Copper Knot Hongcha

Oh… this is GOOD. I’m not a big fan of Teavana, but, I have to admit that this is a really good tea. Very rich and flavorful, malty tones, sweet honey-caramel notes.

Very nice.

Hmmm, the first steep I made of this was entirely too strong, not really bitter, I don’t think (I had it before dropping the dog off at the regular vet this morning, so I was more focused on her than the tea)—just not right. It had a mild astringency which was unexpected (don’t ask why, I don’t know), and so rather unwelcome. I used 1 teaspoon of leaf to 12 oz of water, probably too little leaf, and steeped it for three minutes, which, reading other reviews, might have been a minute too much. I don’t quite know how to describe what was wrong with the first cup, it just wasn’t right.

The second steep is better, not so astringent and strong, was done for four minutes. It does resteep well, though I don’t think I’m going to push these for a third resteep. I think I need to brew it with more leaf and less time before I make up my mind about this tea. I wanted to love it immediately, I did buy four ounces during Teavana’s sale, so I have plenty.

Thanks for this one Rachel!

This smells sweet but slightly chewy/bake-E. The taste reminds me of a mellower Yunnan. It’s a bit on the sweet side for a black and it’s fairly mouthwatering. There is a small hint of chewy-ness but not really bake-E or cakey. This one is pretty good, not really bold or overly rich, but still pleasing!

Thanks Ze_Teamaker! The leaves are so pretty! The aroma of this tea kind of reminds me of Dragon Pearls with it’s sweet notes. The flavor is just as delicious. It has the boldness of a strong black tea but has sweet, dark chocolate and caramel notes of a warm, fresh baked caramel brownie. Mmmmm I’m so happy I got to try this! Thanks again!

No matter what I do I just can’t get a rich, strong out of this one. I added more leaves and steeped longer with a slight increase in flavor but still not enough for me. I will try this again and hope for better results.

I had this iced, today, because we were in the mall and made the mistake of giving this absurdly over-priced company our business. I guess it beats going to Star$ for Tazo tea-bags.

They were out of the black dragon pearls so I had to settle for the hongcha. As with almost all to-go iced tea, it was over-watered down. Their shop is so loud I had no hope of shouting to her not to put all that much ice in it, I just didn’t want it to be too hot to drink.

A perfectly fine cuppa. I’m just fuming about what we spent on 6oz of chai.

I just don’t know about this tea. I was expecting alot from these leaves and came up empty-handed (not an uncommon event with Teavana teas).

I’ve never had anything from the Yunnan province, but this stuff tastes distinctively Assam to me. It’s alright, but not $9 alright. They describe the flavor as complex, but it just seems kind of one note, in my opinion. You can pick up some of Teavana’s Himalayan Majestic for a few cents cheaper and get much more bang for your buck.

Story Time: Not much… Just been playing Minecraft again. I have not played this game in months!!! It has changed soooo much. It doesn’t even seem like the same game. Now to just get my sever for it back up…

Tea-Time: This is my first real loose black tea. I wanted to find a good strong black tea and decided to give this one a try. The brew of this smells really strong of dark chocolate and is a golden red. Since I heard this brews bitter easily I made sure to brew it under 3.

This is REALLY STRONG black tea. I had to use a little bit more sweetener then normal. Very malty with a sort of smokey finish, which makes it taste like drinking dark chocolate. I don’t taste much honeyness that some have said to have tasted. I put a little bit of Half & Half in it and it really tasted like dark chocolate; The maltyness kinda mellowed out.

The only downside is that besides the malty chocolate flavor, it is kinda flat and doesn’t go anywhere flavor wise. You can re-steep this a few times; though 3 is kinda pushing it, since it losses a lot of it’s chocolaty flavor and is more like a plain black tea.

I have been playing around with it and put in some star anise spice and it tasted good with it. I can’t wait to see how this does to make Thai Iced Tea…

Overall I would recommend this to someone who wants a strong chocolaty black tea…

Specifics
Water: 28oz
Amount: 2 TBL
Sweetener: 1 TBL of light agave
Any Additives: 1 small anise star and sometimes H&H

Got this in the mail today (a swap with Emilie).

I like the curlicue look of it, and when it steeps, the leaves open up to be surprisingly massive. Lots of fun to watch.

To me it smells a bit like nutmeg or some vague christmasy spice combination I can’t quite place.

There’s a little grassiness to it and a little spice. Fairly full-bodied and maltier than I was expecting. As it cools it starts to smell like freshly baked bread, and the best way I can describe the taste is like gingerbread without the ginger. I know that doesn’t make much sense, and, not being into baking, can’t vouch for its accuracy. It is what it is. :) I’m getting, oddly enough, hints of cinnamon, and yep, there’s that Yunnan honey goodness.

It’s pretty good. Strong enough without being bitter or astringent. I’ll have to experiment with it. As it stands I think it’s tasty but nothing special. It seems like if I prepare it differently it could turn into that “comfort in a cup” kinda tea.

This is a good tea. It gives it to you straight. Not a bunch of astringency, not overwhelming flowers or spice or unbalanced flavor. It’s a stand-up tea with just the tiniest hint of pepper, and it’s very yummy. It’s still unmistakably a Chinese tea, but it’s a Ceylon drinker’s Chinese tea.

I find a great many Chinese black teas too weak for milk, or just feel that their flavor is balanced in an unfavorable way. Not so with Copper Knot Hongcha. Very smooth. Being a Teavana tea it is overpriced, but it’s still one of my favorite Chinese blacks.

I’ll be up all night transcribing music and charting songs. This tea will be my study buddy! It’s a highly underestimated tea. I find it sitting in my cupboard all unassuming, minding it’s own business. I always forget that it’s actually a pretty good tea. The only thing is, it doesn’t have any real defining characteristics (other than the shape of the leaves). It could be any chinese “red” tea you’ve ever had. Honey and malt. Nonetheless, it’s good tea and good company. Back to work go I.

So far, has to be my favorite traditional black tea. It has the lighter smoky tones of the golden monkey, but darker and stronger, I find. It can get a tad bitter if oversteeped but not undrinkably so.

This was another tea which I received for my birthday. The flavor is very smoky, but the smell is that of a Keemun. The leaves had a golden hue to them, similar to high quality Assam. The first time I brewed the tea, I remember thinking it wasn’t strong enough. However, the second time, I remember loving the flavor strength. It seemed to variate between a nice, smoky, muscatel flavor, and a fruity, mild Assam. As the flavor seemed to change with every cup, I realized that I really liked this tea. The best time which this tea serves me is in the morning. That’s when I need a strong breakfast tea. However, though this tea is strong, it is quite smooth. The leaves are also of a great quality. I think I’ll order this one again, just like some of the other Birthday teas I’ve gotten this year.

I decided to try this while my future wife and I were out. Overall I didn’t think it was too bad. As I sipped it more on the way home I realized how much it tasted like the Yunnan black tea that I got at the local Asian supermarket…..except there for .75 cents an ounce. It’s good but I’d rather save the four dollars an ounce for something else.

I actually won this tea from Teavana’s Twitter contest. The first time i tried this tea i steeped it to long and did not care for the flavor. The Second time i had it, i stop it at 3 minutes, MUCH MUCH better.

I visited the great folks at my local Teavana retail outlet today at lunch. Due to the large amount of referrals I have provided them, they were generous enough to give me a free cup of this little number.

I am a big black tea fan, and this one does not dissapoint. Very similar to Black Dragon Pearls, but with a little extra wang to it. Good stuff.

The leaves come out of the tin looking like those dehydrated worms that you feed fish with. But they unfurl into pretty whole leaves! And the color of the tea is so nice, a medium dark golden brown. It smells, well, like wet leaves.

I like the taste, woodsy, mushroomy, a hint of sweetness, a little nutty, yet very delicate. The flavor comes out more as it cools. I like this one. I don’t think it has a whole lot of caffeine in it because I fell asleep on the couch after having two cups this afternoon. So I think this is something I can have late into the day as well and not be up all night. It would be good after a long after dinner stroll on a cold evening.

I’ve seen a lot of either hate or love for this tea and I can understand why, I’m defiantly closer to the “love” side. While I haven’t experienced as many black teas as I would like to claim, this is defiantly a very pleasant tea and when I used to work at Teavana it was my default black tea next to the black dragon pearls. Like the name suggests, it kind of has a copper like taste that is hard for me to describe, one might even call it “smokey” which is also accurate. I also like how the maltiness is at the perfect level for my tastes, it may be too much for others but when I’m in the mood for this tea its quite rewarding. Not the best black tea out there I’m sure, but for a store that sells their teas for ridiculously high prices this tea is priced quite well at $9 per 2oz.

I actually work in a Teavana, and I’ll say that the prices are sort of painful – but this tea, being the least expensive unflavored black the store sells, is actually well worth its money.

The trick is in knowing how much tea to use and how long to steep it, and I’ll be the first to admit that nearly all of the info on the Teavana page is incorrect. It takes time to figure out each tea’s specifications, and when prepared carefully, there’s no bitterness in the copper knot brew. The water shouldn’t be boiling, first of all. Add a small chunk of ice and let it cool the water down first. This tea requires maybe two minutes’ steeping to drink hot, and I don’t cross 2:40 to ice it. If you double the amount of tea to make it iced, it’s absolutely delicious. I use a full teaspoon per 8oz of water and it comes up perfect (nearly) every time.

When it’s made right, the copper knot has warm honeyish caramel notes and a gorgeous reddish-gold liquor. I’d say 2-3 resteeps are good; I’ve done more, but after 3 they go downhill. Just be careful about how you steep it, and it will come up well.

I really like this tea. It’s my morning standard. As an English tea-drinker abroad I tried a lot of breakfast blends that just didn’t cut it. Then I had to give up dairy, and even PG Tips didn’t seem right. This tea got me back to tea drinking. It’s robust, malty, coppery, and tastes of Essence-of-Tea. It’s great even without milk. The leaves are gorgeous. I resteep at least twice, so this is reasonable in cost.