Friday, July 10, 2009

Malama

Tea: Malama EH-6
Vendor: Lupicia USA

About This Tea: Malama is one of the exclusive teas only available from the Hawaii store of Lupicia. I picked this up as part of of the gift set that was available through retail outlets earlier this year.

Leaf: The leaf for this tea is a typical orthodox black leaf mixed in with small CTC pellets. There is a rich cocoa aroma to the leaf and some small pieces of macadamia nut in the mix. There are a few other pieces in the mix that I can't seem to identify.

1st Infusion Parameters: 3g, 5Oz, 208F, 3 min

1st Infusion: This tea has a very strong and sweet cocoa aroma, it reminds me of some cocoa powder. The flavor of the tea is overall quite light, which does not match with the rich dark color of the tea. The flavor even though it is light is quite bold from the beginning to the end. The cocoa shines through the flavor and is a nice bit of an addition. It rounds out the flavor quite nicely. The flavor is overall quite rich and ends with a little bit of astringency.

Rating: 7/10

Conclusion: This tea is quite interesting. The cocoa mixed with the black tea provides a nice round flavor for the tea, but the availability of the tea is a bit offputting. It is nice, and it would be worth picking up if it was available easily, but I don't know if it is unique enough to go searching this one out.

6 comments:

Salsero said...

Does it say what country this tea originates from? Apparently, Malama is a Hawaiian word, so that's no clue to the origin ... unless it is from the Hawaiian tea farm. Is it a flavored tea or just the leaf?

Questions, question ... !

Eric said...

The provenance of the base tea is not specified. It is my guess that it's not from Hawaii, but rather just brought in and flavored there. Or flavored in Japan and sent over to Hawaii exclusively. I think I remember reading somewhere that the Hawaiian exclusives are blended in Hawaii.

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

I just tried Malama.

It tastes like putting cocoa powder in cheap black tea. You get one steeping, that's all, so it's a pretty expensive mediocre flavored black tea.

I can't imagine ever buying this again.

You mentioned how Lupicia's Hawaii tea(s) are difficult to find, but I wouldn't mind exchanging some Hawaii exclusive tea(s) for some exclusive teas from the California stores. :) Let me know if you're interested, and be advised, I don't really check my g-mail account very often.

Our Lupicia store carries Te De Frutas (which I bought), Napa Blanc, & Golden Honey Dew (which was OOS).

I've tried Hua Ki, Lanikai, Kilauea, Alo Alo, Hoku, & Anela. I can definitely recommend Anela (Liechi flavored green tea).

Kadoga Mawansa said...

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