Malachi McCormick's Blend

Friday! Yaaaay!
I am hoping for a nice quiet day, as its been a very long week, and I slept badly last night. I hope the universe can see its way to being nice today.
I needed a sturdy tea to wake up to, and this was that tea. Three cheers for Malachi!

I ordered a sample of this with my most recent Harney & Sons order, and I’m definitely not disappointed! I like black teas that can stand up to a good amount of milk, and this one does the job. Reminds me of some Irish Breakfast teas I’ve had.

I’m not sure I am qualified to make a proper tasting note on this today, because I have that sour taste in my mouth from the beef pho that I made last night…I had the rest today, since I am still working on rehydration, as I need some blood work done in the next few days, and I need my blood vessels nice and plump instead of being prodded and poked and told to go home and come back later when I was not dehydrated….and I feel like I’ve felt unwell the last few days due to a mild stomach virus and minor dehydration.

Anyway, on to this tea. I made this one today because I woke up with a terrible headache today, and I went back to sleep and only got up when my husband phoned to tell me that he was gifted an Apple Watch by our friend who he is with (and supporting/working with) at the Edmonton Fringe. For some reasons, I like simple and uncomplicated black teas when I have headaches. I was not 100% sure what to expect because I didn’t really read much to the notes on this one, but only that it was DeleriumsFrog’s favourite Harney & Sons Tea (as she noted on the baggie.

Did this do the trick? I think so, but it is hard to get a true feel of this tea because of the lingering sour taste I have in my mouth from the pho from earlier. I’ll have to try this again when I have a clearer head and palate again.

My mom gave me a sample of this tea. It’s a great breakfast tea. Nice and strong with malty, bread-y notes and a tiny hint of fruit. I would drink it again.

Unfortunately, I oversteeped my second cup, to the point that after three sips I had to toss it: bitter, bitter, bitter. Just basing this off of my first cup, it’s fine. It’s more earthy than I typically like. I’d say that if you were looking for something earthy with oomph, then you should definitely check this one out. M

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – March 2023 Tea #5 – Tea from your biggest tin

I thought this would be the fitting prompt for today! I don’t have too many other Irish teas for the day.  This is my biggest tin and I swear it refills itself every time I scoop some out.  It is still FULL so there is no way this is a sipdown.  But thanks to this prompt, a little more of the tea is now out of the tin. The flavor is just usually OKAY and that is probably due to age.  I miss the harvests when I would find the flavors of cherry & hay.  I think I have tried three “harvests” of this at this point.  Possibly I should try THREE teaspoons in the infuser and see what happens… I have so much of it.   This should be so much better as a mix of Assam/Keemun.

Tea of the morning. This is a fairly standard English Breakfast Blend. I definitely taste the Assam and Ceylon. I want to say there is also some Kenyan tea in this blend as well, but the Assam is the dominant tea, so it’s hard for me to tell. It’s of medium body and strength, and there’s a nice malty flavor and a sour lemon like finish. It’s easy to sip plain, but of course it takes milk and sugar very well. All in all this is a nice tea, but there’s nothing that’s making me want to go back for another cup. I do, however, think this would make excellent iced tea.

Edit: SimplyJenW has kindly pointed put that this blend is Assam and Keemun. Totally makes sense! I’m leaving my original post as is because it’s a good reminder to me that I still have a lot to learn. Thankfully learning about tea is always a joy. :)

I don’t have much of this one left… just a cup or so.
This has become one of my favourite unflavoured blacks…it’s just absolutely delightful. :) Since I drink it without added milk or sugar, I’m fine with it not being exceptionally strong, and find myself reaching for the tin whenever I want just a really good, not too fussy, cup of tea.
If I drink it in the morning, I tend to pair it with a big bowl of porridge, complete with a giant dollop of preserves (blackberry being preferred, but I’m fine with variety… today it was blueberry, actually). I love the texture of steel cut oats, or pinhead as they’re sometimes called, mixed with rolled oats, toasted first before adding the cooking liquid…. it’s the perfect breakfast on a cold rainy day.
So, along with my bowl of porridge , I drank this tea…and felt so comfortable. The drizzle outside only managed to add to the warmth emanating from my mug.
This tea will have to be reordered when I run out…. My cupboard is sad without it.

One of the amazing and frustrating things about being on Steepster is how quickly your tea tastes change. Amazing because it’s a wonderful educational process, frustrating because you go and buy tea you “love” at the time but then your tastes change and you have a big 8 oz tin of a “simpler time” tea in your tea cabinet that stares at you longingly every time you reach for a new fancy sample. Well, today I reached for my first love, Malachi McCormick by Harney. I made 2 big old mugs, one for my husband, one for me and I just took that first sip. Oh Malachi, why did I forsake ye??? Ye is still so NOM!!! Somehow, (probably with years of experience :) ) Harney did actually create a delicious, down to earth breakfast blend to stand the test of the ages. There is something about how the malty assam blends with the earthy (but not too earthy) keemun that builds this tea into a big old cup of brown joy. Lovely body, great mouthfeel and incredibly low on astringency…. what more can a girl ask for? Suddenly that 8 oz tin sitting in my cupboard doesn’t look like it’s just sitting there taking up space anymore…it looks like a well-loved piece of comfy clothing that had been forgotten but is again found. It’s already a good day.

What’s your “comfy clothing” tea?

I love black teas, and there are few black teas I won’t drink. I … didn’t care for this one. It was just bland. Bummer.