Star Village Black

I have to fall in with the general consensus here – this reminds me of a Bohea. But it does differ in some important ways, too, at least from the two(ish?) Bohea I’ve had.

It smells smoky and a bit bacony while brewing but once it is in my cup, there’s an unexpected but interesting added smell that I can’t quite place. It’s not as rich and velvety smelling as the Bohea I’ve had and a lot of it is due to that extra something – something almost lemon or citrusy?

The taste is very similar to the smell – it’s surprisingly light and bright tasting because of that extra not-quite-lemon flavor. The not-lemon flavor leads each sip followed by smoke and perhaps a hint of cocoa. It’s different from most smokies I’ve had and quite tasty.

As I kept sipping, that not-lemon flavor seemed to gel in my mind as a more figgy or plum taste, reminding me of a softer Yunnan or perhaps a Fujian black. The overall smoke is lighter in intensity than most smokies and doesn’t feel as velvety or thick because of the light fruitiness. That lack of thickness is actually nice in that it lets this tea be a smoky tea for a different mood. Sometimes I’m just not in the mood for a heavy, rich feeling Bohea or a powerful and strong Lapsang. This gives the smokiness but with a light fruity sweetness that makes it not your typical heavy cup of smoke. Perhaps its more of a summer/hot weather smoky tea? Quite enjoyable!

Much thanks to sophistre for the share!

When I opened the tin of this, I was intrigued by the smell. Smoke. Not as intense as a lapsang, but more obvious than most Keemuns I’ve tried. The other person to write a tasting note about it compared it to Bohea, and I think that’s a pretty apt comparison, actually.

I was a little bit concerned about the amount/quality of the smoke scent when I steeped it. It seemed vaguely ash-tray to me. I detest the smell of cigarette smoke, so making that mental connection was going to be a very, very bad thing. I had to determinedly tell myself that it wasn’t ash-tray, it was just smoky tea…

The smell is still a little bit worrisome (to me), but the taste is really lovely. It brews to a light amber, and now that it’s cooler the taste is a bit bready and easily the sweetest of any smoke-heavy tea that I’ve tried. The sweetness really blossoms on your palate after you swallow, and sticks around. It’s sort of making my mouth water, actually.

Absolutely delicious! Set the rating for this one at 87 or so, but I think the sweet flavor will merit pushing the rating upward.

Backlogging from this morning.

The first thing I noticed upon opening this tin was that the leaves were much smaller,(broken?) than that of the Bohea. The liquor, like that of the Bohea, is amber-gold but not as lively a color and with less gold. The flavor, unlike the color, was much lighter. The smoke and fruit notes much subtler. Due to this I actually managed to detect a coco note in my final, cooled cup :D

This is a very nice tea, but I think I still like the Bohea better. I never thought I’d say that about something that has as much of a smokey note as it does.