Capital of Heaven Keemun Black Tea

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Dark Chocolate, Honey, Smoke, Tannin, Floral, Smooth, Sweet Potatoes, Walnut, Bitter, Tannic
Sold in
Not available
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by pinky
Average preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 min, 45 sec 9 oz / 277 ml

From Our Community

1 Image

9 Want it Want it

38 Own it Own it

  • +23

37 Tasting Notes View all

  • “First Sipdown of the week!! This is a pleasant cup, a little bit on the astringent side, but not bad. There is some sweet potato in there, a little clove maybe, & it’s although it’s not my...” Read full tasting note
  • “Thank you Terri for this sample! There’s actually enough in the bag for three sittings. This tea has the smokiness of Keemun, an added astringency that isn’t usually present in Keemuns (at least...” Read full tasting note
    67
  • “Another sample from my swap with terri. While this is not my favourite keemun to date, this is a lovely cup of tea. There’s a bit of astringency here that isn’t my fav but it’s not overwhelming...” Read full tasting note
    71
  • “This one is waaay better than the sorta-pineapple thing from the other day. I spent a while looking through the Teavana booklet, and while I’m really not happy about many of the things that have...” Read full tasting note
    80

From Teavana

Keemun, known as ‘the Queen of Fragrance,’ is a prized tea in China. With gently curled firm and slender leaves, this black tea brews copper in color and has a rich, smooth, honey-fragrant cup with a sweet, mellow ending. It makes a delicious way to enjoy your day.

About Teavana View company

Company description not available.

37 Tasting Notes

3294 tasting notes

First Sipdown of the week!!
This is a pleasant cup, a little bit on the astringent side, but not bad. There is some sweet potato in there, a little clove maybe, & it’s although it’s not my favorite Keemun, it’s not bad, and now it’s gone!!
That puts me at 317 teas in my cupboard, I think. I added a few from butiki over the weekend, oh, and the verdant bundle…

So I’ve decided today is Sipdown Monday. I’m gonna look through each category of teas & try to finish off the ones that I don’t have much of. I really want to drop my numbers to something manageable, so I can actually drink everything on my list at least once a month! LOL :D

Sil

yep…pretty sure that tea arrived today but because i missed the front door call, i won’t get it until tomorrow…

TeaLady441

Sipdown Monday? Yeah, why not? Gives you the weekend to sort through and find your samples and set them aside for seriousbusiness Monday.

Terri HarpLady

Naw, cavo, on the weekend I either run around playing gigs, or sit around in my PJs at Tony’s house being lazy. I never organize anything on the weekend! Today I just dug though the various shelves on my tea cupboards, looking for things small enough to polish off. I think I’ll do it again tomorrow, maybe I’ll just make this a sipdown week!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

67
423 tasting notes

Thank you Terri for this sample! There’s actually enough in the bag for three sittings.
This tea has the smokiness of Keemun, an added astringency that isn’t usually present in Keemuns (at least not the ones that I have tried), and less sweetness than in other Keemuns. It also really needs the full three minutes of steep time recommended.
Not my favorite keemun by far, but a nice tea to try out.

PS – Just when I promised myself not to buy more tea (I went a little wild during Verdant’s Black Friday sale, and I had more than enough before it anyway), Norbu Tea has 25% off your order until the 31st of Jan (code: 2014Horse). Bought three interesting new oolongs and their wonderful white bud pu’er. If you haven’t purchased from Norbu yet, I urge you to give it a try. They have some of my favorite teas, and have yet to disappoint me.

Sil

while i’m SO glad you shared the norbu sale, my cupboard and wallet may end up hating you just a little lol going to check it out tonight haha

Terri HarpLady

HA! Sil, I was just thinking the same thing!

NofarS

I loaded over $100 worth of tea into my cart and then spent an hour pairing it down to anything close to my budget. I’m super worried that I might break down before the end of the month and buy “everything else”. They have an amazing Yunnan black tea called “Ye Sheng Hong Cha” that is out of this world good and unique, and their oolongs – don’t get me started about those. And their white teas, and their wonderful pu’ers (bamboo roasted and white buds are both mind blowing), and, and… You see my problem.

Terri HarpLady

All too well! I went a little nuts on Yunnan sourcing yesterday, pretty much the same as you…fill the cart…take a few things out…add a few more…prioritize… ;)

mrmopar

And I made 2 orders…. boy will i be in trouble! I am going to blame you guys for it!

Sil

the one tea i wanted more of from norbu that you share with us isn’t there… so i settled for 5 other random teas AND managed not to pick up 300g of a tea at the end of it’s season that looked tasty good.

Terri HarpLady

I haven’t been to the Norbu site…yet…
My birthday is this month…
Sil, what did you get?

NofarS

Enabling is fun!
Sil, which tea did you want? Was it Lao Cong Zi Ya by any chance? Drop a line to Greg, he may be able to get the tea you want for you. If it’s Lao Cong Zi Ya then count me in (there’s usually a minimum weight involved in these cases).

Terri HarpLady

Maybe I’ll put that one on my order for a 3 way split

Sil

NofarS…it wasn’t that one but i was SOOOOO sad i couldn’t find that particular one on the website. I really want that one!

Terri – uh i posted it in the share your orders thread.

Sil

I emailed greg…will keep you both posted!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

71
14991 tasting notes

Another sample from my swap with terri.

While this is not my favourite keemun to date, this is a lovely cup of tea. There’s a bit of astringency here that isn’t my fav but it’s not overwhelming and certainly doesn’t ruin the cup. Glad to have tried this one..i will try all the teas someday.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

80
107 tasting notes

This one is waaay better than the sorta-pineapple thing from the other day.

I spent a while looking through the Teavana booklet, and while I’m really not happy about many of the things that have resulted from the takeover, I am pleased with their selection of straight blacks. I do think I will have to try them all, especially the first flush Darjeeling they have right now. I have wanted to try a FF Darjeeling forever; even if it’s not the best one in the world, it’s something I can walk in and buy rather than order online, and I think it’s almost a good thing to start with a baseline of “not as good” tea so that you really appreciate the good stuff when you drink it.

This one is very, very pleasant. It’s the first Keemun I’ve ever tried, so I have little to compare it to, but I like it. It’s not as dark as I was hoping; it’s maybe mid-way between a Ceylon and an Assam. It’s a wee bit floral and a wee bit smokey, but it takes to some sugar very well nevertheless. A decent breakfast tea if you don’t need too much of a kick in the pants, but the floral notes might be strange first thing in the morning. It might be a better cup in the evening.

Also, I talked to the SA who poured my Keemun about the pricing issue. He’s certain they are not using the American prices, and when I watched him pour exactly 50g (he did try to over-pour me six grams – on one of the more expensive teas? – but he did ask me, and I did refuse it), the price matched the price in the booklet and on the wall. The quantity on the receipt was strange though, 1.76, which he said is a result of their prices being adjusted from American prices. So it appears I was over-poured by 23g last time after all.

I will be watching those pours super-closely from now on.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 30 sec
ashmanra

I didn’t know they were allowed to over pour! I thought there was a pretty rigid rule that you had to order in two ounce increments, but maybe you just have to get at LEAST two but can get any number of additional ounces? I have actually never personally purchased tea there, though family members have picked it for me. When I reimburse them, the receipt has always been dead on the right amount. One of the sales associates there once confessed to me quietly that he didn’t like the atmosphere there, but now that I have come to know them better, the crew at the one I frequent has been very friendly. I have been to one other Teavana, and while they were certainly proud of their tea and wanted me to sniff lots of containers, they were friendly and nice. My daughter didn’t have a great experience there, though. She felt the SA was rude to her.

Michelle

To the best of my knowledge, it’s minimum 2oz but anything above that goes. Of course they try and push for the 8oz, 16oz, but I’ve ordered 3oz of a tea before and never heard anything about it.

I think the associates fall into two categories, mostly: The tea lovers w work there for the tea, and the salespeople who work there because it’s a job. Not that they’re mutually exclusive, but still.

Daniel Scott

@ashmanra – Oh yes, you can get more than 2oz (or 50g here in Canuck land). Maybe it’s because we measure in grams, but over 50g, you can ask for any weirdo amount you want. Ninety-two grams? Go for it.

Are the SAs made aware that your family members are buying for someone else? If so, they may not dare to over-pour.

I do like the people at my local Teavana; but they have been there since the transition. Actually, they are hiring soon, and I’m considering it. I mean, I hate the way the company is run; but I hate the way the current company I work for is run, too, and I’m not selling stuff I like as much as tea! Might be a step up, head office ridiculousness or not.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

76 tasting notes

I got more of a smokey flavor this morning that I haven’t noticed as much in the two years I’ve been drinking this tea. I usually catch wine noted from this. Hmmm…

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

100
191 tasting notes

This is the Christmas tea (of the morning and early afternoon). I gave in and bought a couple ounces of this about two weeks ago, and have refrained from having any because the time just didn’t seem right. Today, apparently, at 5:30 a.m. was the right time. This tea is as delicious as I remember it being. Earthy, a bit smoky, and a bit of a yeasty/bake-y thing going on. It is wonderful. It is even good on the resteep.

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it! If you don’t, have a marvelous tea-drinking day!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

84
257 tasting notes

I’m a Keemun tea newbie but I really enjoyed the only other sample that I had of this Chinese tea. I was therefore excited to experience Teavana’s take on Keemun.

After steeping this tea for three minutes at 195 degrees, a rich golden brew was produced. The aroma was rather earthy like peat moss.

The taste of this nice blend is earthy, woodsy, smokey, and slightly spicy. I did notice a tad of astringency with my first cup, but nothing to keep me from drinking this tea on a regular basis. Perhaps brewing for two minutes (instead of three) would have reduced or eliminated this minor grumble.

Of the two Keemum teas that I have tried so far, I prefer Teavivre’s
Premium Keemun Hao Ya black tea selection. To me, that tea has a bolder, richer, and more complex flavor. However, if I were stranded on a desert island with no tea except Teavana’s Capital of Heaven Keemun black tea, I’m sure Wilson and I would still consider ourselves quite blessed.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

91
14 tasting notes

The leaf appearance is jet black, with a high gloss, a sign of a very high grade Hao ya Keemun. I see very little twig debris here. The leaves were whole, and even in size, and the leaves appeared to a light brownish red after brewing. A wonderfully toasty nose, fruity notes and a subtle, playful pine smell. The tea itself is a reddish brown, very bright and luster-y. This tea was very full bodied, with a complex taste incorporating a bit of a fruity, smokey, sweet flavour. I store mine in a wooden container, which gives the tea a woody aftertaste.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

83
58 tasting notes

This is quickly becoming a favorite black tea. I seem to gravitate toward it when I want a basic black tea in the morning and it’s excellent iced as well.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

90
257 tasting notes

Made this in the Keurig this morning since I was in a hurry. This tea has an earthy, woodsy flavor, almost like it was aged in a wood barrel. Otherwise, it has a strong keemun taste sets it apart from other black teas.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.