Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Golden Tips

Tea Description:

Mankota produces some excellent second flush black teas every year. This tea in particular boasts of all characters of a premium Assam tea. The tea is robust, bold and extremely malty. The full-body of the tea finishes on a slightly sweet note which makes it an absolute prized possession. Sprinkled with golden tips all over, the dark red liquor shimmers in the cup. 

A fantastic breakfast tea and a must-try if you love Assam tea. 

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

After taking my first few sips of this Mankota Exotic Assam Second Flush Black Tea from Golden Tips, I found myself in complete agreement with the last sentence of the above description.  This is definitely a fantastic ‘breakfast tea’ – it tastes great straight up, but it would take the additions of milk and honey very well too.  And I would put this on the ‘must try’ list of anyone who enjoys a good Assam.

I brewed this tea in my Kati tumbler, adding 1 bamboo scoop of tea to the basket and pouring 12 ounces of nearly boiling water (205°F) and steeped the tea for 2 1/2 minutes.  The reason I lowered the temperature slightly is because Assam teas tend to be somewhat temperamental and can become bitter.  A little lower temperature and a little less time in the steep can do much to help avoid a bitter cup!  It’s a little extra effort that’s well worth the investment because the payoff is a wonderful, malty cup of Assam!

This tea is indeed delightful!  It’s rich, malty and has a satisfying, thick texture.  It has notes of freshly baked bread, evoking thoughts of a warm loaf of French bread with a crisp, chewy crust.  The caramelized sweetness of the crust of that loaf of bread comes through in the undertones of this tea.

Fruit notes!  I didn’t pick up on them right away but by mid-cup, I started noticing notes of raisin and wine-like grape.  Sweet.  Notes of plum and even a hint of citrus in there too.  I’m not sure how I missed these flavors at the start because they’re so abundant now, I can only think that I was so enchanted by the warm, freshly baked bread notes that my palate was ignoring all else!  But now, I am enjoying the way the sweet, malty notes marry with the fruit tones.  Quite lovely, indeed.

It’s an invigorating tea – it’s got gusto!  It’s a bold cup of tea, but it’s not an overly aggressive cup.  It isn’t bitter and it doesn’t have a lot of astringency to it either.  It’s actually quite smooth.  There is some astringency toward the finish, a slightly tangy effect.  The aftertaste is sweet.

A truly rewarding tea.  I highly recommend this those who love a good Assam!

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Black Tea