Keemun Mao Feng

Tea of the afternoon…..

I finally made it to my winter break! We have a few little side trips to make, but mostly we will be home for the next few weeks. Bliss! This is my celebratory cuppa, and I just realized that I still have a whole tin of it left. More to celebrate! Also, winter looks like it has officially arrived at our house. I think we got round 9 inches of snow yesterday. Bring it, Old Man Winter! I have my tea to keep me warm!

This is my tea first love. It has been so long since I have had a cup of this, I was worried that it would not appeal as much. Some of the teas I thought I really liked over the past few years are pretty much in the ‘meh’ category as of now. This one, however, has stood the test of time. I love it just as much today as I ever have. It is my tea perfection by which all other black teas seem to be compared. I do reserve this one for special days, and I definitely think that might be contributing to my feelings about it. Whatever it is, I am going with it! Notes of cocoa, malt, slight smoke, and just…..magic.

Usual teapot method. I do measure the perfect teaspoons on the scant side for this one.

Treating myself to this magical tea today. The touch of smoke. The chocolate notes. The richness. The inexplicably fruity note on the end of the sip. This is a wonderful, wonderful miracle of nature that always stops me in my tracks whenever I brew a cup. I love all of my teas, but this one I treasure.

Well, this is different….I wanted iced tea and I wanted it right away, and it had to be sweet tea because I was trying to create a real Southern meal such as would be served after a funeral.

Food is of utmost importance at Southern funerals. Now, there wasn’t a funeral but there was a burial as I finally got around to burying my eldest brother who was old enough to be my dad and who died in 1984. My daughters and I had to find his box and dig it up when my mother’s property was sold after her death, which wasn’t easy because Dad never told us EXACTLY where he had buried the ashes. I wasn’t even sure they were in a box, but thankfully, they were. (Are you horrified? Or amused? Bet you’re wishing you coulda been there!)

SO – I promised the kids real fried chicken and fixins’ because I don’t fry ANYTHING EVER but that is what you eat after a burial. By the time we got home from the cemetary and buying the food we were so hungry! I couldn’t wait long enough to brew a pot of tea, but I had a pot of Keemun Mao Feng left over from yesterday. I heated it a bit in the microwave, added a little sugar and poured it over ice! Ta-dah! The best iced tea I have ever had, I think. It had a lovely rich edge that grocery store bags just don’t give you – a little something extra in the flavor profile. Bravo, Keemun Mao Feng! Rest in peace, big brother. I hope he heard us playing the 50’s and 60’s stations on satellite radio in his honor today!

I am trying this today – my experience with Keemuns has been a bit “meh” but I’ve read so many good things about this one.

I swear the dry leaves smelled like a Merlot wine and are very slender and beautiful looking. I tried to not overdo it with the leaf here. I eyeballed it but measured out about 1 tsp for my 10 oz mug.

Success! I liked this one. The results are quite delightful!

The tea liquor is a medium reddish brown and has a lovely cocoa fragrance. I’m picking up some hints of malt and the aftertaste is surprisingly floral, almost like a second flush darjeeling (but sweeter). I am not getting much smokiness, perhaps just a touch . But it may be my tastebuds are burnt out from that Russian caravan I had a little while ago.

I might even be braver and go for a slightly longer steep next time, but it ended up being very nice the way I prepared it. No need for sugar or soymilk at all, this is a great one to sip on plain. Smooth and without much astringency. I’m glad I but the bullet and went for it! So good!

A while ago I would read tasting notes for unflavored black teas with descriptions of notes of chocolate and such, and I would wonder what on earth these people were tasting because I never tasted that when I tried black teas. I’m pretty sure I tried this tea at the Harney Soho store ages ago after reading notes on here about it, and I didn’t really get it. Now I’ve gotten into Tan Yangs and other Fujian blacks, and lately I’ve come across a lot of tasting notes about Tan Yangs talking about how a particular tea is like a Keemun minus the smoke. Thanks to SimplyJenW, I get to try this Keemun again now and make the comparisons!

Honestly, the descriptions of smoky notes in Keemuns have me figuring I won’t like them as much because I’m not a big fan of smoke in my teas. And the steeped tea certainly smells smoky! It reminds me a tad of the wood-fired tieguanyin I had once in levels of smokiness… not like a campfire, but something roasted on one, perhaps. I do also smell more Tan Yang-like chocolate and molasses notes underneath it. The flavor delivers on the scent, and I can definitely see the resemblance to a Tan Yang. I first taste very delicious chocolatey and molasses-y notes, and then the light smokiness grows in the latter part of the sip. Definite sweetness present here.

This is partly rated on the fact that I can objectively tell that this is a very good tea and I can appreciate it as such. But it also falls into the range of teas that I wouldn’t seek out again… I’m just not a fan of smoky notes in my teas. But I’m really thankful to get to try this tea to further my tea education and also narrow my black tea searching!

Enjoying some of the remains of this sample which was generously supplied by SimplyJenW many moons ago. I remember really liking it and hoarding the remains for some sort of good tea apocalypse. Steeped, the liquor is a light orange, I’m surprised at how light it is, actualy. The aroma is very bold with a strong cocoa note and a sense of bitterness, but that could be the cocoa I’m picking up on.

First sips yield a bold rich cocoa that quickly morphs into a sweet note with a hint of spice in there. Cinnamon is my first thought, as it so frequently is. It’s like I am drinking three distinct things but they are coming through in that order. This is even more remarkable than my memory of it led me to believe. I am getting absolutely no bitterness and not any discernible astringency, just cocoa, something sweet and something cinnamon. Fantastic!

I just looked this up on the Harney site and though it is definitely a delicious tea I was surprised at the price. $20 for 2 oz is about $20 for 50 grams – it is definitely good, but that price is unbelievable. For $10/ounce I would probably rather pick up some Verdant Tea but I am really glad to have this sample still. Thanks again SimplyJen!

First thing tea this morning, good pick. Light smoke, chocolate, nice Goldilocks body. This one’s also maltier at the front than others I’ve tried. And there’s that fruity wine scent to the spent leaves the other Harney Keemuns have. That said, I’m beginning to suspect that Keemuns are, much like each year’s overwhelming number of Darjeelings, winding up to be a tea where I don’t pay terribly much attention on the fine distinctions between vendors/crops etc.—where so long as they fit the general mold of what I expect, I’ll just reach for any decent one when that’s what I’m seeking. This hasn’t been true at all for whatever reason with other teas, especially Chinese, Taiwanese, and Japanese—I get very brand loyal and even season/year loyal at times it seems—but maybe that’s because Keemun, while Chinese, is heavier and more opaque a thing, similar to Assam or other Indian tea. Hm. IIRC I liked Little Red Teacup’s Keemun and it felt markedly distinct. But really, so long as it’s got some chocolate and smoke and is a good balance of smooth and full/strong, I’m good.

That said, if any of you seasoned experts have one you are just flipping nuts over I haven’t tried (mine have mainly come from Harney, Teavivre, Little Red Teacup, Verdant, and Tao Tea Leaf) and can procure easily enough from the US, I’m all ears as always. (:

Tried this today at Harney Soho. They were having a Valentine’s Day tea flight.
This was the unflavored black tea in the 3 tea flight. I gave it a try and my taste buds did a bit of a dance. It is a very sweet tea. I felt like I was drinking Honey.
I was going to leave the store without buying it, got near the door and realized that I desperately wanted another taste of it, so I walked out with a 2oz bag.
This is a great addition to my cabinet.

This was a truly special treat for me this morning, especially because until yesterday afternoon I didn’t even know I would possess it! Many thanks to SimplyJenW for a lovely surprise packet of tea to sample. :) I couldn’t choose, so I turned the packets face down, shuffled them and chose one at random. This is the lucky winner today. Well, actually I am because this tea is really wonderful.

First, when I sniffed the tea in the packet, I picked up on a very roasted scent, much like a roasted Dong Ding. So, in my mind, I imagined I’d be tasting something similar. The taste, however, is not anything like that, other than that there is a definite smoky note to the tea. What I do taste is something unique. There’s a hint of cocoa, kind of like hot chocolate before the milk is added, but it has a sweetness and a nuttiness to it that keep the taste on the lighter side instead of being bitter. It’s unlike any tea I’ve tasted before.

Thank you again, SimplyJenW, for a lovely tea this morning. I can’t wait to try the next ones. :)

This is a very high quality tea. The dried leaves are extremely dark, but lighten up quite a bit after steeping, producing a dark cognac liquor. The aroma is what really made me decide to purchase this. I knew that I was looking for a typical Keemun-esque brew, one that was extremely fragrant and fruity. I am by no means dissatisfied. In taking a whiff, I pick up notes of stone fruits, possibly apricots and plums, as well as that of rich cocoa (as was also described by Harney & Sons). The flavor is quite similar. Although I am not a big fan of chocolatey-tasting teas, I must say that as a finishing piece on your palate, it is not overwhelming, but rather a major compliment to the rest of the drink. An excellent batch by Harney!