain rain.
Next to my desk as I was looking outside the window the very bottom of the Rocky Mountain’s settled their jagged bones and smoothed out to a gradually descending plain.

I am in love with the drama of Frontrange weather! The romantic in me wants to pair the right tea with what’s happening in the atmosphere.

Black Manas arrived in the mail right on time for my imaginings.

With black and billowing clouds rolling overhead, I prepared a pot of tea and a 3.5 minute steep (I am a dark brew lover).

Taking my tea-tray to the largest window, I sat watching the sky. Tea is part of what is outside after all, more than what is in my heated, electronic filled house.

When I poured, the tea was very dark. I expected a strong and malty flavor, but was pleasantly surprised with a light, sweet and brisk taste that wasn’t very malty. Huh?

“What’s this?”, I asked myself. Had I assumed from the reviews that this was going to be a malty tea like so many other’s? This wasn’t the case.
For me, the tea was barely malty and had a clean citrus essense with delicious rose and butter cookie flavor.

The tea was strong, full bodied… yet gentle and smooth.

Sweetened and with cream…Superb!

As much as I love very strong Kenyan Tea when I need my jolt of caffeine, I really like the floral background in this tea very much!

For strong black tea lovers like me who want smooth superior flavor, this has it all!

For a rainy day, nothing could beat a tea like this one!

Thanks to Piccolo at Teajo Teas for such a generous sample of this tea!

I’m still not super familiar with the flavours of different black tea types, but assam seems to be one that I lean towards a bit more than others, so I was interested to try another version of it to train my palate a bit! I have to say that the tea tastes pretty much how I would expect. It’s malty and only just slightly astringent, with a bit of a raisiny finish (that part was unexpected and lovely!) I think I will try my next cup of it with additions, as I think it will hold up well.

Generally, I’m not the biggest fan of straight black teas to begin with, so it’s pretty tough to crack the ranks of teas I’d like to drink on a regular basis, and this one doesn’t make the cut for me, although I’m sure that any assam lover would be quite delighted with it!

First, thanks to Teajo Teas. I needed a little cheer-up after this week, and the little padded sample mailer made my day.

First whiff out of the open packet reminded me a little of fruity chewing gum. (Peer pressure, based on other reviews, said it should have smelled like malt and hay.)

Regardless, it steeps up into a red-brown, fruity (yay…somebody else said raisiny; I’m not crazy!) cuppa. A little gentler than my usual boot-yer-backside-out-the-door breakfast preference. And I’m thinking it will be refreshing if the sample holds out long enough for me to try a cup chilled!

This smelled of malt and hay when I opened the package.

From the description of “full leaf” and “whole leaf” I had expected a bit more unfurling of large leaves but they pretty much stayed the same size they were when dry. That’s okay though. Possibly just me not understanding what a full leaf tea should be.

This tastes like it smells. Malty and faintly of hay. A nice, standard golden reddish brown liquid. It is a bold and basic black tea. Hearty and full bodied, I’m certain it would stand up well to milk and sugar if one desired such. Smooth and with a hint of dryness at the end of the sip.

This one is nice, The the aroma of the dry leafe is fruity and slightly minty like the scent of juicy fruit and doublemint gum together at the same time.
We fist tried this one early this morning with breakfast and it was really just perfect for breakfast, usually when we have an Assam for breakfast we bring out the sweetener and milk because thats the way we like our breakfast tea and it really held the milk well it was creamy, smooth and malty with slight astringency and was so delicious that Lance had 2 cups which is rare for him He said it’s better than coffee in the morning lol.
I went on to try it straight with nothing added and it taste better to me that way it was malty and mild with a slightly bitter astringency to it which I enjoyed and it had a fruity note that was like that of raisins in fact it was like raisin bread toast or something, very delicious. It was not quite as strong as I was expecting it to be when I had it straight but I usually go for really strong brewed ctc type Assams AND this one held milk very well which was probably why I was expecting it to be a little stronger with nothing added.
Damn good tea!
http://toadsteablog.blogspot.com/

This one was my first straight Assam and I think I may have fallen in love. Big time. I brewed this one according to instructions on the package. I would usually have brewed it in 1 minute increments but I did one brew of 3 minutes.

The result was a lovely malty yet sweet brew of heavenly black tea. I loved the malt of this tea. There was also a nice honey sweetness along with the malt. I was a bit surprised to find a fruity note in there. Peach or apricot…I can’t decide but it was good. There was also a slight bit of tang that’s not quite astringency but awakens the palate.

I will definitely be buying more of this. It could become my morning black tea. I had a cup this morning and did not even have a desire for my regular cup of coffee. Coffee is starting to smell like wet dog to me anyway.

Thanks to Teajo Teas for sending me a sample.

Many thank to Teajo Teas for sending me a generous sample! Because this is my first pure Indian tea, my tasting skills are unrefined in regards to this type of tea. This was a novel, yet difficult experience.

The dry leaves’ aroma is strong and sweet, slightly fruity. The liquor is a dark reddish brown. The flavor – full-bodied and bold – brought me back to the English blended black teas (naturally) that I often drink for breakfast. Alone, it slightly tasted bitter. I’m sure that this flavor evokes more than just this, but, again, I’m going over my head with this one. After a few sips I cautiously added half a teaspoon of sugar and a couple small splashes of milk. The flavor was now similar to the aroma, having a gentle fruitiness. BACKLOGGED It wasn’t grapes that the tea evoked; rather, it was apricots. Yum!

This is a nicely tasting tea. Perfect for mid-morning, like now!

Needed a nice strong malty tea tonight and this hit the spot! In the past, I would have added milk and sugar, but I’m loving this all on its own.

My house is a disaster and what do I do? I reorganize my tea cabinet.

Thanks to Teajo Teas for the generous sample! When I first took a whiff of the Black Manas, I thought it smelled sweet, and it reminded me of the types of English Breakfast teas that I like.

I brewed it in the Breville and added my usual two Splenda that go into every tea I drink…it was delicious, but you know, it was pretty sweet to me. Strange for an unflavored black. I thought that I could drink a second cup and only put in ONE Splenda! And I did! That is HUGE for me.

This tea was so nice and smooth I think I could probably even like it without any sweetener at all. I enjoy it best nice and hot, but it was just fine after it cooled in the cup as well. This would be a good first black tea for someone to try and it would be a good everyday tea for an old-timer like me. ;-)

Appearance med brown, slight crinkle in the leaf
Aroma when Dry: mild, slight malt, floral
After water is first poured: floral, faint fruity, layered
At end of steep: floral, slight leather notes
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: light, layered grey
Staple? Likely
Time of day preferred: unsure, first tasting
Taste:
At first: slight bitter note, crisp, maltyish, very little tang, bitters on the closing notes
As it cools? gets less bitter, astringent, floral notes get milder
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? Yes, with simple single note bitter astringency.

I received this generous sample from Teajo Teas (whee!).

This tea is very strong and hearty, and very different from the other Assams in my cupboard. Sticking my nose into the package and taking a big whiff, this is the smell I associate with a strong black tea! The Hathikuli Estate Assam I have from Steam Tea House is more floral and sweeter, while the Assam Mangalam from Zen Tea doesn’t smell nearly as strong as either.

Brewed, I immediately added 1/4 tsp sugar to my 16 oz mug, as well as a splash of soy creamer. The tea is strong with a very mild dryness and no bitterness. This is a breakfast tea for me, rather than an afternoon tea. I hope it does well in a travel mug!

I think my favourite is still the Hathikuli Estate Assam, but the Black Manas is a close second in my sampling of 3 Assam teas! Not really representative, so that must mean I need to try more teas.

(I definitely want to try some flavoured teas now. From what I understand, their flavoured teas have this base. Wow! That is definitely up my alley.)

I’ve always wanted to venture into and explore the Indian subcategory of teas, so thank you so much for this first taste, teajoteas!
And haven’t I been missing out?

Starting out on a morning like this. Simple, straight-forward, familiar. Not much out of the ordinary…

In fact, the most out-of-the-ordinary thing about this morning is my cup of Black Manas, having never had straight Assam before.

I resolved to have this first thing in the morning (after receiving the package last night), but I’m not quite sure what to expect in my first cup of the day.

But – wonderfully – it’s familiarity from the first sip – a pure cup of what I’ve been having for years from English tea tins. Really, haven’t I known this tea forever? That bold, quiet strength to many a beloved Earl or morning blend, that reliable base… This is Western black teas at the root, and I’m excited to finally have a taste of that.

There are no complications in this dark, full-bodied tea.
Brewed with simple parameters in the straight-forward Western-style, this is a solid, easy way to start the day. The smooth, cohesive, but strong taste complements breakfast well – I’ve already been spurred on to a much bigger breakfast than usual today, haha! – and the cups go down easy, which is good, since it really should be taken piping. A touch of astringency develops as it cools, as expected.

In regards to taste, there’s a mild, overall malty flavor with a darker, pleasantly bitter undertone, but the flavors of this tea are only second to its body. That’s not to take away from how good this tastes, at all! But the flavors really ride on how smooth and full-bodied the liquor is. Wonderful texture. Perhaps this is why Assam has become such a relied-upon base?

I can see why, now; I prefer straight teas, alone, but this is a tea that I feel strangely compelled to pair with something, be it with a plate of food, or with some milk and sugar. Or maybe it’s a force of habit, seeing as I’ve always tasted this as an accompaniment in another tea altogether? Or maybe I just need to figure out what to do with Assam altogether? After all, this is just my first one.

It’s a bit confusing to be in this new-but-somewhat-familiar territory, but it’s also very exciting. I’ll keep learning as I go further into the Indian subcontinent, and I’m very much looking forward to that. This has been a great introduction; thank you again, Teajo Teas!

When I first smelled this I instantly knew I would like it because it smells just like the base my mother uses for her traditional chai. This is delish straight or with milk & sugar. I think this would taste great with some cardamom & clove added in.

Delicious! Nothing special about this black tea except that it isn’t bitter or astringent, and has a pleasant malty flavor, so I don’t have to doctor it up at all. I could easily drink cup after cup and not get tired of it. If this were a beer, I’d call it a session beer.

I don’t normally drink black tea except occasionally when I have it with milk, and it’s always bagged tea. After drinking this sample, I was really impressed as it tasted and smelled a lot better than the bagged ones I’ve tried before. There was no bitterness or astringency, and the dry tea leaves had a really floral, musky aroma that was reminiscent of raisins. At 2 oz for 8 bucks it’s a really good deal for a tea of this quality. What’s nice is that they source directly from the farmer as well.

Well, I first have to say thanks for Teajo. Got this as a free sample, and getting it was quick and easy. A simple black tea, malty. Some honey notes, a bit like bread. Perfect for the morning.