Charles Thomas Draper Send Message

This is a tea that I could easily drink everyday and never lose interest. I allow a longer steep with this and the result is magnificent. See my previous notes….

My new place of work has maybe 20 selections of Harney & Sons in bag form. I will take advantage of this. First up is their English Breakfast. I brewed this for just over 2 minutes. The result is a good strong eye-opener. It’s smooth with mellow cocoa notes. I really should steep it longer next time to fully extract the flavor and strength that a good breakfast tea should posess. I know I have written some bad words about their customer service and total lack of communication but they do have some very nice tea.

I am back to work. I have been training and going through orientation at Revel {I am not authorized to say this} LOL. They are allowing us to have a beverage with us in a cup with a lid to take to the meetings and I have been taking this along. It’s comforting to know I am employed. It’s also comforting to be able to have this wonderful Oolong with me during my new journey.

Ok. I am back to the first tea that I reviewed on Steepster. This is a gorgeous version of Keemun with dark and subtle smokiness. A truly fantastic way to start the day. I knew of Harney and have ordered from them many times in the past going back perhaps 20 years. When I sent them messages 3 times and they all went unanswered I can only assume they did not appreciate my business.
So fast forward to my Steepster era of tea consumption and I discover not only teas as good or better than Harney but purveyors that actually take the time to reply to respond to my questions or comments. Purveyors such as Red Blossom, Verdant, Asha, Teavivre, the list could go on and on. There is too much tea in China to limit oneself to a seller who only sees $$$ and does not have common courtesy which I feel is a huge part of tea culture.

I brewed this single cup basket style with 1 tsp. The water was a rolling boil. The 1st cup was very good when the tea cooled a bit. The usual sweet flowery nectar that we have come to love. This tea has a very calming yet not tiring energy. Something so nice and relaxing is better suited for later in the day. As always the 2nd cup seems to open up and awaken. My supply of this is running low. I will miss it when it’s gone. We will see what this spring brings….

OK. I wrongly reviewed this under the other Teavivre tuocha. I let this steep for 2 to 3 minutes and it is a potent first tea of the day. Please see my other notes and multiply the flavor….

This is another treasure that has been sitting at the back of my tea cabinet. At first when I looked at the leaves I thought it was a black tea and not an Oolong. This tea has been in the tea cabinet stored in a Harney container for maybe 10 plus years. The intial steeping in my Gaiwan resulted in a throughly enjoyable brew that really is so borderline black tea but with the Oolong traits as well. It was honey sweet and it had this coppery glow with a darkfruit flavor. An energizing quality as well. I am assuming this was good tea to begin with but with the aging this tea is so nice.

Today I lowered the steep time to 3 minutes and used a lower water temperature that yielded a beautiful, smooth and flavorful brew. Truly one of the finest teas I have ever had the pleasure to enjoy. I am getting that fresh baked flavor with a lovely good morning tea buzz that is not over the top with caffeine. Teavivre should be very proud of this one….

I was more generous with the leaf today with a 3 or 4 minute steeping. The aroma is heavenly. I was getting a wine or dark fruit scent. The flavor is on the money. I began my tea journey years ago with black tea. I started out with Irish and English Breakfast and as I continued on I discovered Keemuns. There is a reason why they are on the China Top 10 list. These are great for starting off your day. Invigorating. I have to up the score on this one.

In all honesty I have no idea how old this tea is. One of those teas that I have in back of the cabinet. I read that Keemuns keep longer than any other black tea. I brewed this basket style as you will now assume is my method of brewing black tea. I like it this way. It works. It’s delicious. Anyway, this I used maybe close to 2 tsps and according to many reviews of Keemun Mao Fengs, I steeped it for close to 6 minutes. The result is a glorious dark red brew with a slight smoky aroma. This tea is absolutely fantastick! Was it the aging? I know it was a good tea to begin with. This tea is penetrating and complex. A Keemun lovers dream. Thankfully this store is close to me. This tea is well worth putting aside for an experience like this….