Keemun Black Tea – Grade 2

I like Keemuns and have been always confused by many kinds and names Hao Ya, Mao Feng… I decided to go through all Teavivre Keemuns (and a couple from other companies) to find the one that would become my go-to Keemun. And the package with them finally came today.

The Grade 2 Keemun… I ordered it with hesitation since I usually skip the cheapest options. And boy, was I surprised and rewarded. Robust is the word for this tea. It has the robust aroma and appearance and the taste to match. Malt, roast, leather, spices, and some berry-like sweetness. And the taste is not shy: it strong, persistent and stays for multiple gaiwan infusions. It is by no means refined but its major components come together very well. There is nothing second-grade about this tea.

This is certainly a tea for cold days, for times when you need a beam of energy, the tea that would go well with greasy food and take milk and sugar well. The Clydesdale of teas. I would keep it instead of personally disliked Assams.

All in all, a great find. Really curious to discover what other Keemuns from Teavivre are like.

P.S. Short steepings are key with this Keemun to keep the taste more complex.

Here’s Hoping TTB (round 5)

I went into this without reading about it, which I should have done. With no idea that keemun may have smoked flavors to it, I was caught off guard by this tea. The few keemun teas I have had were either malty or semi bitter with a strong black tea taste (which differs for everyone). I’m not sure if I like the notes of smoke in this since they kind of sit there mildy. I may have to come back to this sometime since I am currently not a fan of smoked teas, I’m trying to be though.

This was my morning brew for this muggy day. While I was brewing up a cup of these small black and gold curls the aroma of smoke and dark wood escaped from my tea press. The liquor was a light translucent garnet colour. The taste was perfect for a grey day. The initial sip was a light and fruity flavor with an oak undertone. This soft and flavorful brew went well with breakfast. This was a nice calm black tea, and it still had the high caffeine to get me going.

While staying inside for a bit (snow again) I decided to have this tea and a Beastmaster episode. There is a scent of maybe dark brown sugar or molasses. The flavour is on the sweet side, with some plum notes. It is good for winter afternoons.

HHTTB

This has a much brighter lighter taste than the last tea I just tasted! It is almost tart like the skin of a plum and there is an aftertaste like tobacco. This tea is almost juicy. There is a slight dryness after each sip. Interesting!

I have been craving Keemun lately at breakfast time. I have some of the finest Keemun, but it is not as bracing as I was wanting for my morning tea, though I love it as afternoon tea.

This one really hit the spot today! After a sweet pancake breakfast I wanted something to cut the sweetness and give me a little boost and this did the trick. I had one cup at home and took a JoeMo to go with me. There was a nice bread and cocoa flavor, and the smoke was more evident somehow from JoeMo, perhaps just because the tea was starting to cool and the flavor profile was morphing. It reminded me a bit of my beloved Queen Catherine.
Very nice tea experience!

I received a sample of this from TeaSipper. Thank you!

This tea was slightly smokey, with a woody rich flavor. It was smooth and had a solid body. This was a great cup, and one I would repurchase.

Thank you so much, Teavivre! With this one, I’ve tried all four of Teavivre’s keemuns. The dry leaves on this one are all black – some of the other keemuns from Teavivre have bits of gold.

Steep #1 // 13 min after boiling // 2 min steep
I used two teaspoons of leaves. The cup is a lovely burgundy color. Honestly, because this is the lowest grade of the four keemuns, I expected a CTC leaf, or a brew that was very astringent. NOT SO. Even with two teaspoons, I’d say this one is closer to strength to the Organic Superfine Keemun — it has less bite than the other two. But this one is lacking those hints of flavor that make the Superfine special – what I like to think of as the wine like properties, or the muscatel. This one might have a milder flavor, but I’d rather that than the astringency that a CTC might have. This cup has about the same hints of chocolate that the Superfine has. A very nice cup of tea, especially at this price. Much better than I expected!

Steep #2 // 10 min after boiling // 3 min
This cup has a lot of the cedar, tree-like oversteeped flavor. That becomes the main characteristic and the other flavors of the first cup are much less noticeable. The second steep isn’t that great and I usually resteep leaves at least once, so that could be a problem. Maybe the three minute steep is too much though. I’ll try less next time. Still surprisingly good for this price, but I think I’d buy one of the three other keemuns. Happy to sample!

“What’s in your cup?”
This morning I brewed TeaVivre’s least expensive Keemun: 7.3 g / 7 oz / 205*F / 1, 2, & 3 min. without sweeteners, milk, or cream. The Western method directions call for 8 g & 8 oz. Since the sample package contained 7.3 g, I used 7 oz.
- Leaf: short & dark with a slate gray “nugget”.* (See below)
- Fragrance: winey & smoky – stronger/heavier
- Liquor: dark amber red
- Aroma: winey & smoky
- Flavor:
This Keemun has the typical winey profile but it’s more full-bodied. However, it’s not as rich or smooth as their Premium Keemun. It’s more woody & malty and doesn’t have a noticeable sweetness. There was a slight hint of bitterness. There was also some astringency towards the bottom of the cup. The TeaVivre recommended rinse before brewing should probably be followed.

Re-steep (7.3 g / 7.5 oz / 205*F / 2 min.): The additional 0.5 oz. helped to smooth out the 2nd-cup as there wasn’t noticeable astringency or bitterness.

2nd Re-steep (7.3 g / 7.5 oz / 205*F / 3 min.): This cup is less full-bodied but still enjoyable.

A good economical Keemun.

Thanks to KittyLovesTea for providing this free sample.

Method:
RO water re-mineralized with an Aptera filter http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/39532-puregen-aptera-alkamag-water-filter
http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/37731-my-weigh-durascale-d2-660-digital-scale
Brewed western-style conveniently in a tea mug with a Finum brew basket http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/29177-finum-brewing-basket.
http://steepster.com/teas/davidstea/36677-thermometer-and-timer

*Note: Slate gray “nugget” was 0.1g piece of rock found in the TeaVivre sealed sample packet: barcode # 200312090219.

Sweet, slight pine smokiness, great price ($5.50/100g). Like many of the other Teavivre teas I’ve tried It’s just good enough to get me interested in seeking out better examples of the category, but not good enough to go out of my way to reorder this one when I run out. (Though while it lasts It’s pretty decent as an everyday staple/breakfast type tea.)