Black Manas

Well, this is a tasty way to start the morning! Shadowfall gave me an opportunity to try this in our swap, and with each sip I cannot help but make comparisons with English Breakfasts that I know and love. It’s not quite the same thing, but has such a wonderfully malty, brisk presence that my mind can’t help but go there. Maybe I should make some zucchini bread to go with this!

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!

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.

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.

1 tbsp for 375 ml

The flavour profile of this black tea seems imbalanced, dry and thin.

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.

Heelllloooo tea!

This tea made me laugh. I expected the leaves to open up and put it in the cup infuser with the big holes. Then they just never got bigger and just slipped right one through! The infuser did catch the majority though, so not too bad.

This is what black tea is like in my head. Honestly I don’t drink much black tea at all and can’t tell an assam from a darjeeling from a …. is there more?

This is as it’s descried: a medium bodied black brew. No frills, and it doesn’t need them either. It’s bold and creamy and filling in all the right spots.

I don’t know if this would take sugar or milk well, although it probably will. I just associate those things with the teas I really don’t like.

Thanks to Piccolo for sending me this as part of the TEAcation promo. This is re-kindling my tea affair with Teajo teas. I haven’t reached for them in awhile, but this is reminding me why I was hoarding them.