“What’s in your cup?”
This morning, courtesy of KittyLovesTea, I brewed Keemun Congou Rose by St. Martin’s Tea & Merchants: 2 tsp (5 g) / 8 oz / 205*F / 2-4 min. without sweeteners, milk, or cream.
Leaf: Chocolate brown, uniformly short Keemun blended with obvious rose petals
Fragrance: POTENT rose
Liquor: Dark amber brown
Aroma: Floral, very mild Keemun
Flavor:
2 min.: It was not yet full-bodied so I let it steep another minute.
3 min.: Not quite yet, so I gave it another minute.
4 min.: This Keemun was full-bodied, rich and smooth. There was no bitterness and only a slight bit of astringency near the tip of the tongue toward the bottom of the cup. There’s a little tartness in the aftertaste. The flavor follows the potent rose fragrance: rose on the first part of the sip and a rich Keemun on the back half of the sip.
5-min. Re-steep: This cup was less tart and only slightly less full-bodied.
This Keemun is truly unique and should not to be missed by those who enjoy floral scented / flavored black teas.
Note: It also helps if you live in England or know someone who does. This tea is not currently available on St. Martin’s Tea & Merchants website. This unique tea tasting experience was only possible thanks to the kindness of KittyLovesTea who lives in Leicester, England. She surprised us by including it with a Tea Horse Keemun Orchid and some TeaVivre Keemun samples I’ve recently reviewed.
Method:
RO water re-mineralized with an Aptera filter http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/39532-puregen-aptera-alkamag-water-filter
http://steepster.com/teaware/teavana/39311-perfect-tea-spoon
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
I love how “organized” your tea reviews are looseTman :-)
Thanks!