Kenya Milima

Another sample from the Harney batch. Not really a favorite of mine – I steeped this for 4 minutes per the instructions of H & S. I fear this may have been too long. The website says this tea is light in body and a mellow brew. I am finding it to be fruity but quite astringent and with a bitter aftertaste. Reminiscent of a Ceylon to me and not an Assam.

I would like more of this to do some experiments on the steeping time but all I have is this one little pot and I won’t be getting more I suspect.

Good morning Steepsterites.

I mentioned yesterday this new budding habit of sharing a morning pot with the boyfriend. Well, it has downsides when as today I get up two and a half hours before him and get to sit here and wait for my morning tea. AFTER having decided what we’re having this morning. And no, I can’t just make me a cup myself, because that would be cheating.

Anyway, it appears that I am actually getting through the sample basket more than I thought. I had a look at the Steepster cupboard, went all the way to the last pages and looked at those never posted about yet. Only two untried, unflavoured blacks left! This was one of them, so now there’s just a Yunnan left. Still a fair number of oolong and green and such, though.

I can’t work out what the boyfriend actually thinks of Yunnans. I’ve seen him drink it, but I’ve also seen him drink other things with more enthusiasm. So chosing between the two was pretty easy.

I was pleasantly surprised by the smell of the leaf when I opened the sample. It was sort of a leather-y and dried berries sort of aroma. Maybe some associations to how pipe tobacco smells as well, but the dried berries, cherries in particular, were my first association.

This is pretty much the same in the aroma of the steeped tea. It’s cherry-y, leather-y and sort of fragrant wood-y, but still primarily cherry.

When it comes to the flavour, it definitely gets the stamp of Boyfriend Approval, as he just called out his appreciation from the other room. He doesn’t do that every day.

And it is an interesting flavour. It’s slightly astringent, just the merest hint of dryness to it. It comes across as slightly floral and quite pseudo-smoky, which is enhanced by that note of fragrant wood that I found in the aroma as well.

The whole cherries note is sadly not as prominent in the flavour, but if you are searching for it, there is still some of it to be found. It’s a slightly tangy note just hovering around the edges of the sip. It is not to be confused with the way sencha sakura has cherry in it, this is much less flower-y and more berry-y, especially if you would imagine a dried cherry. Or possibly dried cranberries as well, to a smaller degree, but mainly cherry.

Very nice indeed. I could drink this on a regular basis.

Today was hectic, so to relax a little this afternoon, I decided to try a sample I had been keeping back. YET ANOTHER sample from the thoughtful, dependable, generous, and friendly QuiltGuppy. Her tasting note made this tea sound so good to me, the tea exceeded my expectations, which were fairly high in the first place. The tobacco aroma is there at the beginning, but also black tea, maltiness is present. Steeped, the color is golden, a beautiful cup. The hint of tobacco at the start of the sip is incredible. Not a cheap cigarette grade, but a fine, aged pipe tobacco. In no way is it too strong, just a hint. The tobacco quickly dissolves into a malty assam-like flavor but very smooth.
The smoke at the end is a trace, faintly there.

I like this, and will be buying some with my next H&S order.

Dry, this tea smells vaguely of… tobacco. Hm. It’s interesting. It’s a darker tea, but not quite black in color. 205/1.5 min.

The aroma of tobacco is still present. In the taste, as well. It’s a slightly smoky tea, but with a tanginess as well that is surprising and pleasant. There’s a slight astringency to the tea, even at a lower temp and shorter steep time than recommended. The tea is well-rounded and has some complexity as I’m finding that the finish tends to change, beginning with a malty flavor, to tanginess, then the touch of smokiness lingers for a moment or two.

This was my second cuppa from Harney & Sons, the first being their Risheehat 1st flush darjeeling (which I hope to be rating soon). I have been waiting a while for my tea allowance to catch up with my desire to try a Kenyan, as well as to simply buy from Harney’s, and this tea has been well worth the wait.

The first thing I must say is: unless you are drinking this tea with milk/sugar (or like your tea super duper dark) DO NOT follow the steep time it says on the tin. 5 minutes will give you a fine enough taste, but the bite is a bit too lionlike for my tonuge to handle. I brewed at 2.5 minutes without milk or sugar and it was perfect!

The texture is round, full, and bold. Maybe not as bold as an Assam, however the mouthfeel was quite fulfilling. The taste had this warm honey quality that is lasting in my mouth even now, an hour and a half after my cup. The aroma was joy inducing, also honey like, with a pretty note of sweet flowers.

To sum it all up, this Kenyan was a great all around tea experience, as long as you follow your own likes and dislikes as far as brewing time and temperature. I am very elated with my second teasperience from Harney & Sons and can’t wait to move on to my next Harney purchase: the Chamraj Nilgiri.

’Til we sip again!

After reading the comments here, I decided to go with the shorter steep time. It’s becoming my favorite non-flavored tea for afternoons and coffee-less mornings. I don’t even need to put sugar or milk in it.

A nice, crisp, basic light black tea. I agree with their comparison to assam.

Brewed long and strong, my first cup of the day. Possibly my mistake. I think I need something more ordinary to wake up my taste buds. I didn’t get any of the tobacco or smoky scent others have mentioned when I opened the tin or when I tasted it.

Which is not to say I disliked it. Not at all. I’m going to give it another chance after I finish this cup of Assam.

I did see grainy bits in the bottom of my cup. That may be the fault of my mesh strainer, but, hmmm. I examined the wet leaves from the strainer after >5 minues steeping and they were still firm and twiggy. I purposely used a larger tea ball than needed to give the leaves plenty of room to expand, and I wasn’t expecting the result I got.

This tea has a very light aroma. I steeped for five minutes, which may have been too long as this brew is very bitter without much character. Cream and sugar helped soften the bitterness while tasting but the finish was still very bitter and dry. I will try a shorter steep time for my next cup but so far this is not the tea for me. It is just too bitter.

UPDATE:
My second cup was steeped for four minutes, which drastically reduced the bitterness. Even so, I found this tea still a bit too dry and the flavor uninteresting.

Quite a nice tea. I purchased a 4 oz tin of this direct from Harney & Sons with the rest of my order since I was interested in trying a real tea from Africa. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality and subtle flavor. I brewed it first at 185 / 2min 15sec, but got a lot of tannins. Brewing it 185 / 1min 15sec was lovely, but could probably be brewed longer/stronger.

The tea is very smooth, and much lighter than other black teas. At its price, it is also a nice deal for a nice tea.

Nice Malty and chocolate notes. Rich

Didn’t really enjoy this one. Too bitter. Even with my usual heavy doses of cream and sugar, it was too much. (Tobacco?) Tried steeping for less time, and it was better, but still don’t enjoy the flavor as much as other teas.