China Keemun First Grade zk11

Cup #6 in SimplyJenW’s Tour of China blacks:
This one is kind of a side trip. I have been primarily focusing on Fujian black tea because the cocoa notes of tea from that region have me always wanting more. But this is a Keemun. I have only had a few of these, but the cup is generally more astringent, bolder, and smokey. It is more of a ‘wake me up’ tea than a ‘relax me out’ tea. I am not super versed in English Breakfast teas of all makes, but there are many that have Keemun as some portion of the blend, or they are a straight Keemun. Me personally, I can’t drink Keemun without additions. After the first several sips of this one, I had to sweeten. This one is in the mid range as far as price for a Keemun at Upton at a little over $7 for 125 grams. Now I am wondering how this compares to a more expensive one, but since it is not my black tea of choice, I may never know.

This is another sample from Upton. I brewed it basket-style with a teaspoon of leaf for maybe 4 minutes maybe longer. It has a nice aroma and a light flavor. Unfortunately I have had some other China blacks recently that really impressed me. This is a nice tea at a good price. A fantastick “Empty Cup Aroma” of fresh evergreen which you know I love.

Brews up a nice red colour and has a nice strong taste to it.

It reminds me a bit of the Teavivre Gongfu tea that I tried a while back, malty, a bit strong, and kindof a “heavy” taste. It’s good, but definitely cut it with some milk to chill it out a bit. Not one you’d want all the time as it’s a bit more intense than say, you’re average Assam or PG Tips, but it’s good and an interesting flavour that is memorable.

Definitely smokey, earthy and yet still light. I’ll have to see if the lightness holds with a second cup and bait more leaves, but I like it very much. Complex but not in a heavy way. Definitely some fresh tobacco notes, mild astringency. Overall, a sound, very pleasant cup of tea. I’d drink this again quite happily.

This is a mellow black tea without bitterness. A slight hint of pepper and smoke and a smooth, light fruit taste

I’m new to teas with smoke, so I don’t think I can give this a proper rating yet. This tea is a bit peppery, and it has an aftertaste of smoke. I added milk and sugar, after determining that in no way am I capable of drinking this sort of tea black. It wasn’t bad though – I can see how you could get to like this kind of thing. I will keep trying!

Oh.

Oh my.

Yes and yes. Malt. I love malt. There’s lots of it here. A hint of chocolate, a whisper of minerals. A proper review to come later, probably, but I think it’s safe to say that a tea like this could easily take coffee’s place in my daily life.

China Keemun

Leaves: the smell of these is interesting..has a chocolatey smell(darker) like you would imagine a bag of chocolate(not milk chocolate)crumbs might smell- the leaves are pretty small but bigger than CTC

Liquor: the taste was pretty bold/upfront and it struck me as a bitterish tea, not so much in the brewing but in the rough/chalky kind of way.. might be considered astringent?

overall not the worst tea ive had… but i wont be stocking any “keemun” teas

Check out my video-tasting at: http://healthyprofessionals.blog.com/the-tea-show

I’ve been drinking Lapsang Souchong, so this tea is less strong than that. A little smokiness in the back. I think I’ll try steeping for 5 minutes next time to see if that fills out the flavor next time.

Smells like dark chocolate with a little bit of smoke.

Taste is pretty robust and reminds me of a lot of the UK breakfast blends, and the smoked smell comes through on taste as well…almost like a less smokey lapsang. There is a faint note I’m getting in the background that is kind of maple like as well. After it cooled way down it actually kind of tastes like some white teas I’ve tried. Good tea at a good price.