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Additional notes:   Tea #7 in my Teavivre keemun test. Hmm, so far this is the lightest one, therefore not my favorite.  It hardly even has any of the keemun flavor notes.  If anything it has a slight bakey, sweet flavor, almost like a cookie.  The look of the dry leaf is gorgeous though: pitch black shiny leaves with hints of gold throughout, slow to unravel.   The leaf definitely looks different than the Superfine Keemun Mao Feng, which is smaller and has more of the golden fuzzies in the package.  Doing the math between the 50gram/100 gram prices, this is actually the most expensive keemun that Teavivre carries, and probably my least favorite, as it isn’t very distinct at all.  Keep in mind, I’m steeping this two years after the harvest date, so it could have been more distinct while it was fresher, but the other keemuns seem to be holding up well enough.  Also, as I have steeped all of these Western, they could be better steeping them with other methods.  The second steep thankfully blooms into more flavor, but again, nothing I would notice as distinctly higher quality.  The flavor takes more of a traditional keemun profile, with a hint of dark fruit on the back sip.  But I’d prefer even the Grade 2 over this one.  I’m not picky, and Teavivre’s lowest quality teas are probably other tea shops higher quality teas.  At least when I’m steeping up the lower priced teas, I don’t have to question if I’m steeping them incorrectly.  Now the rating might be 78.
Steep #1  // 1 1/2 teaspoon for full mug // 20 minutes after boiling  // 2 minute steep
Steep #2  //  just boiled //  3 min steep
Harvest: 2018

*OVERALL for the keemun test: * Yeah, these harvests seemed very different from past harvests.  But really the ratings only shifted a few points and I think the keemuns stayed stable in my rankings from past harvests, even if they are considerably tasting different now. The Imperial was the biggest decrease in rating. None of them had any smoky characteristics and a lot less chocolate notes when I LAST did a side by side comparison six years ago (oh my gosh, I can’t believe that was six years ago.)  In order of preference, I would say it’s Grade 1 & Premium Keemun Hao Ya which are so similar to me I can hardly tell there is a difference in flavor.  The Grade 2 & Aromatic Snail are tied for second place, depending if I’m in the mood for strong flavor or a more delicate flavor. Though I do admire the basil fragrance of the Aromatic Snail. The three higher quality Keemuns probably taste better when they aren’t steeped Western.  But try them all yourself — find the one you like best!  Also, this tasting note dump just put me over 3,000 tasting notes! Woohoo.