Premium Keemun Hao Ya Black Tea

I’ve sort of lost the whole tea writing mood lately, as you can see from all the short I’m-behind-posts. We’re having this one right now, though, and I’m going to make myself sit down and write something pseudo-intelligent about it.

I like a Keemun to be largely smooth and rounded, but with a little bit of a smoky edge to it. Just a bit. I like the smokier tasting Keemuns better than the more floral tasting ones, and my least favourites are the ones that fall right in the middle of that spectrum because they’re so confusing!

This one has a mild aroma. It’s grainy and kinda sweet, and unfortunately it’s one of those where I can’t tell whether I think it’s more one or more the other. sigh In many other things I would call that a perfect balance, but in this particular kind of tea? I really really want it to be more smoky than floral. I really can’t decide what I think here, and now I’ve put lotion on my hands and can’t smell anything other than that so we’ll just move on.

The flavour is going a lot better in terms of leaning towards smoky or floral. Unfortunately for me, it’s more floral. Still, it’s better than the middle of the scale.

It makes up for this, though, by being extraordinarily cocoa-y. It’s just not a note I’m connecting with this type at all, normally, so it’s really interesting to find it here. It was actually the boyfriend who found it and pointed it out to me, and now I can’t untaste it.

It’s like all the grainyness that I would normally have expected to find has been transformed into cocoa. How interesting!

Another thing that’s interesting is how I’m apparently the only one to have thought it more floral than smoky… It makes me feel a little disappointed in my own tastebuds.

I’m dithering about this one. It’s a very good tea, yes, but it’s not at all what I want in a Keemun. I have to say, I miss the grain. I miss the association to proper Danish rye bread, dark and wholegrain-y, like this http://www.grillguru.dk/forum/userpix/1312_DSC_1283_1.jpg (not my site, not my picture. The magic of Google image search)

I’m definitely very much enjoying this one, but it’s not… it’s not it! So, if you were me, would you rate it solely on the experience of this particular cup, or would you deduct points for not being what you wanted it to be?

I’m going to give it a tentative score. Then we’ll see if I end up adjusting it.

I tend to forget that I like Keemun. I recently finished off a tin of a low grade Keemun from a local tea store, and turned to this one today to try something I hadn’t tasted before. Teavivre graciously sent me this in my first batch of samples months and months ago – and though I thought I tried it, apparently not. Actually, I owe Teavivre half a dozen reviews. I feel miserable about it, but a lot of times I just want to drink a tea and enjoy it, rather than thinking about the review I owe. Anyway, on to the tea.

We did a steep with boiling water for around 3 minutes, the liquor was rich and surprisingly brown in our new glass bubble tea cups. If you want smallish double walled cups, the Bubble ones at Davids Tea are super cute. I love them. Anyway, the tea was rich in flavour, I remember lots of strong notes, reminiscent of chocolate. Why do so many of my favourite black teas remind me of chocolate?! I REALLY enjoyed this one and would consider adding it to the Teavivre order I am trying to make (for some reason their site is refusing our credit card as payment. I’m a little bummed). The flavour was bold but not harsh and it was very smooth with no bitterness. (all good points in my book!) See my note on Persian Apple for how the second steep went, heheh.

This is a keemun win, for sure. Now to get my order to process…

Free sample provided by Teavivre, thanks again to them. This is my first Keemun, hooray! I always love when I get to try something completely new to me. As far as aroma goes, I noticed similarities to my previous experiences with Chinese black teas, such as a malty aroma with hints of cocoa and a slight bit of honey. While the leaf was steeping, the cocoa aroma intensified and a small amount of smoke presented itself. Every tea has a tone or a feeling to it, and the tone that this tea was presenting was dark and haunting.

The taste followed suit with the aromas. Dark chocolate, lots of malt and a little smokiness. This tea has some real heft to it. It’s not bitter, but it’s intense. It’s not astringent, but it’s robust. It reminds me of some really high quality coffee in its intensity, but it lacks the acidity of coffee. The smokiness is almost like an illusion to me, you can’t smell it or taste it on nearly the same level as a lapsang souchong, you just kind of feel like it’s there.

This tea would make a great wake up cup as well as an awesome late night tea.

Lots of reasons to shout “Hooray!” today.

Last night, I got a text from my oldest daughter who recently went from being a tea hater to a tea-because-it-is-good-for-me drinker. She asked me to order both some green and white tea for her.

A couple of hours later, this was followed up by a text from my son, who also never drank tea until a couple of weeks ago, asking me to order tea for his girlfriend for a Valentines gift from him, as she had really liked the puerh I gave her. Hours later, another text came in asking me to order some puerh for him as well. I am positively giddy.

Then the mailman brought my third and final box from Teavivre. I think he was afraid I was going to hug him. I refrained.

Now I am not sure. Having had this tea, he deserved that hug.

The aroma is rich and slightly smokey in the package. The steeped tea is decidedly chocolate-y, reminding me very much of the aroma of Emperor’s Red from Premium Steap. I taste chocolate and roasty toasty goodness. The smoke is now very subtle. I steeped by the suggested parameters.

I have had keemuns that I loved, keemuns that I liked a lot as long as I added milk and sugar, and keemuns that were strong enough to be undrinkable for me.

This one is flavorful yet polished. It is not overpowering, not bitter, not astringent. I could even see making it with slightly hotter water or a longer steep time if you like the really strong keemuns. But this is just about perfect for me.

The pot disappeared quickly and youngest and I wanted more. I resteeped at about 205 degrees, a little hotter than Teavivre calls for, and went an extra minute to just over three minutes for the steep.
The color is still good, the aroma still chocolate-y. Though not as strong as the first steep, this is still lovely and very drinkable.

Youngest is a real Keemun (and smoke) fan and gives it a thumbs up!

My first sampling of a Teavivre tea, and I am very impressed. First, I found the packaging impressive. There has been a little bit of chatter here on Steepster about the packaging, so I wanted to address that in my first Teavivre tasting note. This may not be as environmentally ideal as some other tea companies are … and I’d like to say that I definitely have great appreciation for those who strive for environmentally sound packaging. That being said, what I found so impressive about the packaging for this tea is this: it demonstrates a definite respect for the tea that is often lacking in other company’s packaging choices. And, I have to say that I love it when I find a tea company that truly respects a tea like this. It shows me that they aren’t all about the bottom line (while that is important to any company) and that the quality and integrity of their product is at least just as important.

This tea is a fantastic Keemun. I love a good Keemun: smoky (but not too smoky), rich and flavorful. This Keemun has a nice smoky presentation which is strongest in its scent, but doesn’t overwhelm the flavor and muddy its complexity. A really comforting tea and yet it is also quite invigorating and bold.

I taste hints of a smoky caramel flavor, with a slight fruity character underneath the bolder, smoky tones. The fruity flavor is almost wine-like, similar to some other Keemun teas that I’ve tried, but this one is different in that it has a more distinct presence to it … a more hearty background of flavor to support the somewhat light wine-y tones.

Certainly one of the very best Keemun teas I’ve ever had the opportunity to try.

Thank you again to Teavivre for this sample! :)

At first smell and sip, it almost had the same flavour profile as the fujian black I had sampled the day before – but that thought was immediately swept away when the smokiness crept in. mm it is by far my favourite part of this tea.

It’s a gentle smoke, not too harsh, however I did find the base a bit sharper than I expected. The leaves are quite small, so I may have brewed a bit too long. I do taste a maltiness – that is what I associate with the fujian – but other than that they are very different teas.

I did get some floral notes from the tea – I’m enjoying this very much! There is a lot of depth in this tea that I wasn’t expecting – although it may be a bit too astringent for my tastes, the smokiness is definitely seducing me. I look forward to my next cup – when I’m in the mood. ;)

Thank you Angel and Teavivre for this sample!

The Fort Collins Power Company was going to shut off power in the area for 3 hours this morning so I got up early enough to have a hearty pot of tea to stave off withdrawl symptoms! Not being familiar with Keemun, and reading about the smokey character (which I like), I chose this from my new package of Teavivre samples.

The dry tea is very dark and fine, which proved to brew a very dark liquor, fragrant with medium smokiness and malt.
This is not a tea party tea! It has Huevos like a shot of taquilla! The smoke is not like a Lapsang Souchong…but assertive somewhere in the middle range of smoke and quite astringent. The astringency creates lots of juice and tannin bites your tongue. No malt. This tea had too many rough edges to start my day by drinking it straight up. After all, my hair is messed up and I’m on the couch with a tea tray watching the news with a BIG MUG of tea American Style! I DO NOT want an intellectual interlude with my cuppa at this hour of the morning! My brain cells are still asleep! So, I added some cream and sugar and it knocked those rough edges right off the Keemun…oh yeh!

If you like a more tobacco, acidic and less yammy morning brew, this may be for you. If you do not like malt, again you may prefer this tea. I prefer the other black tea’s from Teavivre which are so wonderful! Try for yourself and see which is for you!

Please, disregard the terribly unsophisticated slurping and glugging sounds coming from my direction. This tea is so damn good, I can’t help but drink it as fast as the temperature allows.

Oh. My. Goodness. I’m in love. This sample was courteously provided to me by Angel Chen. It is my first time drinking this tea, and it won’t be my last. Oh, no, it will not be. To start with, I’m really impressed with the packaging. Details on the label! Harvest date! How long it is good for! Source! It makes the tiny little part of me that is detail oriented swoon (granted, it is a small part, but swoon it does). Also the double bagging is definitely nice, though it does conflict with my more eco-friendly side, as others have noted.

The flavor of this keemun is wonderful. Granted, it is only my second keemun, but I like it more than the Teavana one I had previously. This one is robust but mild—does that make sense? It strikes me as a gentle flavor, but very much there. I don’t get an overly smoky flavor from it (I’m still adjusting to smoky teas), and I imagine that I get hints of chocolate and wine. I think I might find it woody if I could only shake my association of “woody” with “piney”. Earthy. A bit, not like a pu-erh (maybe what I think of as earthy is actually woody. I don’t know).

Anyway, the upshot? I’m going to be ordering more. Once I drink down some of my stash. I can’t wait till that day. Also, I can’t wait to try the next Teavivre sample. Thanks Angel!

This is smooth and rich with malt and chocolate notes. I find it falls a little shorter on the fruit notes than the grade 1. I also thought it had less smoke. ohmygurd where is the smoke!? The smoke I was looking for is pretty tame with this one. A great tea but I really want more in the smoke department, so grade 2 is still top dawg!

Thanks to Teavivre for sending some of this my way as a sample.

I’m really not a fan of smoky teas so this was a hard one for me to review and appreciate. I do like the smoothness here and it definitely is not as smoky as some I’ve had, but for sure my least favorite of their 3 black teas I’ve had the chance to try. It’s really too strong for me. If someone would like to swap for this I will gladly find it a new home to someone who really likes this flavor. :)

Bit of a backlog here… I tried this out for the first time on Saturday. My husband was good enough to drop it off to me at work. :) Again I was impressed with the way Teavivre packages their tea. Sure it isn’t eco friendly, but as LiberTEAS pointed out is sure is tea friendly! I’m sure I’ve had a Keemun before, but I don’t recall what I thought of them. But I’ll tell you I loved this. The smokey flavor that seemed to turn sweet as I finished my cup, was just awesome. Also I really liked that as my cup cooled the tea didn’t get bitter at all.

Yesterday I mixed in a little of Teavivre’s Yun Nan Dian Hong and wow! This was one of my better ideas when mixing teas. I think I might try it again today. :) I can see Teavivre is going to be very bad for my wallet!

I’m “up tiddly up up” very early this morning eagerly awaiting for the arrival of a parcel that I have asked to be re-delivered. My first tea this morning is a Gongfu of this premium Keemun due to craving something rich.

Malty, rich, slight sweetness in scent. Dark brown red in colour. In flavour this is thick and rich with a strong malt tones that have a little sweetness. Though it is strong it is also clean tasting with a subtle sour tang.

It’s a nice Keemun overall and great for a breakfast/all day tea.

So, Keemun number 3! Semi-backlog, as I finished this about an hour and a half ago, but I was in the middle of making dinner. So you get the Steepster’s Digest version:

-More similar to the Grade 2 Keemun than either the Grade 1 or the Superfine
-Stout, but not as as stout as the Grade 2
-Malty
-Lacking a lot of the fruitiness of the Grade 1, but it’s still apparent. Just… less so.
-Not as smokey as Grade 2, but smokier than Grade 1
-Somewhere around no astringency. Very smooth.

Out of the four, this is my second favorite. It’s very, very good, but something about the Grade 2 just appeals to the blue collar in me. It’s like a working man’s tea. So yeah, if sometime in the future, Marty McFly is reading this and wondering what tea to buy… I would recommend giving all of them a shot. It’s almost like you need to toss them on a scatterplot, or some sort of four-square diagram. Depending what you’re looking for, any of the four grades of Teavivre’s Keemun are excellent choices.

This was another free sample generously provided to me by TeaVivre. Thank you so much!

Steeping notes: 3 tsp. leaf to 500 ml water at the below parameters. No additives.

Dry leaf: Small, dark, and compact. There was a slight smoky smell but really it smelled more cocoa-y and slightly musty than actual smoke.

Steeped leaf: A dark reddish brown color. The smell was quite similar to that of the dry leaf – a touch more musty once it was wet, though. The taste was not smoky at all, which was a really good thing for me – I was nervous about that aspect of the flavor but it is not present (maybe because I lowered the steep time?), so yay!

Frankly, the strongest taste I’m getting is dark chocolate on the swallow. It’s bitter like dark chocolate, but not bitter like an astringent tea would be, if that makes any sense. The texture is verging on thin, but that’s more down to my chickening out on steep time than anything else. As it cools the musty scent is transferring into the taste, but it’s still not smoky, so I’ll take it.

Overall: I think this must be a milder Keemun, and even though I wouldn’t venture much further as a matter of personal taste, I think it would be a good gateway tea for those who do want to explore smokier teas. As it cools I’m finding it somewhat abrasive on the back of my throat so I could definitely decrease the steep time when I have it again and see if that improves. Not bad at all!

Tea of the afternoon……

This was a sample sent courtesy of TeaVivre. Thank you! This is a really good one! I am pretty much in love with Keemun tea of all varieties, and this one is very satisfying. There is a little bit of smoke, a little bit of maltiness, a little bit of a cocoa note, and lots of satisfying flavor. It is probably the quickest I have sipped down a pot of tea in some time. I find it similar to the Hao Ya A from Harney, although the leaves on that one are a little finer. I also find it similar to Keemun Heng Ru from Upton, but this one is a little more complex. This is definitely something I would consider purchasing in the future and am grateful to TeaVivre for the chance to sample it.

Usual teapot method.

WOW! This is wonderful! As far as the strength of the black tea base I would have to say it’s around medium strength but it’s the other things that are happening with this black tea that make it special.

It’s slightly woodsy but a tad smokey, too, I would say a bit more smokey than woodsy but I can taste both characteristics. And it’s not a heavy smokey like a Lapsang Souchong but it’s still present! At the beginning and then again on to the aftertaste it’s velvety and creamy. The malty notes are in the middle of the sip!

This is grand! I like this a lot!

I’m not getting a lot of smokiness with this tea like some of the other review, but it’s definitely a sturdy tea. I rationed out this sample in my group of tea to drink on those “oh my god I think I got hit by a train” mornings. Especially for the price – this is worth keeping around

Deliciously smoky but not over the top. I enjoyed this during a Google+ Hangout dedicated to tea and this was the tea of the week. I picked this beauty out from Teavivre as I knew it just had to be delicious. So far what I have tasted from this company has been wonderful and I will continue to purchase from there.

Highly Recommend!!!

Teavivre Random Tea of the day!

Picked this one from my box of teavivre teas this morning and it’s a damn fine tea! I’m looking forward to comparing this with the organic version of this tea, so maybe tomorrow will be a little less random choice.
It’s been a while since i’ve had a keemun and I think i prefer assams now. That being said, this is still a tasty cup of tea. There’s a hint of bitterness at the end of the sip, but it’s nothing that I can’t handle. I don’t get much in the way of chocolate taste like others have. Instead it’s just more of a bold dark black tea taste. I’ll have to spend a bit more time with this one to make a final call on it.

I started off my morning with this today and yesterday. I’ve seen Keemun described in many ways. Woody, smokey, piney, winey, earthy, nutty, and leathery. Every time I have a cup of keemun I find myself at a loss for words on how to compare the flavor. I can pickup the keemun in breakfast blends, to some degree in Lapsangs, and in some Pu-Erh. Really I guess when it all boils down the flavor is Chinese black. Of course another great offering from Teavivre. For me the flavor of keemun is old. Not in a bad way mind you. The taste reminds me of antiquity. If that sounds crazy I’m sorry. There is a hint of cedar wood sipping keemun, a little leathery as well. Oddly enough there’s a slight hint of perfume in it. Similar to a very high hopped India Pale Ale. So maybe it’s a little hoppy as well. Overall though a very good tea!