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Kenya Kaproret GFOP from The London Tea Room

Steepster Score 5 Ratings Rate This Tea

78/100

Kenya Kaproret GFOP

Black Tea by The London Tea Room

An earthy, rich and deep tea similar to Yunnan but with much more depth. { Africa }

19 Tasting Notes

Auggy
71
Auggy 6 tasting notes

So, did you know if you accidentally hit the escape button while typing a review, it all goes away? Apparently so!

Let’s see if I can remember what I wrote and pick up from there….

Upon first impression, the dry leaves smelled like Assam but then as I continued to sniff, they remind me more of a Darjeeling – there is a bit of sharpness that makes me think of the muscatel taste in Darjeelings.

As I’m waiting for the water to boil (oh how I miss my Zojirushi – would it be overkill to bring that on my next road trip?) I Google a bit to see if I can find anything about this estate or tea. Other than the fact that Lupicia sells tea from this estate and that this estate’s tea seems to be in some Kenyan tea blends, I’m not really finding much. If anyone has any good links to share about the variety of tea plant they grow in Kenya and what they do to the leaves, I’d appreciate it! (Or where to buy more of them!)

Brewed up, the tea is a somewhat murky brown. Smells like a stout Yunnan, though. Mmm, tastes like a stout Yunnan, too. It’s very Yunnan like but makes me think of Yunnan Gold with a hint of Irish breakfast. It’s not from brewing it too heavy, though. Now that I have my teacups, I know I’m doing 2.3g/6oz. So this is just a stout tea.

I’m starting to get a bit of that sharpness I smelled that reminded me of a Darjeeling. As it cools, the front taste becomes Darjeeling-esque and the tail has the warm fuzzy tones of a Yunnan almost with a little cocoa taste after the swallow. Very faint though so it is more of a dry cocoa feel. If that makes sense. For all its stoutness it is a smooth tea with zero bitterness. I imagine it would hold up well to milk and sugar if that’s how you roll, but it has enough of the Yunnan-ish taste for me to find that unnecessary.

And now my cup is empty and I am sad. This is a good tea. I imagine that anyone that finds Yunnans somewhat boring or too smooth/mild tasting would enjoy this one. Or someone that finds Darjeelings too sharp, though this is definitely thicker than a Darjeeling. Or maybe this is the tea for the Irish Breakfast set that finds Chinese teas too weak/thin. Or maybe it is a tea for someone that likes all of those and wants to squish them all together into one nummy tea.

One last comment – I can feel the caffeine hitting my blood stream. This definitely fits on the Irish Breakfast side of the caffeine equation as I’ve never felt that Yunnans were particularly caffeinated. WHEE!!!

ETA: 2nd steep at 5 mins. It’s not an overly impressive second steep which is somewhat sad. Still had a Yunnan-esque flavor to it and still stout, but I couldn’t pick up any of the Darjeeling tartness/sharpness anymore which turned the tea into just sort of normal. Maybe like a second steep of an Irish Breakfast made with Chinese blacks.

2009-12-11 12:59:31 -0500
Boiling
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15 comments

The husband left absurdly early today, necessitating separate tea brewing for the two of us. Usually I made a big pot of one tea and split it but today I went ahead and made two different types of tea so that I could experiment a little without the potential of torturing the husband (and so that my tea wouldn’t be room temperature by the time I left the house).

The experiment that I wanted to try was using one of my ‘teacup teas’ and see how they did as ‘travel tumbler’ teas. To me, teas that I enjoy in a teacup – which allows me to smell the tea as I drink it – tend to fall a little short when put in a travel tumbler with a lid. Keemuns are especially unhappy for me in something that prevents smelling the tea while I sip – changes the entire taste. So most of the time for my tumbler, I have to go for flavored teas (which, frankly, I am getting a little tired of) or a breakfast blend, English-style. English-style because the addition of milk and sugar makes the experience more forgiving if the tea gets too bitter sitting in my tumbler for my 40+ minute drive to work.

So today I wanted to try a smoother black tea ‘teacup tea’ that would hopefully not require sugar or milk and still be a pleasant drinking experience. So I grabbed this and crossed my fingers.

It still had that Assam-turning-into-Yunnan-as-it-cools front flavor and it still had a nice, bright Darjeeling end taste. So that’s good. There was no bitterness, even at the end of my 12oz, though the closer I got to the bottom of the tumbler, the more it moved from a Darjeeling ‘bright’ to a Darjeeling ‘tart’. The tea and I never entered Tartness-Land, but we got close enough to see the border guards in the distance. If I had done a 5 minute brew, I imagine we would have gotten our passport stamped if not seen some of the local sites.

So overall, the basics of what made this tea interesting were still there. Starchy front taste when hot, smoothing out as it cooled just a bit and turning earthy. And then, if I took a big swallow, the earthy would throw out some strong cocoa notes. And always finishing with the bright, citrus-or-muscadine end that always screams ‘DARJEELING!’ to me. But even though all the pieces were there, it just wasn’t as… happy as it was out of a cup where I could smell the lovely scents as I drank. Not a huge difference but if this was the first time I had had this tea, I would have given it a lower rating (probably somewhere in the low or mid 70s). But as it is, I’ll leave the rating where it is and just consider this tea a teacup tea that can be put in a tumbler if needed.

2009-12-22 09:46:43 -0500
205 °F / 96 °C
4 min 0 sec
4 comments

You know, my spoon has been dipping a little enthusiastically into my teas today. What does that mean? It means I’m using more leaf than I normally do but am too lazy to take leaf back out after I’ve spooned it onto the scale. And yet, heavy spooning or not, I still have some of this tea left. Just a tiny, tiny bit but still. I want to be able to unclick the “In Your Cupboard” button. It’s very fulfilling to do that, don’t you think?

Anyway, today (just like yesterday and the day before) is rainy and cold. Sigh. At least my irises seem to be enjoying it, even if I’m not. So I’ve not been all that happy and thus not been in all that tea-y of a mood. So I’ve been trying encourage myself by focusing on either some of my not-yet-tasted teas or by trying to unclick that little button. And option number two is what lead me to this tea (although it didn’t work).

I would just like to officially state for the record: this tea suffers from MPD. Sometimes it is Yunnan-y, sometimes it is Darjeeling-y, sometimes it is very-bad-Assam-y. I realize it is probably the brewer (yes, that would be me) that is at fault for such inconsistencies, however I’m totally going to blame the tea. When this is good, it is quite good (and that’s what I’ve rated it on for the most part), but when it is bad, I just want to drop it in a hole and cover it up like my cats try to do when they smell something funny.

Today (with the heavy spooning and the short steeping and the no additives-ing), it’s sort of bringing to mind a stout but slightly thin Yunnan with a hint of a Darjeeling-esque end. I’m not exactly sure how something can be both stout and thin but apparently it can. In my world. Today. Maybe my tongue is broken because now I’m 2 for 2 with ‘thin’ teas even with my heavy spooning. There is a hint of what might end up as bitterness at the end but it isn’t there yet so I should be safe (which is good because I can’t add milk to kill that bitter off if it shows up since it also kills pretty much all flavor in this tea making it taste like I’m eating construction paper).

I do wish that I had managed to use up all of this tea today. Not only to unclick that little button but because today a nice tea personality is coming out and I would really like to tend this relationship on a happy note. Sadly, looks like I’ll have one more chance to get this wrong.

2010-04-19 13:07:56 -0400
205 °F / 96 °C
3 min 0 sec
3 comments

Brought this tea to my parents’ house for my morning Christmas tea. Mostly I wanted to have it from a teacup again to reaffirm my love of it after the mediocre showing it had in my travel tumbler.

In a teacup again, this tea is yummy. Bright, clear, smooth with a little Darjeeling-like citrus sparkle laid over top a more Yunnan-tasting base tea flavor. This is the first time the husband has had it and he’s a big fan, too, giving it a 5 out of 5 and saying that it is like a Darjeeling but with very little acidity or bitterness. Smooth and with good, full flavor.

This tea definitely is happier in an open cup and I’m happier with it there too.

2009-12-25 10:32:41 -0500
Boiling
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1 comment

Half & half does this tea no favors so I decreased the steep time and just added sugar this morning. Probably added too much sugar with a full teaspoon for my 12oz but it tasted good so it works for me.
(ETA: Some how my rating got really high. I have no idea why it was set at a 90 but it’s been corrected. The cup was good but not that good.)

2010-03-23 10:38:24 -0400
205 °F / 96 °C
3 min 30 sec
0 comments

Feeling well enough today to make it to work, so that’s good. This morning this tea made me think of copper soil. Both bright and earthy. Energizing yet cuddly. It’s an odd mix but I kind of enjoy it.

2010-01-21 10:28:56 -0500
205 °F / 96 °C
4 min 0 sec
0 comments
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Bonnie
89
Bonnie

Thank you Terri Harp Lady for this sample tea!

I woke up at 6:00 a.m. this morning, not my usual time but early enough for a leisurely sit down and cup of tea before heading off to drop my ‘Grandma Van’ at Hawkers Garage for a fix of my windshield wiper fluid delivery system.
I know snow is coming!

When I looked outside, I could see a smattering of snow already on the top of some of parked cars but not on the street. “It’s only October 5th!”, I told myself, then turned away to more important thoughts and decided to make this tea from Terri.

Black Tea, Black Tea, oh how I love Black Tea on a cold, cold day!
The anxiety of not knowing if this was going to be an EH’ tea or an
AMEN’ almost drove me to pull the steep short of the 3 minutes I
set my timer for.

I knew I would add splenda and cream but I tried the tea straight first. Um, the brew was very dark, strong, sweet and rich without being malty or bitter.
When the additions were stirred in, the tea was very smooth and delicious.
I loved the almost blackberry flavor with the roasty honey taste.

I could easily drink this often.

When I finished my tea, off I went to Hawkers where my daughter met me and whisked me off to breakfast at ‘The Breakfast Club’ (real name) for cornbread with sausage gravy. I know…it’s not good for you…blah, blah, blah…!
(I haven’t had this in over a year!)

After much running around, picking up the car and coming home,
I steeped another cup of tea from the morning leaves and enjoyed
more rich, smooth goodness.

I’m on snow watch now, and making rice (potato allergy) clam chowder, looking often out the window. I know this snowfall is only a fluke.

Things will warm up next week I know.
The real snow doesn’t come until Feb.-Mar. but I love the first
snow none-the-less.
Like the little girl I once was instead of an older woman I now am, I watch out my window with joyful anticipation.
I’m waiting for a giant hand to shake a heavenly snow globe, creating a magical white wonderland just for me.

2012-10-05 17:28:18 -0400
3 comments
Sil
85
Sil

Oh man. Thank you terriharplady!
THIS is a black that is not for those who don’t like rich, bold blacks. Now, is there a lot going on with this tea like say a laoshan black? Nope but it’s got a great character to it and a delicious bold black flavour that i really enjoyed this morning. It’s not a malty black or a chocolate black, but it’s smooth, not astringent and most importantly – delicious. Thank you terri!

2013-04-17 07:46:23 -0400
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3 comments
teaplz
63
teaplz

I drank this one a few days ago, but with work pressing in on all sides and stifling my tea drinking efforts, I haven’t had the chance to really log it until today.

So, first off, big shout out to Auggy for sharing this with me! She brought this back from a trip to the London Tea Room, so I was pretty excited to try it.

First things first – I’ve never had a Kenyan tea, but Auggy described this to me as a blend/cross between Yunnan, Darjeeling, and Assam.

The leaves here aren’t the largest, and the smell coming off of them is interestingly fruity. In a Darjeeling sort of way, but mixed with a darker tea smell. That black tea smell. Malty and earthy and full.

I steeped this one up, and boy is the cup a dark red and quite a bit murky too! The taste is… interesting. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it, days later. At peak hotness, this one really tastes like an Assam. Malty and strong and bracing. Very eye-opening stuff. There’s a tiny pipsqueak peep of Darjeeling that grows and grows as this tea cools.

By mildly hot, this one tastes like a weird mix of Yunnan and Darjeeling, with the Assam only slightly echoing in the background. The Yunnan provides this sort of earth tone, while the Darjeeling brightens things up with a fruity, grape/currant type taste.

There’s so many weird things going on here, that I’m sort of flabbergasted as to how to rate this one. It almost reminds me of SerendipiTea’s Autumnal Darjeeling in the super-crazy-magic flavor changing.

I feel like such a bore right now, but I’m so tired from work lately that I’m not really focusing and the synapses aren’t quite firing the way that they used to. Also, with the shrinking amount of sleep I’ve been getting, I’m finding that tea is more likely to upset my stomach, and I haven’t been feeling well in general.

Le sigh.

2010-03-23 22:15:53 -0400
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2 comments
Terri HarpLady
88
Terri HarpLady 10 tasting notes

I just finished my first cup of the day, the wonderfully deep & mellow Kenyan from The London Tea Room (oh how lucky I am to live in St. Louis!). It’s beautiful reddish brown color & aroma speak of unsweetened dark chocolate & hints of a coffee-like, but not coffee-like earthiness. This is a tea that I enjoy often, usually with breakfast. It doesn’t have the malty character of my beloved Assam, but it still gives a great caffeine jolt & is not for the faint hearted!
Although I’m not always a fan of re-steeping, what the heck! While it’s brewing, I’ll mention that I love the Teavana app on my iPhone, specifically because it has a really fun tea timer!
So, cup #2: Still mellow, more of an amber color now, more of a mineral taste, slightly bitter, more like a basic cup of tea. I suppose if I were scrimping pennies here (& I probably should, being a musician), I’d re-steep more often, but I don’t drink, smoke, binge on sweets, or do anything else, so I’m allowed to indulge in teas, good foods, & musical instruments!

2012-09-04 12:01:31 -0400
0 comments

Good morning Steepsterites!
This is my first cup of the day. I’ve been on Steepster for about 5 weeks now. Previous to joining this community, I drank a lot of tea, but it tended to be mostly teas I could source locally (at Teavana, Whole Foods, The London Tea Room). I had a pretty nice collection that I rotated through, heavy on the black teas. This was one of those teas.

Then I started reading & writing reviews, visiting tea websites, & drinking things like Laoshan Black & Puerh. Now my kitchen is full of samples of all kinds, my rotation of breakfast teas has gotten longer (really longer!), & I’m drinking a wide array of brews! I actually ordered the “Farewell Ponds” blend from Adagio, even though I’m not really into flavored teas much, don’t really care that much for Bergamot, & I really almost never like anything blueberry flavored (although I love real blueberries). I just had to have that one to drink with my son (age 23) when we watch that Dr. Who episode…LOL

So I’ve finally rotated back to the Kenyan. He is still tall, dark, and handsome! A deep brew, with a blackberry acidity that becomes more prominent as it begins to cool. This is a bold tea that would satisfy lovers of Assam & Irish Breakfast types. I’m thinking it might also be tasty with some vanilla bean blended in. hmmmmm…I think I need a 2nd cup…

2012-10-09 10:21:48 -0400
1 comment

This is my first cup of the day. The first of many cups. I plan to sit around drinking tea all day, while my students come & go. I think I’m meeting someone for lunch at a place 5 minutes from my house, but that will only take about an hour out of my tea drinking…

This is a rich & earthy brew, as it says in the description. The store description compares it to a yunnan, but I find that it is more like an Assam, with an edge of bitterness & a fruity brightness. Maybe I’ll have another cup.

2013-02-18 11:13:46 -0500
0 comments

ahhh, good morning!
Bills pd last night? “Check”
Yoga done this morning? “Check”
Bold & earthy cup of tea to start my day? “Check!”

It’s been awhile since I had a cup of this, & I love it! This tea doesn’t have the frills of a Yunnan, not quite as in your face as an Assam, but I feel that it is more like the A than the Y.
It really almost reminds me of blackberries, in a way. There is a fruitiness to it, a richness. Otherwise, I feel that it’s fairly balanced all the way across the board, from low to high. A very nice deep cup that is fulfilling, yet doesn’t scream it’s name.

2013-05-15 10:55:40 -0400
4 comments

Now for a really bold cup! This is a real contrast to the Yunnan I drank first, almost harsh in comparison, but not in a bad way. To me this is not a malty tea, but more of a deep fruity flavor, like blackberries, with a brightness to it.

My verdant tea bundle box came! Oh…where to begin?

2013-04-15 12:46:15 -0400
0 comments

Second cup, to enjoy during my first student of the day. An earthy, deep cup, and a nice contrast to the other tea I had.

2012-11-26 13:15:03 -0500
0 comments

This is such a nice bold cup! I don’t really feel that it compares to a yunnan, more like an Assam in my opinion. Definitely what I needed to start moving today!

2013-03-18 11:42:53 -0400
0 comments

A wonderful cup, and a nice simple start to my day of tea drinking!
It went down quick and smooth, & I’m ready for something else. Next!

2012-11-15 11:05:16 -0500
0 comments

So far today I did a little yoga, had a yummy breakfast (broccoli, poached eggs, & bacon), taught 2 students, re-tuned the 2 harps I recently restrung, & I just finished off an excellent lunch: a salad with homemade caesar dressing (I love my immersion blender!).

I’m having this tea because it is very bold! I need something bold like this to reset my taste-buds after a very garlicky salad. Usually I have students from 10am to 7:30pm on weds, but due to spring break my teaching calendar is clear until 6:30 tonight. That’s a good thing, as I have 3 different projects I’m practicing for (& also still haven’t finished my taxes). This tea packs a pretty nice caffeine punch, which will keep me focused for awhile!

2013-03-27 15:40:47 -0400
0 comments

This is a real contrast to the Yu lu I was just drinking.
It is earthy & rich, with a bright blackberry like flavor. It’s also very bold, & packs a jolt of caffeine! This is tea that would appeal especially to lovers of Irish Breakfast, of which I am one!

2013-02-27 11:44:25 -0500
0 comments
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