Keemun Mao Feng

Treating myself to this magical tea today. The touch of smoke. The chocolate notes. The richness. The inexplicably fruity note on the end of the sip. This is a wonderful, wonderful miracle of nature that always stops me in my tracks whenever I brew a cup. I love all of my teas, but this one I treasure.

So! De! Lish! Ous! I haven’t had this tea for awhile – why, I can’t fathom, because it is one of my favorites. Today it was so beyond wonderful – it was like the first time I ever had some. Rich, chocolatey, fruity, without ever doubting you are drinking tea and nothing but.

It would be impossible for me to pick my favorite tea, but sheesh, this is in the top five for sure!

Yay! Steepster loads at work, too! I am so happy!

Even with the humidity, Fall is in the air. I don’t know how to describe it – a different quality of light, a clammy humidity instead of a hot one. All that I know is that I am starting to crave my heavier teas and foods :) Today is the first time I’m drinking Keemun Mao Feng in weeks and weeks!

Ahhh, so rich and delicious. Light smoke and depth, but a sweetness, too. Spectacular.

Do you know how long I’ve been pining for my very own tin of Harney’s Keemun Mao Feng? Exactly two months (when ashmanra sent me some, and I drank up her generous allotment in under a week!!!!!) That’s how long!

I am so over the moon happy because I finally have 4 ounces of this exactly suited to my tastes morning tea in my possession…and possession is a good word in more ways than one, because I am simply in thrall to this tea! A little chocolate, a little smoke, a bold tea flavor that is SO smooth, round and complex. I truly love so many teas, but I am going to go out on a limb and say that this is my absolute favorite tea in the entire wide world.

Love, love, love, love, love, love, love!

Many, many thanks to ashmanra for letting me try this tea, because I think it is one of the most delicious teas to ever cross my lips! I am feeling tragic that this is the end of my sample.

Smooth, sweet, chocolatey. Balanced…tangy, a little smoky and savory too. If I had to narrow it down to one word, it would be RICH. To my mind, this tea is the perfect example of why tea connoisseurs say an extremely high quality single origin tea is so head and shoulders above any flavored or blended tea. I like a nice flavored or blended tea just as much as the next person, but OH! This is something so special and delicious.

Truly, madly, deeply in lurve!

I simply adore this tea. It has instantly shot up to my top 10 list :) It kinda reminds me of a love child of Queen Catherine and Emperor’s Red. Just a little smoky. Rich. Roasty. Chocolatey. Sweet. Somehow relaxing and decadent…almost like a glass of port or some other spirit that makes you want to sit back and sigh and ruminate.

Today is an especially wonderful Keemun Mao Feng day. Very rich and chocolatey. Miraculous!

This one is a bit of heaven with an Everything Bagel, toasted, with cream cheese too. :)

Mmmmmmmmmmmm. Just popping in, saying hi, and exclaiming, “My, my, you are so delicious this morning, Mr. Keemun Mao Feng!”

Tea of the afternoon…..

I finally made it to my winter break! We have a few little side trips to make, but mostly we will be home for the next few weeks. Bliss! This is my celebratory cuppa, and I just realized that I still have a whole tin of it left. More to celebrate! Also, winter looks like it has officially arrived at our house. I think we got round 9 inches of snow yesterday. Bring it, Old Man Winter! I have my tea to keep me warm!

This is my tea first love. It has been so long since I have had a cup of this, I was worried that it would not appeal as much. Some of the teas I thought I really liked over the past few years are pretty much in the ‘meh’ category as of now. This one, however, has stood the test of time. I love it just as much today as I ever have. It is my tea perfection by which all other black teas seem to be compared. I do reserve this one for special days, and I definitely think that might be contributing to my feelings about it. Whatever it is, I am going with it! Notes of cocoa, malt, slight smoke, and just…..magic.

Usual teapot method. I do measure the perfect teaspoons on the scant side for this one.

Second tea of the morning…..

And I made a whole pot worth. I think it is time for me to come clean. I am well on my way to becoming a serious tea snob. I am reaching a point where the only teas I want to keep in my stash are the more expensive ones. I do have a few bargain loves, but my tastes are evolving into something pricey. Luckily, my husband is a craft beer drinker…..that means my expensive tea is still likely less expensive than his beer. Except that he does not have a stash……

I am pretty sure this tea was my first tea splurge. I bought my first tin a little over a year ago, and I thought I was nuts spending $24 for 4 oz. of tea. Now, it costs even more ($20 for 2 oz) and I am so thankful I did, and someone bought me a spare tin of this for a gift before the price change. I love this one, but I always forget it is back in the back of the cupboard. Notes of dark chocolate, the slightest bit of smoke for complexity, and just oh so smooth. My first true love in a black tea.

Usual teapot method.

I think part of my problem with my stash is that I am always trying to find less expensive versions of tea that I love. Maybe that is not such a great pursuit. By just enjoying the more expensive one, I will have better turnover. By seeking out the bargain, I have a half a tin of expensive tea, and another half a tin of inexpensive tea sitting in my cupboard…. In reality, that sounds like a funny kind of math for cost and space. Yep, I am still learning.

(2nd) Tea of the morning……

Ahhh. That is the sigh of happiness. My first pot of tea this morning was a dump out. You know those teas that you keep trying to like because you have a slight bit of buyer’s remorse…. well, this is the reward tea, because I finally got rid of the tea that was no longer making my tea journey a happy one. I should probably do even a little more stash editing, but I think my tea drinking friends are tealogged themselves!

Then, it was onto the tea that I know can fix any bad mood…..my first black tea love….Harney’s Keemun Mao Feng. I love this one any day. And really, I should drink this one more often. I still have a full tin from when they were sold as 4 oz (rather than 2) to enjoy.

Definite notes of cocoa and malt. The slightest hint of smoke. Very rich and wonderful. This is one of which I never tire.

On a super wonderful note, we are finally getting some much needed rain. I did not know my grass could turn gray in spots…..I have seen brown and crunchy, but never gray and essentially flat. I am thinking it might need reseeding in places. Actually, I have been more worried about the trees. Such an odd Summer. But I guess it was time for the extreme warm weather. I remember a summer here when we were lucky to get up to 80. Now 80 seems like a cold spell. Anyway, I will enjoy the rain and this wonderful tea. Life is good.

Usual teapot method….yes, a whole teapot with a resteep! Soo happy!

Tea of the afternoon……

Definitely the notes of smoke. In comparison to the many versions of Panyang I have consumed today, this Keemun Mao Feng has a note of smoke. I am not sure I have tasted it this prevalently before, and part of the reason I wanted to taste them in progression. Notes of smoke, chocolate and malt that translates into a darker chocolate note plus a slight smokiness. Yum.

This brings another question to mind, though. Is it possible that our response to tasting a tea is dependent on what we previously sampled? I am starting to think so.

Now I am off to do some resteeping until I float away!~

Usual mug method…..

Tea of the morning…….

Ever since reading JacquelineM’s post about this tea yesterday past my time for caffeine consumption for the day, I have been craving this tea. I am wondering if that is why I did not sleep well. Anticipation. Well, here it is, and it is just as good as I remember. How does this compare to other types of Keemun? The leaves are longer and finer, the taste is mellow and complex all at once. Notes of refined smoke and dark chocolate. Very smooth. Ahhh. My first love in black tea. I have gone on to love others, but there is just something about a first love.

I think I missed the timer by a few minutes this morning in the mad rush. The beauty of this tea? It is very forgiving in an oversteep. To quote JacquelineM. “De! Lish! Ous!”

Usual mug method, about a 6 minute steep. Very lightly sweetened.

This is a backlog from yesterday…….

I had a tea to go of this with honey from Harney & Son’s in Soho. Yes, that is absolutely correct. This bumpkin from Ohio just happened to be at a trade show in NJ where we were done in the early afternoon. My boss asked if there was anywhere I wanted to go in NYC, and the first thing that came to mind was Harney’s. It was such a great treat to get to go….I sampled Pomegranate Oolong, and had a sample of Golden Snail iced. I picked up some Midsummer’s Peach loose leaf by the ounce, and a few ounces of English Breakfast to try at home. The store is beautiful and yet simple. The staff was extremely helpful. After shopping at Harney, we had dinner in Little Italy, and then went to Veniero’s for dessert. My boss bought me another tin of Keemun Mao Feng as a gift. It was a total squee day for a diehard Harney fan.

For those that wonder about their pricing per ounce, from what I saw, they sell by the ounce based upon the online price per pound (pound price/16 = ounce price). I do know the Millerton store will ship amounts of 2 ounces or more out to US for $4.75 up to $25, $5.50 for up to $50, and $6.50 for up to $125… and ships for free at $125. This sounds like a great option to me, if you need refills for your tins……

First cup of the morning…..

This is a review of the most recent offering of Keemun Mao Feng from Harney (end April 2013). I just recently checked the website, and it does look as if they are out of stock except for samples. It was a great score for me as they had free shipping at $25, there was a coupon code for 10% off, and they had reduced the cost of the tins of this tea by more than half since they only had a few in stock. Yes, I bought more than my fair share because this is my black tea first love even though it might be a different harvest than my first two (4 oz.) tins. I am guessing they will have some in stock again in the Fall, but only if the tea of this season is up to the standards of Mr. Harney. I feel incredibly lucky.

The Keemun Mao Feng from Harney is so complex. Leaves are long, dark, and wirey. It does have cocoa notes, slight hints of smoke, and a slight note of earthiness, all rolled up together in a smooth and very rich mouthfeel. I would say this offering is slightly more complex than the last, but it could be contributed to the growing conditions for that year. I am not sorry I bought too much. I will double check this against the last offering just to be sure how it compares in the next few days.

Can I just say I am in Keemun Mao Feng heaven? I think this and the Upton ZK67 will keep me quite happy, as they really are two different experiences in my book. Choose the ZK67 if the idea of slight smoke and a touch of earthiness is not your thing. If you are looking for something very complex, hope that Harney will offer this again in the future.

Usual mug method. Resteep coming up.

Editing to add: It looks like they have some more at $9 per tin! I have enough, but I thought others might want to know!

Tea of the morning…..

This morning I am drinking my older version of Keemun Mao Feng. I think this was purchased at the SoHo store in 2010. It is very comparable to the Keemun Mao Feng I purchased earlier this week. I am very pleased with my purchase and so glad I was able to have enough of this left to compare.

Usual mug method. Resteep is just as good at 5 minutes. I might even try for a third.

I can’t belive this is the first pot of this I have made in my new little green teapot. (I think the teapot needs a name! Maybe Sprout? Camellia?) The thought of drinking this all day by the time I resteep makes me so happy!

I am dragging a little these days. My kids have only a little over a week of school left, and we are definitely overscheduled. Luckily, all of the things we are doing are very fun, and all part of having a young teen and pre-teen in the house.

Here is where I get back to the tea….. This afternoon I was thinking of the perfect tea pick me up. Usually, it is Rose Congou, but I had that yesterday. Today, nothing by my favorite Keemun Mao Feng would do. I wish I could think of wonderful words to decribe the taste of this tea, but for now, since I am spent, we will have to settle for restoration in a cup.

I thought I would drink this one in contrast to my previous log for tea that is 4 cents a cup. This one works out to be 50 cents a cup. Yep, roasty, toasy with chocolate notes, super smooth and pure yum. However, I would never dream of icing this one. For me, iced tea is more about the temperature than the actual quality of the tea. I nearly always drink iced tea without any additions, even sweetener. I use iced tea mostly to refresh. In order to truly savor a tea, I must have it hot. Prepared with just enoough sweetener to bring out the chocolate notes. Second steap at 6 minutes….and just as good as the first. Worth the price!

I had three jumbo mugs of this today. Yum! The resteaps were as good as the first. Feeling rather spoiled…..

Enjoying some of the remains of this sample which was generously supplied by SimplyJenW many moons ago. I remember really liking it and hoarding the remains for some sort of good tea apocalypse. Steeped, the liquor is a light orange, I’m surprised at how light it is, actualy. The aroma is very bold with a strong cocoa note and a sense of bitterness, but that could be the cocoa I’m picking up on.

First sips yield a bold rich cocoa that quickly morphs into a sweet note with a hint of spice in there. Cinnamon is my first thought, as it so frequently is. It’s like I am drinking three distinct things but they are coming through in that order. This is even more remarkable than my memory of it led me to believe. I am getting absolutely no bitterness and not any discernible astringency, just cocoa, something sweet and something cinnamon. Fantastic!

I just looked this up on the Harney site and though it is definitely a delicious tea I was surprised at the price. $20 for 2 oz is about $20 for 50 grams – it is definitely good, but that price is unbelievable. For $10/ounce I would probably rather pick up some Verdant Tea but I am really glad to have this sample still. Thanks again SimplyJen!

Well, this is different….I wanted iced tea and I wanted it right away, and it had to be sweet tea because I was trying to create a real Southern meal such as would be served after a funeral.

Food is of utmost importance at Southern funerals. Now, there wasn’t a funeral but there was a burial as I finally got around to burying my eldest brother who was old enough to be my dad and who died in 1984. My daughters and I had to find his box and dig it up when my mother’s property was sold after her death, which wasn’t easy because Dad never told us EXACTLY where he had buried the ashes. I wasn’t even sure they were in a box, but thankfully, they were. (Are you horrified? Or amused? Bet you’re wishing you coulda been there!)

SO – I promised the kids real fried chicken and fixins’ because I don’t fry ANYTHING EVER but that is what you eat after a burial. By the time we got home from the cemetary and buying the food we were so hungry! I couldn’t wait long enough to brew a pot of tea, but I had a pot of Keemun Mao Feng left over from yesterday. I heated it a bit in the microwave, added a little sugar and poured it over ice! Ta-dah! The best iced tea I have ever had, I think. It had a lovely rich edge that grocery store bags just don’t give you – a little something extra in the flavor profile. Bravo, Keemun Mao Feng! Rest in peace, big brother. I hope he heard us playing the 50’s and 60’s stations on satellite radio in his honor today!

I must like this pretty well because I just finished a 22 oz. pot by myself! Perhaps it is the warm weather but I have been guzzling my tea the past two days, not just sipping it! This tea is sweet, smooth, and has no trace of bitterness or astringency. It is fairly light-bodied to me, especially for a keemun. I think this has the lightest – almost non-existent – smoke and cocoa notes of any keemun I have tried. Good thing I like these plain. I wouldn’t want all those calories if I were adding milk and sugar. Fortunately, good tea is satisfying, calorie free and very good for you!

I seem to have become particularly susceptible to suggestion lately. Paul mentioned a tea tasting like buttered squash – I went to the produce market and bought squash. Jacqueline drank Keemun Mao Feng – I drank Keemun Mao Feng! This tea is as smooth as they come, and I had a whole pot sans additions to go with my Panera double fudge brownie and fresh strawberries. Yummy teatime on a beautiful spring day in the great outdoors!

I served this at today’s young people (plus two adults) tea party. We had a few extra today – five kids in all! And that is not counting mine as they were otherwise engaged. Everyone LOVED this tea! It is smooth and sweet, with all the attributes you expect from a keemun but more genteel. I love the strength of Hao Ya A, but when you want something milder yet still interesting and flavorful, this is a great tea.

Though my guest loved La Belle Helene best of these two today (we didn’t compare them to Golden Monkey, nothing compares to Golden Monkey!) this tea was especially good to me today. I tasted some breadiness or something I really hadn’t picked up on before. It went especially well with our tea treats. It was paired with homemade brownies, from freshly ground wheat, naturally, that were served with fresh strawberries, blueberries, and cherries. The tea was an excellent complement to such hearty, flavorful fare and didn’t fade at all, but held its own. Excellent tea today! I won’t bother to post another review of Harney Golden Monkey. Everyone knows how I feel about that!

I finished my tin of this today! GAH! Is that why it tasted extra good? This is a refined black tea with rich cocoa notes, though I don’t find it as full- bodied as the very similar Emperor’s Red by Premium Steap. It was excellent, and I am placing my Harney order now because I am out of this one and nearly out of three others that I really want to keep around. I will be putting in the notes to send those teas in a bag instead of a tin as I am overrun with tins. I was so glad to find that we can do this on the website! Good bye to the handsome older brother of Golden Snail! Sniff. Sob.

I steeped this one a little longer today after reading that going up to 7 minutes can release some new, subtle flavors. I wasn’t too brave, so I only took it to 6 min. 15. sec. instead of my usual 4 to 4 1/2 minutes. It certainly did not get bitter. I think I detected a little smoke, as expected from a keemun but very light, and this time I picked what I believe should be called toasted walnut! Maybe that is how the extra time affects the cocoa notes. There was also a light, fruity scent at the beginning that I didn’t notice as much as the tea cooled. I will resteep these leaves, and see how it goes leaving it for 7 minutes. In the meantime, I am finishing this 22 oz. pot sans additions, and it is very smooth. I kept it just under the boil, as I read here that is how they are doing it at Harney Soho.

Gray and cloudy out the window again, Rich Tea Biscuits and Nutella on the table, Alasdare Fraser radio on Pandora, and Keemun Mao Feng in our cups. I wanted to compare this back to back with Zhi Gong Fu Black. Both are excellent examples of the best Chinese tea. it has been a good tea day, and now there is a chance that we are going out of town and I may get to stop at the tea shop! What a good day this is shaping up to be!

Today was a special tea party day as our little guest was turning seven! We had chocolate fudge frosted brownies cut into butterfly shapes and sprinkled with colored sanding sugar made by my girls and Ginger Lemon Cremes…from the store! This tea was a delight with our desserts – smooth and sweet, it needs no additions.

This tea made its tea party debut today! My guest said it is a keeper, and it will be one of her favorites. It is mild but flavorful, smooth, and goes well with food or is very nice by itself. We took it sans additions.

Youngest daughter takes all her tea with milk and sugar and said she strongly prefers Hao Ya A to this one, but then she is an Irish Breakfast drinker! She likes somewhat gutsy teas.

For a tea to drink “as is” that has a bit of finesse, this one is a good choice. Hurray though, it is a rare tea with limited production and supplies run out. When that happens you just have to wait until next year’s harvest!

One of today’s tea party teas. Still as good as ever!

Smooth and delicious, this got more accolades than Paris at tea time today! I guess I am going to have to keep this one around, just as I do Golden Monkey…

Raining, raining, and gray! Chilly, too, so I needed a great cuppa to warm myself up. For some reason, this one is tasting like a terribly expensive dark roasted oolong today and I am LOVING it! There is the barest hint of keemun smoke and some cocoa notes. The tea is sweet and smooth – doesn’t need a thing.

I tried a resteep of these leaves at 7 minutes. It just isn’t doing it for me. This is weak. If I were in the mood for a soft oolong I would really be enjoying it, but as a black tea – well, I like mine stronger. It isn’t terrible, but the first steep really is much better!

I made a pot of this yesterday but was trying another tea at the time and got aalllll full of tea and drank only one cup. That’s okay. That means I have a pot to warm up today.

I drink this with no milk or sugar and it is so smooth, with wonderful cocoa flavors. It has nice body, but isn’t strong like Keemun Hao Ya A, which I like very much. This is just…different. More elegant and refined, I think!

Not sure if i didn’t clean my travel mug well enough this morning, but i brewed a pot of this today like i normally do and it tasted a bit funny. More “veggie-like” than normal. Not as sweet as i am normally used to.
Maybe I should steep it for less?

Starting my morning with this tea makes for a good rest of the day.

Felt like making a pot of this tonight. It’s just a very happy tea. Nice and sweet naturally so there is no need for sugar.
I bought myself a 4oz tin of this yesterday because i was running low on the 2 oz i bought around Valentine’s day. mmm