Copper Knot Hongcha

I’ve seen a lot of either hate or love for this tea and I can understand why, I’m defiantly closer to the “love” side. While I haven’t experienced as many black teas as I would like to claim, this is defiantly a very pleasant tea and when I used to work at Teavana it was my default black tea next to the black dragon pearls. Like the name suggests, it kind of has a copper like taste that is hard for me to describe, one might even call it “smokey” which is also accurate. I also like how the maltiness is at the perfect level for my tastes, it may be too much for others but when I’m in the mood for this tea its quite rewarding. Not the best black tea out there I’m sure, but for a store that sells their teas for ridiculously high prices this tea is priced quite well at $9 per 2oz.

I actually work in a Teavana, and I’ll say that the prices are sort of painful – but this tea, being the least expensive unflavored black the store sells, is actually well worth its money.

The trick is in knowing how much tea to use and how long to steep it, and I’ll be the first to admit that nearly all of the info on the Teavana page is incorrect. It takes time to figure out each tea’s specifications, and when prepared carefully, there’s no bitterness in the copper knot brew. The water shouldn’t be boiling, first of all. Add a small chunk of ice and let it cool the water down first. This tea requires maybe two minutes’ steeping to drink hot, and I don’t cross 2:40 to ice it. If you double the amount of tea to make it iced, it’s absolutely delicious. I use a full teaspoon per 8oz of water and it comes up perfect (nearly) every time.

When it’s made right, the copper knot has warm honeyish caramel notes and a gorgeous reddish-gold liquor. I’d say 2-3 resteeps are good; I’ve done more, but after 3 they go downhill. Just be careful about how you steep it, and it will come up well.

I really like this tea. It’s my morning standard. As an English tea-drinker abroad I tried a lot of breakfast blends that just didn’t cut it. Then I had to give up dairy, and even PG Tips didn’t seem right. This tea got me back to tea drinking. It’s robust, malty, coppery, and tastes of Essence-of-Tea. It’s great even without milk. The leaves are gorgeous. I resteep at least twice, so this is reasonable in cost.

I bought a half kilo of this at Teavana in Market Mall Calgary NW yesterday. Best stuff Ive ever tasted. I went on the teavana website and its discontinued. Why? Good stuff!! Is this discontinuance a result of the Starbucks merger starting to screw up Teavana?

The tea leaves are curled with light tips and it steeps up as dark as coffee. It’s a bit earthy, reminiscent of some Keemuns and Yunnans I’ve tried. At times I’ve dislked such teas, I found a TeaSource Empire Keemun and Dian Hong nigh undrinkable to my tastes. I tend to prefer Indian to Chinese blacks by and large. I quite enjoyed this one—mellow enough in that earthy note for me not to be put off, and I imagine this might pair wonderfully with milk, but it’s quite nice plain. I have enough of this I might feel different with more acquaintance, but for now I’d say this is a tea I could enjoy everyday, but not a favorite.

This one brews up strong, a good, forceful black tea, which is what I was looking for when I purchased it. It has less sweetness than Teavana’s Celestial Temple Peaks, and more of a malty flavor. I am also finding the ‘copper’ notes for which this tea must have been named. All in all, an excellent morning tea. I approve.

So, I bought this because I needed a new regular black and this sounded different and it got good reviews. I opened this up and the aroma was familiar-it instantly called to mind the Rishi Organic Yunnan Golden Needles I drank in 2011. The taste was similar too-malty, with a faint orange note. It’s not astringent at all-very smooth. Looks beautifully copper in a glass cup. I get two steeps out of this. Have been altering it with Keemun every other day. Not a first cup in the morning for me though-need a good stiff Irish Breakfast for that. Will buy again at some point. Price is okay with free shipping-don’t have the luxury of bulk loose teas anywhere around here.

Quickly becoming my go-to black tea, with a great taste, nice aroma and good-looking leaves.

Great tea. Has a malty hazelnut flavor. A great addition to my cupboard.

I like this. If only I had more water for a second cup. It’s strong and earthy tasting, a little bit smoky like others said (but not overpowering, in my opinion). It smells a bit like roasted nuts to me. Not my usual breakfast tea, but definitely something I will have from time to time.