Keemun Queen's Hope

We are having this tea for breakfast and I am quite liking it. It’s a very smooth black tea with good flavor. Others have remarked on the smokiness but I am not getting much, especially compared to some other Keemuns I have tried. It is very English breakfast-y. Fruity but without the astringency of a darjeeling. A bit pungent. Fairly mild for a Keemun IMO. I like this enough that I might want to keep some around for morning time. I also drink a lot of pu-erh on a regular basis so you see where my tastes lie… heh

My 5th tea from The Book of Tea. I kept the brewing time short as suggested by others. The aroma was rich and unique – very smoky (but of course nothing like the bacon-smokiness of Lupicia’s Lapsang Souchong) and also earthy. Taste-wise it’s somewhat pungent, bitter, with hints of plums. Quite a complicated tea huh. It isn’t the kind of tea that will be liked by everyone… it’s more an acquired taste I think, and it may have a greater appeal to sophisticated and adventurous tea drinkers. Definitely not my cup of tea, though I don’t mind having it with Chinese food (which is what we Chinese always do)! I really can’t imagine serving it with milk…

This tea has a distinctive aroma! It’s hard to describe. It almost smells peppery.

Something in the aroma is off putting, but I can’t put my finger on what it reminds me of. Gander described this tea as smoky, and that’s probably it. Smoky is an apt description.

I bought a Lupicia sampler kit for my mom a while back. She said she loved every tea except for one, which she described as tasting like dirty diapers. As soon as I remembered that story, I started laughing. I think this might be the same tea!

Okay, I’ve put off actually tasting it for long enough. I’m not brave enough to try it straight first, so I’m adding milk.

The verdict: the aroma is scarier than the taste. I’m adding a little sugar now.

Yeah, this is not my cup of tea. On subsequent tastings, I’m afraid this one is going down the drain.

If you like smokiness, then this is the tea for you. I just can’t get “dirty diapers” out of my head. Thanks, Mom! ;P

Recommended brewing time is pretty short, 2-3 minutes. Smokier than other Keemun teas I’ve tried, like a lighter version of Lapsang Souchong, and also more astringent compared to smooth Keemun like H&S English Breakfast, with a slight citrus note. Not my favorite tea, but this would be nice with an Asian light meal or snack.