Keemun Black Tea – Grade 2

Approaching the end of the samples I received from Teavivre for the Facebook promotion… thanks again to Angel and the team!

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this at the beginning. The aroma is really dark and earthy, like new soil. Almost like fresh leather. It has really similar smells to the pu’erh cake we have sitting in the tea cupboard… just… not offensive.

The taste is very dark, strong, and smoky. I actually asked Missy to make sure this was the Keemun from Teavivre, and not the Lapsang I had ordered from Upton!

There is a power to this tea’s flavor. It has a really strong bite to the tea, with a smooth malty undertone, and then that smokiness is just heavenly. This is superb. It’s like I’m getting a blend, and it’s one lone tea. This is really the flavors I expected from the Baker Street blend that I got from Upton, which has both Keemun and Lapsang (along with Darjeeling) but somehow is significantly less smokey. Although, I did brew the Baker Street at work… I really should give it another chance at home (i.e. have Missy make it instead of me… she’s better at it).

Anyway, this tea is splendid. I honestly want to rate it higher, but something in the back of my mind is telling me that I have to leave room for the next two tiers of quality on this tea that Teavivre offers.

I want to rate this tea a 90, and it’s the lowest of three qualities that Teavivre offers. This boggles my mind.

_{Backlogging, and based almost entirely on my notes}

Experience buying from Teavivre http://steepster.com/places/2857-teavivre-online—

Date of Purchase/Date of Steeping: Received in the fall of 2011 as a free sample (Thank you Angel!), steeped up March 2012.

Appearance and Aroma of dry leaf: Standard keemun leathery-type smell; the tiny somewhat-broken leaves are a uniform dark brown color.

Brewing guidelines: Glass Bodum pot leaf free to roam; stevia added; standard Chinese red tea steeping times and temperatures; four steepings.

Color and Aroma of tea liquor: Clear, light-copper color, with a mild aroma.

Flavor of tea liquor: A little bitter on the first steeping, but it has that characteristic keemun leathery-type taste that I have come to appreciate; second steeping was smooth (so no bitterness) and tasty; third was still flavorful; forth was mild, but still smooth and flavorful.

Appearance of wet leaf: Lots of tiny pieces of tea, such that it looked like large coffee grounds.

Value: This is where this tea really stands out: it’s a great value. I’m a bargain hunter, and I don’t think I could find a decent keemun anywhere better than this price: under $2/OZ.

Overall: I’ve finally got some time to do some backlogging (I don’t like having unfinished business sitting around); I hope to knock out most (if not all) of the teas I have written notes for in the next week or so.

I liked this tea, but my wife didn’t; I think the leathery taste is too weird for her, but that’s exactly why I like keemuns! If you appreciate value, and you like keemun, look no further: this is clearly a tea worth taking a chance on!

I’m thinking Teavivre is going to be a company Dylan and I patronize for some time. I’m really impressed with the quality of their tea and their customer acquisition plan. Dylan has informed me we are drinking the lowest grade of Keemun they currently sell. This stuff is just awesome! I love it.

It had a medium bodied malt that mellowed out that tea sharpness. I’m not sure how to describe the sharpness. It’s a bite that is pleasant. Basically just makes sure you know you are indeed drinking tea. The smokey flavor takes over and blends with a sweetness that is just divine. I could drink this all day long.

Tea of the morning……

Wow. I am the first to log this one! Since I am a lover of all types of Keemun, I had to give this a try. Since I purchased this one, I requested a sample of Grade 1 Keemun from Teavivre, so it will be fun to compare all three grades of Keemun available from them. I hope I am up to it!

I would say it is slightly smokier tasting (this, of course does not mean it is a smokey tea…) than the Keemun variety I usually drink for breakfast. It also has just a hint of astringency at the end of the taste. In general, that makes this one just a little bolder than I am used to. Since I drink Keemun for a breakfast tea, it is not really a problem, though. I need a little bit of a kick start some mornings. After a few more tastings, I will know if this one will work for me in the long run. The one I liked best was somewhere between this one and the Harney English Breakfast. I think I might try a shorter steep next time or a little less leaf to see if that will improve the flavor for my specific taste. I am sure I will drink it all!

Usual mug method.

I don’t know why I hesitated to write a note about this one… I’ve done Grade 1 and Hao Ya, but I seem to forgot about this one. Oh well, better write it now while I’m in mood for it.

This is the cheapest Keemun you can get from TeaVivre. I guess I didn’t really want to buy it, but I felt the urge to get it just to feel how far are they from each other.
Dry leaf is unevenly rolled when compared to other grades and even having some red hue to it.
I find this tea to be few steps from my taste area for breakfast tea. It’s light in taste so I could blend it with Ceylon. On other hand, some finer notes come up when steeped with boiling water and 5-minute sit. It has a somewhat coffee background, only lacking in character, with cocoa and dimmed vegetal notes and even hint of coconut with splash of milk.
Pleasant cuppa, only lacking in character. And when I think about it, it reminds me of Prince of Wales.

Sweet, slight pine smokiness, great price ($5.50/100g). Like many of the other Teavivre teas I’ve tried It’s just good enough to get me interested in seeking out better examples of the category, but not good enough to go out of my way to reorder this one when I run out. (Though while it lasts It’s pretty decent as an everyday staple/breakfast type tea.)