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China Keemun from Zen Tea

Steepster Score 5 Ratings Rate This Tea

79/100

China Keemun

Black Tea by Zen Tea

Developed in the late 19th century, Keemun is the most popular and regarded by many as China’s finest black tea. It has a reddish brown color with slight spiciness and silky sweetness. This tea makes for an enjoyable, mellow cup, rich with notes of cocoa and dried plum.

Price: $12 / 100g

12 Tasting Notes

ashmanra
ashmanra 3 tasting notes

This was an unusual tea party day in a way. Today we didn’t do a set of three different teas. Instead we had two of the same type of tea but from different companies to compare them. We also had a flavored version of a tea my guest normally does not like. For our snacks, we compared two of the same cheddars but different ages from the same company.

The results were mixed. Both Keemuns were excellent and both went well with food, and we drank them quite easily without milk and sugar, something I couldn’t handle with Keemuns a year or two ago. The other tea being tried alongside this was Teavivre’s Organic Superfine Keemun Fragrant.

This Keemun tasted the most like what I consider to be a classic Keemun. It had rich, cocoa-y flavor and I found that it really stood up well to the salty aged cheeses we were tasting. It had the power to wash down those strong flavors without wilting.

The Teavivre Keemun was less of a “classic” Keemun flavor to me, but it was nevertheless an amazing tea. I don’t think you can go wrong buying either of these if you know the differences between the two and know what you want from your Keemun. Teavivre’s was smoother, less cocoa-y, more baked sweet potato with a hint of molasses.

Seriously, these were both so good you don’t want to miss either tea.

I am finishing my China Keemun sample from Zen Tea this morning along with a cherry vanilla bagel from Panera – the ones shaped like a ribbon for breast cancer awareness month. Since I had breast cancer last year, I am particularly attached to these bagels, especially since a friend came to have bagels and tea the day after my surgery! :)

This is a very good Keemun, it has the strength to pull off being a morning tea, the chocolate flavor to let me know it is a Keemun, and the smoothness to still drink it plain. I can’t say that about all Keemuns! This is one that would also be great with milk and sugar if you are so inclined. It won’t shrink under the additions, but may be even heartier.

Thank you, Zen Tea, for the opportunity to try your tea! I can’t wait to order the black bamboo matcha whisk, the scoop, and the sifter. I think I am going to get the Earl Grey Cream as well since I have never had one and they get such great reviews on here.

An Italian friend of mine is very health conscious, buying organics, eating fresh, whole foods, making her own household cleaners. I asked her for a recommendation for the best, TRUE, olive oil and she referred me to a selection at Olive Nation. I love that company, by the way. Their matcha is great for lattes, nice and earthy but not at all bitter. Their vanilla beans are excellent and not expensive at all.

My new olive oils arrived this morning, so I decided to have a sort of Shepherd’s lunch – olive oil mixed with Penzey’s Tuscan seasoning, Parmesan, and dried garlic served with Italian bread, some Swiss cheese, and apple slices.

Something else also arrived – an adorable, handcrafted card by GMathis with some Tulsi inside. I have it displayed on my writing table! The color is prettier in real life and in the background you can see another she sent a while back. http://www.flickr.com/photos/24998856@N06/8552541342/

I needed a tea that would pair well with this strong Extra Virgin olive oil. As I pawed through my tea, I realized this was a great time to sip down a sample! This was sent to me by Zen Tea a while back and I reach for it whenever I want a nice, strong Keemun that isn’t rough around the edges.

Lightly smokey with cocoa notes, it was brilliant with my lunch. I am finishing the second steep (by the pot, not the cup!) now. Thank you, Zen Tea!

By the way, their teawares are awesome and I really want that Zen Brushstroke matcha bowl. Maybe soon…

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Sil
75
Sil 3 tasting notes

This is a decent keemun. While it’s not my favourite of those that I’ve tried I do like the way that this one tastes. There’s a heartiness to it that is really nice. I don’t get the plum but it is a nice mellow tea. It will be a good morning tea to have :)

Thank you Zen Tea for your samples! I’m glad I got to try this one!

Upping the rating on this one a little because it’s pretty tasty. First cup of the morning – a full day ahead of me. Working from home as i’m STILL SICK blech but I have a new computer on the way today! also hoping to squeeze in making some banana bread since i’m home heh.

This tea is pretty darn smooth! I’ve got 3 more samples from zen tea on the table that i need to try but I want to wait until i’m no longer sick. Not to mention? buying 3 samples pack from della terra in one go means i’m sample swamped! I need to get to drinking some down!

sip down! passed the rest of this off to my dad to try. it was nice to get in on this sample from zen tea but it won’t be a repurchase as it’s not my favourite keemun so far. still a decent tea though!

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Tea Sipper
86

I had this one this morning. This is certainly what I consider the keemun flavor, and a very delicious one, too. I’ve had a couple keemun teas and this is what I expect a nice keemun to taste like. I must admit that the only keemuns I’ve tried have been from Butiki and Teavivre and this one is just as good! The first steep is a tiny bit smoky, dusky, plum-like. The second steep has more of a chocolate flavor and less smoke. I like either steep just fine! I’d keep this one stocked if I needed a keemun permanently in my stash. I think it might be one of the teas that Zen is discontinuing. oh no!

Ozli
83
Ozli 3 tasting notes

Liked this, & the resteep. Like 85% of my tea diet is ideally strong black teas but I really don’t have anything to say about them? Morning tea!!!

I’m so whiny today. K’s off in top-secret meetings all week where they take his phone so he hasn’t even bothered to bring it AND he’s away from the office so no email AND he took the car and I’m just sitting here like it’s the end of the world because I’m addicted to coffee and it’s way over there across the neighbourhood :P :P :P Saddest Ozli.

But this! The blackest of black teas! With milk & sugar for the self-pity. Oversteeped it but it didn’t hurt it any.

Hearty breakfast tea. :D Resteeped for moar noms.

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Ag
77
Ag

Backlog from yesterday.
I don’t think I’ve ever had a straight Keemun before (it may have been in some blends I’ve tried), but if this is what Keemuns usually taste like, I think I can safely say that I quite like them. Chocolatey and smooth. Tasty afternoon tea. Thanks to Zen Tea for the sample!

yyz
82
yyz

This tea brews to the colour of maple wood.smells a little like something that has been treated with mild hickory smoke, mixed with chocolate and dried figs. It tastes of charred sweet potatoe, a touch of cocoa and a faint suggestion of smoke with an aftertaste like dried fig. A Sweet initial flavour is followed by a freshening tingle in the mouth, with little to no bitterness. The tea is fairly smooth. It leaves a tingling on the lips and under the tongue. Pleasant. The first time I had this it tasted very smoky, I think I overleafed it that time. This time I reduced the leaf and I quite enjoyed it.

This is my first unflavoured Keemum, so I am unable to speak about how well it represents it type, however it was enjoyable enough that I would like to try some more.