Thank you Teavivre for this sample tea!
My first tasting was gongfu style with Eric and Sam at Happy Lucky’s Tea Shop on the eve of the USA Pro Am #6 Cycling race.
It was quiet because the streets downtown were about to be closed off in preparation for the next day’s huge racing event!
Sam was loading a big cooler with ice for the tea booth (to be located in front of Happy Lucky’s) when my granddaughter Schey arrived to join the tea tasting.
We tasted three other tea’s, finishing with the Keemun.
There was an audible ahhhh with this final tasting.
I showed restraint, appreciative of the sweet aroma before I slurped once, twice then three times from my small cup (splaying the tea throughout my mouth, catching air). We only taste tea the ‘loud’ way among ourselves when the shop is quiet, not to startle anyone. I mention how this is done because it’s worth trying out (quite a bit like tasting wine).
We all liked this tea, and I couldn’t wait to have a whole pot of tea to myself the next morning!
The next day, Saturday morning which was race day, I made a pot of Superfine Keemun…Western Style…with a slightly longer steep than most people would do.
This is the best Black Tea I’ve tasted from Teavivre! Fragrant, with sweetness, slight black pepper and barley, cocoa with almost no smoke.
I added cream and sugar which enhanced the sweet cocoa flavor and
revealed the richness of this fine Black Tea.
This is the Keemun I want in my cupboard! It’s not dry or harsh but has depth and complexity.
After my pot of tea, I was ready for the Cycling Race! I drove close to Old Town and walked to the Finish Line area around the corner from the tea house.
A big TV screen showed the race (ABC I think), and I watched the racers fly behind my house from Horsetooth Reservoir, then down Mulberry the next street over, through town and past me sooo fast! Here are some photo’s!!!
http://flic.kr/p/fBkw9A http://flic.kr/p/fBkvyL
The day was FUN! Vendors gave away samples of Ice Cream, Yoghurt, Jelly Belly’s, Dried Fruit, Cow Bells, Beef Jerky, Water Bottles, Chips, Cliff Bars, Healthy Snacks…all kinds of things. No sales, just free STUFF!
Next week, Tour de Fat! http://youtu.be/DjJlWZgWuUU
It hurts my body to get out like this and park far away and walk and stand even with my cane. Real pain.
But if I stop and stay in my house 24/7 I’ll lose my joy!
Nobody is going to come to me, I have to go grab what I can and do what I can!
The day ended as I began the evening before, with a stop for tea with my friends at the tea house. They gave me free iced tea and scones. Much needed relief and the joy of friendship!
That is how I make my Suoerfine Keemun, too!