Review: Mountain Malt Assam from The Simple Leaf

Okay, I’ve been seriously slacking lately, and I apologize. My only excuse is that, for the last four days, I’ve been so dramatically ill with a sinus infection that I haven’t been able to taste so much as the spicy, sodium-y goodness of Picante Chicken Ramen noodles, let alone the delicate nuances of so many of the teas I own. Definitely not a good time to be conducting review of new tea. (On a side note, I’ve been relying heavily on the teas I *was* somewhat able to taste as comfort these last few days–lots of long-brewed shu puerh and the American Breakfast Assam I mentioned earlier. Yum!)

Today, though, I think the clouds are breaking (and by “clouds” I actually mean “the globules that do not bear thinking about which are inhabiting my sinus cavities”) and I think I can taste properly, so I’m going to give the last of my “bold” teas from The Simple Leaf a try.  Don’t quite trust myself yet for more delicate Darjeelings, but let’s see how this goes…

Dry, this tea smelled less malty than the American Breakfast I reviewed before.  This made me second guess my tasting abilities for the day, so I opened American Breakfast and smelled that, thus verifying that “Mountain Malt” does indeed smell slightly *less* malty than “American Breakfast.”  The leaves are large, curled pieces and are very attractive.

Brewed, the liquor is a lovely dark brown with hints of a coppery red undertone.  It smells like…well, like autumn, really.  A little bit of hay, a little bit of cool outside air, and a little bit of dry fallen leaves. 

The taste of this tea is *very* bold–a very strong tea, in a good way.  It’s very smooth, mellow, and full-bodied, with a definite black tea taste that is refreshingly lacking in “bad” bite and bitterness.  This tea stands well on its own but could definitely hold up to some milk and sugar.  In fact, the mellow smoothness of this tea would make me pick it to pair with milk and sugar over the more malty American Breakfast.

For me, this is a very good basic black tea.  I enjoy the “round” taste of it, and the lack of heavy malting makes it more “basic” for me, better able to take milk and sugar or just to drink several cups of on its own.  I still enjoy the bold maltyness of the American Breakfast, but this one may very well become a staple as well for the pure strength and black-tea-purity of the flavour.

I’m really enjoying learning about what I like and prefer in black teas.  I seem to very much enjoy strength and maltyness.  This isn’t really a surprise, given that my first cup in the morning is usually filled with wretched-tasting coffee that I use to jolt myself into unpleasant awakeness…I’m too much of a zombie in the early morning to even trust myself to brew a decent cup of tea.