Uniquity

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Uniquity drank Keemun Panda #1 by Sawadee Tea House

I am officially impressed with this tea. I had a cup this morning, steeped for around 2.5 minutes and I thought it was delicious. no bitterness at all, just a lovely naturally sweet black tea. I made a second cup from the same leaves this afternoon and forgot to take the leaves out for ten minutes. I hoped it might be okay, since it was the second steep, and it is! There is the slightest hint of bitterness this time, more in the “aftersip” than anything else, but definitely palatable, and nearly as enjoyable as the first. I appreciate any tea that can handle my forgetfulness…

How did it take me so long to realize I love unflavoured black teas??

2011-05-10 12:12:18 -0400

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KeenTeaThyme 2011-05-10 15:15:23 -0400

I too was reluctant to expand my black tea horizons. My how we’ve grown! :)

Uniquity 2011-05-10 15:40:35 -0400

Thank the tea gods! (Though my wallet doesn’t…)

Uniquity 2011-05-11 12:22:01 -0400

Update: Eked out a third steep this afternoon as I didn’t have enough time to dump the leaves, clean up and start a new one. The tea is definitely losing it’s flavour, but even on a thin third steep, this is more impressive than the standard bagged orange pekoe. It’s sort of reminiscent of Bigelow’s Bagged Ceylon right now, which I actually enjoy.

SteepedTeaChamp 2012-01-05 10:01:36 -0500

Keemun is one of my very favorite teas. This Keemun is nice – not the best, but enjoyable. Keemun is very forgiving on long steeps – this makes it a good tea for beginners looking to explore regional teas. But don’t be fooled – pretty much all teas have a very limited steep time to capture the true essence of the leaf. I love to wake up to this tea. I have at least 2 cups each morning before I go out for the day.

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Bio

I am a lover of many things, but my prized possessions include my records, tea and books (not necessarily in that order!) I embrace local food and good cooking as much as I can, and place great value on time with family and enjoying the bounty of nature. While I live in a city at the moment, my heart lies in the country and I am to be married there this May under my grandmother’s apple trees.

I am drawn toward good Chinese blacks, enjoy some herbals and the odd roasted oolong. Greens and whites can make me nauseous, but I will have flavoured ones on occasion. While I don’t yet enjoy puerh, I desperately want to. Chamomile and coconut are the devil though, I wish they didn’t exist. Mint has been a particular favourite of mine since childhood, and I enjoy both flavoured and pure teas pretty equally. If it’s well crafted and delicious, I’m there!

As for ratings, I try to only log teas once or twice because I drink a lot of the same ones repeatedly. My rating is based on my perception of the tea at first tasting and is adjusted if anything notable occurs in subsequent cups. For some reason, I don’t really like to rate things below 60 even if I don’t like them, but I’m TRYING to use more of the scale, rather than just the top half.

86 – 100: WOW. I need this tea on hand at home, work and with every relative or friend I tend to visit.
76 – 85: This is a solid tea. I enjoy it, and would recommend it to others.
61 – 75: Just okay. I can drink it, but I don’t necessarily want to. Will try again if I have to, but life is too short to waste on average tea.
41 – 60: Bleh. Might finish it, but it’s not to my taste OR just doesn’t impress me at all.
0 – 40: No thank you, please. Take it away and don’t make me finish the cup.