Mountain Malt

This tea is just fantastic, the biscuit smell just makes my mouth water. The broken rolled leaves unfurl and steep into a bright amber tea. Its brisk, robust, and malty without being bitter but has the astringency of a very good assam tea. I’m trying to talk my wife into letting me buy a pound next time as my one ounce sample isn’t lasting very long.

This is a sad morning, my pouch of Mountain Malt is empty. This is my last cup until I order more. All I can say is that my next order will be substantially more than 1 ounce. So, good by friend until we meet again.

I over steeped this for 1 minute (4 vs 3). My timer was set for Rishi’s chinese breakfast and I forgot to reset. While this is still a brisk, robust tea with no bitterness, its lost some of the notes I’ve grown to love. Its still malty but the biscuit aroma is gone. Its still a great black tea but not the same. I won’t over steep again.

Brisk, robust, malty, and chewy, this tea is just something that has to be experienced to be believed.

Fantastic tea for breakfast. mmmm chewy biscuits….

I really can’t think of much more to say about this tea except that its utterly fantastic.

Delicious and in-vig-or-a-ting! Wheeee! I think it is called Mountain Malt because it is so strong that when you are finished your cup, you truly believe you have enough energy to climb a mountain ;) I love the bready malty flavor with the underlying earthiness. I really, really love the strength on days like today when I will be going, going, going til 9pm!

You may have noticed that I took the rating off of this tea. I have recently read a book about wine called Liquid Memory by Jonathan Nossiter. It has really made me think about a bunch of things, not just wine. One of them is numerical rating systems.

Warning! This is going to be long! :)

This is what he has to say:

Of course one has to distinguish between classifying wines – expressing hierarchies of preference – and scoring them. There is a profound difference between the admirably restrained critic Michael Broadbent’s purposefully malleable five star rating and a pseudo precise one hundred point scoring system. …These stars are explicitly variable and general and he insists that the expression of preference is dependent on the precise circumstances that the wine was tasted in …

… The numerical point system inherently implies a mathematical certainty, whether out of twenty or one hundred points. However absurd, this ersatz scientificity is perfectly suited to a culture uneasy with the notion of informed critical judgement coexisting with ambiguity and complexity. This culture prefers specious absolutes, an infantile and incomprehensible language for which no real engagement is required and a falsely pedaled sense of democracy, the fatuous reassurance of pseudo facts and factoids. This has been true from the dominant political discourse since Reagan, across the globe’s television screens, right into the computers of the self appointed custodians of our wine culture.

… Consumers all over the world have now become accustomed to seek out “Parker 95 wines” or “Wine Spectator 90s” no longer sure of, or necessarily interested in, the wine’s origins, makers, or contexts. Parker, the Wine Spectator, and other “serial scorers” reassure people who are insecure about wine but who want to be “winners.” … Hence, there is a gradual inflation of 90 point wines, as the Christie’s director said about the contemporary art world, to increase the supply of winners and keep everybody in the game renumerated. Imagine: Matisse! 95 points! Chagall 99 points! Jeff Koons 100 points! … But poor old dirty, messy, edgy George Rouault wouldn’t get above a 75. To assign numbers to a wine, given that a wine is fully living and infinitely mutable, is almost as repugnant to me as assigning numerical worth to humans. (pgs 148-9)

You get the idea. Long story short – I’ve always been uneasy about my numerical ratings, and after reading this book I want to get rid of them! I am going to stop giving numerical ratings to teas, and as I drink teas that I have logged before, I am going to delete my numerical ratings.

I was debating putting this up in discussions, but I was afraid it may cause a ruckus – which is not my intent. I simply want to explain why I personally am not doing numerical ratings anymore. I’m going to link to this tea log in my profile so my explanation will be “public.”

I highly recommend this book, and Nossiter’s film Mondovino if you are interested in not only wine, but globalization, taste, culture, art…

Dan asked me a good question the other day – How does the Assam Reserve compare to Mountain Malt. I answered, but I wanted to be sure I answered completely! So, here it is:

Mountain Malt has the bready and malty (oh so malty!) that the Assam Reserve has, but much less sweetness. It has a unique – herbaceous? earthy? I still can’t put my finger on it – note though. It’s subtle, but there – and delicious.

Mountain Malt is STRONGER – I feel as if I could fly to the moon after drinking a 12 oz cup. I drank a 16oz cup of Assam Reserve yesterday and did! not! feel! like! this!!!!!

I was d-r-a-g-g-i-n-g today after my restless night. An afternoon tea with some power was required. The crisp weather had me craving one of my milk and sugar favorites, Mountain Malt! So hefty, malty, and flavorful. I taste a slight…lemony character to it, too. I don’t think I noticed that before. Truly delicious, and truly fortifying. I was able to do all of my homework after my cup!

Rainy cold day: perfect for a strong milk and sugar Indian tea to have whist curled up reading (Philip Pullman’s I Was A Rat! Such a funny, sophisticated, satirical little children’s book! I love it!). We haven’t had Mountain Malt in awhile and oh, was it delicious! Warming and invigorating. I can’t believe how flavorful it is at a mere 3 minutes! I’m glad I got the big pouch when I ordered since the Simple Leaf is no more :(

What a wonderful weekend of Assam teas! I think this chilly weather is bringing out the Assam love in me :) I adore this one because it has the classic malty Assam taste, but it also has an earthiness to it that I appreciate very much. I also can’t complain about the jolt of energy it gives me :) Very unique, and very, very sad that the Simple Leaf is no more. I really think about when is the perfect time for this tea, and Dawn, because I know that I won’t be able to get it again :(

Busy morning in the garden – put together two raised beds and planted seeds for two types of string beans (I can’t call them green beans because one type is PURPLE!!) and zinnias. I was tuckered out and needed something to get me back on my feet! I thought this one would be a good candidate and POW! After a big 10oz mug of Mountain Malt I feel as if I can move mountains!!! Plus, it’s so smooth and malty and delicious. A quintessential Assam. LOVE it.

20 oz water + 3 teaspoons of tea + 3 minutes = delicious malty heaven. A little sugar and a splash of half and half. Wonderful morning wake-up!

Home today to write a paper. Sound familiar? ;) I need some serious POWER this afternoon, and there is one tea that makes me feel like I can climb a mountain – you guessed it! Mountain Malt! I am sipping and envisioning coherent thoughts, good grammar, and some razzle dazzle! (just a little razzle dazzle – I know!)

The cold has won for today. Home with a tea that reminds me of being sick as a kid only 100000000000000000 times better, Mountain Malt. I’m sure a medicinal tisane with no milk or sugar would be better for me physically, but oooooooooh this is so perfect for me emotionally :) Rich malty comfort.

Cold, grey, miserable. A paper to finish. Mountain Malt is definitely the “best tea for the day” (like Little Edie picks the “best costume for the day” – any other Grey Gardens fans here?)

Strong and flavorful. Get up and go in a cup. A classic with milk and sugar. I made the 16 oz mug, and oh, it is making all the difference!

Had this again with fresh mint, iced, and sugar. This bold ass am holds up so well w/the fresh mint..

Made the tea this morning with less dry leaves (1.5 tsp to 11 oz). It is still bold, malty, and strong. But, I detect a small amount of bitterness in the background of the aftertaste that wasn’t apparent when I brewed it with 2 tsp. It is still very tasty and will definitely wake you up.

I am still loving this tea. It is SO strong and bold. Better be prepared for this one when it hits you. And, there is none of that earthy/peaty/manure smell in this tea. Thank god.

I added lots of sugar and some soy creamer to it this morning.

Mountain Malt is good enough that I’m considering ordering more already, just in case of meteor strikes. It’s pretty much my favorite tea ever. Truly malty, very rich, perfectly smooth – exactly what I need when I get home. I’m even getting some cookie aromas coming out now. I’ve raised my rating every time I have logged this, but I think it’s finally settled into the right spot at 97.

I recommend a steep time of 3:30-3:45, as I think 3 minutes flat doesn’t quite bring out all this tea has to offer. There is still no bitterness or astringency at this point. Three minutes might be enough if you’re going to drink it without milk. Milk really does bring out the best in this tea, though, so at least give it a try.

I think my stash of this might be … altering itself. I hope it’s not brought upon by the semi-transparent bag it came in. It is starting to have a sort of brussels sprout / dishwater thing going on in the dry leaves and the freshly-brewed tea. Using less leaves seems to help somewhat, but what is really interesting is that this mostly unpleasant flavor almost disappears when the tea cools down a bit – to 120 degrees or so. Judging from my recent experience, this reduction of unpleasant flavors during cooling might be something that happens to many Assams.

The other flavor that has emerged after my initial tastings is carrot, but it only starts coming out if steeped for around 4 minutes.

I am trying to learn more ways to control these aspects, because I prefer the pure smoothness and richness of the tea when I first had it. It’s still enjoyable, but not something I’d rave about again unless I can figure this out.

Had this with breakfast yesterday. This is an undeniably happy tea with simply no shortcomings. After re-sampling what was previously my highest-rated tea I’m going to boost Mountain Malt’s rating even higher. I gave most of my specific thoughts in my first review so there’s little point in repeating them.

Now, I made this at 10:30 am or so. It was probably partially due to the high-fat breakfast I had (thick-sliced bacon, a fried egg, and an Asian pear – delicious), or the raw cocoa bar that I finished later that day… but I was absolutely full of unwavering energy till 4 or 5 am that night. What a kick this tea has.