McNulty's (a review)

go here to view my review criteria.

McNulty's has a been a fixture in the West Village since 1895 and with one of the widest variety of coffee and tea available in the city, it has garnered many admirers. Its main charm seems to be the antique feeling that permeates the facility. This charming quality seems so out of place in the 21st century - with the many filled and dusty wooden cupboards and the numerous sacks of coffee lying about - that if you were to tell me that the establishment hasn't changed since 1985, I would almost certainly believe you. However, the charm of this place is immediately lost as the "antique quality" of the establishment quickly devolves into cramped walkways and the jostling joints of shopkeepers and customers.

Upon entering the shop, you are almost coaxed/assaulted by the heavy smell of coffee. This deeply worried me as the smell of coffee seems to readily permeate most porous articles. In fact, the packaging of a tea purchase I made a while ago did smell strongly of coffee for a couple of days. I don't believe that that the smell affected the tea in any great fashion (although those of you who have god-like oral appendages may notice it) but then again, the tea (Nilgiri) was rather mediocre - more than likely I was more bored than attentive during consumption. Perhaps this would have been less of an issue if McNulty's had better tea storage. At the time of this review, most of the teas available by weight were stored in non-airtight glass containers. These containers are probably opened and closed on a near constant basis by curious customers. Those of you who are tea buffs should then immediately question the quality of tea as many of us know that tea will degrade if exposed to open air for a long enough time (perhaps explaining the mediocre Nilgiri). Even if the aroma of some of these teas were to have survived the countless exposures to open air, it would be difficult for any but Jean-Baptiste Grenouille to get a good whiff due to the previously mentioned coffee aroma permeating the establishment

The workers are generally knowledgeable about the teas in their selection and will be able to direct most novices to something palatable. The selection itself is mostly geared towards black tea with a smaller selection of green and an even smaller collection of oolong and white teas. Though, all of the major black producing regions are covered, the quality of the selection for each region was very much of an ordinary (read not tea-snob quality) nature. This is readily apparent in many of the Indian teas for which there is no estate or grading info (only vacuous description). Sometimes, the tea can even be (arguably) disingenuous as is evidenced in their Ceylon Silvertips which most resembles ordinary Sri-Lankan BOP with very few discernible tips at all (also I believe Ceylon Silver Tips should be a white tea composed of only tips, not a black tea). What they do carry is a good selection of tisanes (herbal) and flavored teas for which a quality rating is often moot since these are usually made of sub par leaf grades. They do carry a few (read as around 3) organic teas and bagged and prepackaged varieties for those of you who care for them. Tea ware is available for purchase as well for those of you who are passing by and in need of an infuser or the like. Prospective customers should know that tea is available for purchase in 1/4 lb increments for competitive prices.

FINAL THOUGHTS


McNulty's has the charm of early 20th century American trade establishments and perhaps is best suited to serving denizens of that time. Modern and more discerning tea drinkers will find the selection to be slightly depressing and will likely leave empty handed after a short perusal. Though the selection is definitely one of the more varied in the city, it suffers from a near universal mediocrity. If you are passing by and need an emergency purchase of some decent tea then this would be your place. However, if you are looking into getting a purchase that will satisfy your daily or special brewing moments, you should look somewhere else. 3 Stars

link to yelp page. (definitely not agreeing on this one)

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