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A classic dark, fruity, malty, spicy Assam. Delicious.

For much of the 2000s, this contended with Pengaree Gold Rush for my daily breakfast tea, mostly because it managed to balance the spice and flowery notes with a deep, strong, malty flavour. It used to be like an entire meal in a cup with milk and sugar, with flavour that developed on the palette for a good 20 or 30 seconds after drinking it.

I’ve found that Mangalam has got a bit weaker in recent years, too tippy and fruit with not enough strength of character or bass notes. Still good, but there are better alternatives, such as Khobong TGFOP1

A malty, strong and fruity Assam, Gold Rush is reportedly Harrods’ best selling loose leaf tea. As the title suggests, this is a fine, complex and powerful Indian tea with at least half the leaves being golden tips with flowery notes, all of them picked by hand before dawn in the Pengaree estate’s tea gardens in the hills of Assam, North East India. (spl) means the very best leaves are then selected.

This is a vigorous tea not for the faint of heart, to be taken after a good long brew with milk and, if it takes your fancy, sugar.

Harrods (founded by tea merchant Charles Harrod in 1849) has been selling this fine and complex Orange Pekoe for many decades, which probably makes this the original Gold Rush. This tea is apparently not available for purchase anywhere other than Harrods, which is thought to take most if not all of the output of the estate for sale in its London store. Demand ensures that Harrods regularly runs out.

BTW if you haven’t been, the tea counter at Harrods sells upwards of 100 different loose leaf teas, and 300 different varieties of packaged teas. Their selection covers the best teas from around the world including more than forty other single estate Assam, Darjeeling and Ceylon OPs, as well as many lighter fruit teas and a wide variety of Chinese and Japanese teas including at least one $50,000 cake of Pu Er. It is probably larger than any other tea counter outside of a tea importer, including that other classic Victorian tea counter at Fortnum and Mason’s.

If you have not visited this veritable Home of Tea, you’re missing a trick. A must for any true tea lover.