Golden Assam

This is a lovely black tea. I’m not totally sure how it should compare to plain Assam, but it seems a little lighter and less malty, but still with nice body. I had this both hot in the morning, and resteeped and iced in the afternoon — delicious both ways.

This is kind of a “Part 2” to my notes on McNulty’s Golden Nepal, I am comparing contrasting the two right now.

So from what I can tell, it seems like this tea is just all around a higher quality than the Nepal. The leaves are more uniform, the taste is less generic, and the flavor lingers a bit longer. It doesn’t strike me as outstanding, and it definitely doesn’t leave me wanting more the way a good Darjeeling does… (Obviously; It’s an entirely different cup of tea.)
I am not really a good one to ask when it comes to India/Sri Lanka style black teas, they just aren’t my favorites. I probably crave them once for every twenty times I have a craving for a Japanese green or a Taiwanese oolong. Anyways…
I’ve never been to McNulty’s in NYC so I’m not even sure what else they have there, but if anyone else is familiar with the shop and what they offer, I’d love to hear about it!

Made this iced with McNulty’s Kenya tea mixed in. So I’m using this moment to call it for ashmanra’s monthly prompt – A Tea From Africa!

Sort of wish I still had my Zomba pearls for this prompt. Ah well.

I did a 50/50 mix of this tea and the Kenya tea. brewed it western style, hot, and cooled it into a pitcher with some lemon and sugar. It’s one of my favorite summertime teas! The Kenyan tea adds a brisk tartness that really lends itself to the lemon in this iced tea. So refreshing.

this is a mid-level blend, not distinct enough to include with estate offerings
it is a good foundation for chai

This used to be my all time favorite black tea. It has a pleasant round quality without any harshness or bitter aftertaste. It steeps up lighter than many black teas, hence the ‘golden’ moniker. Not too malty…it is really hard to put your finger on it; it’s just a lovely delicate black tea, if that makes sense. The only reason why I say it used to be, is that I’ve until recently become a slave to convenience (and teabags), and I’m not sure if it was the batch had gotten old in the cupboard (been over a year), but I had a cup of this from my cupboard and found it not as remarkable as I’ve had in the past…

I was pleasantly surprised by McNulty’s Golden Assam. The tea has a very pleasant smell that produces a very flavorful infusion. It has also been my experience that this tea can survive a 10 minute infusion without losing flavor or becoming overly bitter. The leaves are fairly uniform and open up quite well. Overall this is a good everyday tea.