Malachi McCormick's Blend

I’ve not had a good night’s sleep in almost a week. Each night I wake at 3 am and obsess about stressful matters at work and then don’t get back to sleep until 5:30 am. Since I must rise for the day at 6 am, this is completely inadequate. As a result of this lack of sleep my husband told me this morning that I look like a particularly ill raccoon.

I pulled this tea from my collection of samples because it looks like it can work caffeinated magic on my sleepy soul before a critical vendor contract meeting this morning. Straight from the envelope it smells strong and bracing. The malt rises to my nose and slaps me around a bit as if to say, “Wake up, Sleepyhead!” Once in water the flowery fragrances of Darjeeling mingle with a musky tea aroma. It smells appealing.

It brews up into a dark burgundy liquor with a nice no-nonsense sharp malty flavor with very little bitter and no astringency. I can feel it filling my veins with liquid power enabling me to negotiate well.

It is not a Dawn substitute since I wouldn’t want it strong musky malt every morning, but it’s great for mornings like today when things must get done and I lack the strength pre-tea to do them. This is truly a sturdy cup of tea.

Thank you TeaNSympathy for this generous sample! I have always wanted to try this blend, and was so happy to receive this sample. :))

It is nice sometimes to drink a cup of tea that is a good, quality cup if tea, without having to think about it too much. Enter Malachi McCormick’s Blend. It is a decently aromatic blend in the leaf and cup. Well balanced as it is, I did notice the Keemun slightly more than the Assam, which is a good thing because the Keemun aids in this tea’s smoothness. What you get is a strong yet smooth, delicious tea. I drank two cups neat, and was very satisfied.

This tea is perfect in the morning, and I think it could stand up well with a dash of milk (which I will try eventually). Now one of my go to teas when I just need a cup of tea, and don’t want to think about it. Sometimes, there is nothing more relaxing than simply having a decent cup of tea. :))

Cupped: Thursday & Friday, March 8-9, 2012.

Reviewed: Saturday, March 10, 2012.

Assam, nice. Finishing off my tea biscuits. Wish I was going to a yoga retreat instead of spending all weekend in the house, but it’s definitely nice to have heat at home this year, and I can run, and read in my room, and go to the free museum, and do other people avoidance things. Plus, more Sherlock!

Part of Doulton’s Nabokov prize!

It says what it does and it does what it says. The keemun and assam play delightfully together, balancing very nicely with the barest inkling of smoke.

A very nice way to start a fairly blah day. I started drinking this while watching three crazy squirrels chase each other through my yard, over my fence, into my neighbour’s yard, over their shed, and up a few trees. It also stood up nicely as an accompaniment to a fresh tarragon and parmesan omelette with turkey bacon. :9

All in all, a truly decent cup of tea, and one I’d be delighted to find in any non-tea-specialist restaurant or shop. I usually avoid ordering tea from most places, as I know they’ll probably only have Lipton…XD

Overleafed the pot (on purpose), then SQUIRREL and steeped it for…one hour? Two? Not really sure. It was a long time, I know that much. I decided to reheat it in the microwave and found it’s still drinkable.

I’ve had this before and it was really light and smooth. It’s pretty close to that now, except for a little acrid afterbite that is punishing me for my indiscretions.

Now can finals week be over, please?

Hmm…this is okay.

Kind of earthy, malty, a little sour. Has a biscuity, grainy aroma. Smooth. Not much bite. Soft.

Overall, very drinkable but no “wow”-ness.

The fragrance is sweet and biscuity with a faint note of smoke. Once steeped, there’s a slight stone fruit presence. The flavor is both malty and astringent which makes for a great morning tea.

This is a well balanced and artfully blended tea.

I bought a sample of this tea for my husband who likes plain black teas. I stole it and took it to work so I could try it (no worries I’ll give the rest back to him). When I first tasted it, I liked it and thought, ‘this is an ok black tea’ and then the more I drank it, the more I liked it. It’s nicely malty (not overly so) and has no astringency. It has an earthiness to the scent, but not too much so. It reminds me a lot of the dragon balls from Teavana. I’m betting that my husband will like this one and will beg for tin of it (esp since he is almost out of the Mountain Malt).

This is one of the better black teas that I’ve had in a long while.

Lightly sweetened with agave nectar.

With his book referenced in the description above being among my favorites, and one of my own personal tea-bibles I had high hopes to say the least. And when I found out it was an alluring blend of Keemun and Assam, I knew I had to have this tea. I was not disappointed.

I wasn’t expecting anything revolutionary or mind-blowing, just a new improvement to my morning routine. I found that in this delightful breakfast blend. My first cup of the day is generally the only one to which I add some almond milk and sweetener, but it needs to be a strong enough tea to hold its own, wake me up, and get me going in the AM. This not only fulfills these requirements, it exceeds them.

All in all this tea isn’t anything crazy. It’s not ostentatious, or gimmicky. But, true to the spirit of it’s namesake’s book, it IS one decent cup of tea.

Just decent, tastes good with cow’s milk. Oatmilk was fine but not as good and gave me a more earthy taste lol but I wanted something basic to drink when I don’t want flavored tea. WRP FS eventually again!