ZK98: China Keemun Mao Feng

Third cup of the day…..

I did pick up a sample of this one for comparison. I have not had it in my cupboard for over a year and wanted to have a more accurate view of this than just my memory. The memory is starting to go, you know. Also, sometimes experiencing tea has everything to do with your mood and surroundings at the time. If I were going from memory, the taste was just a little different than I am experiencing today. I won’t add those memories in, just because it would confuse the issue. This time around it is good, but just that. Cocoa notes are lighter than the others, and it is slightly smokier than all that I have recently tried. It is less sweet than the ZK67. In comparison to the Harney, it does have a similar light earthiness, but definitely less complex and rich, and the mouthfeel is thinner. I do get a similar astringency to the ZK91. Leaves are comparable to the ZK91 and ZK67, but they seem a little shorter. Overall, it is a smooth and wonderful tea, but I am spoiled by others. I am sure if I had not tasted the others, I would have been happy with this. Sometimes, too many choices is a bad thing. I am not sorry that I tried it again as it is the best value in a Keemun Mao Feng that I have tried.

Usual Mug method.

I love starting my day with a cup of this wonderful tea. I am always generous with steep times which borders between 6 and 8 minutes. The result as always is splendid. There are dark fruit notes with a touch of smoke. Rich, invigorating and flavorful. All in all this is a very nice tea. I am now deciding on a Darjeeling order from Upton. Lately my fellow Steepsterites have made me very thirsty for some….

I’m trying to restrain myself from placing a Harney order (new Chinese tea available! free shipping code! Discount code! I have a $5 points thingum! wait – that’s encouraging me – slap my hand!) so I am having another Keemun which Lady Londonderry gave me a very generous sample of (so sheesh! I can certainly hold out a little longer because you KNOW what is going to happen. The minute I place my order some more Harney Chinese teas are going to come out and I’m going to to be mad at myself).

Ahem! You’ve had enough of my internal monologue – let me talk about the tea!

I went heavy on the leaf, and got a really nice cocoa-y, satisfying cup. Rich and delicious.

THEN I gilded the lily! I took Harney’s Chocolate Mint which Ashmanra sent to me into work because I wanted to taste it sans additions. I added a scant teaspoon to the Keemun Mao Feng leaves and had two more steeps of such a treat! The cocoa notes from the Keemun paired with the chocolate and mint was exhilarating! I definitely prefer the Chocolate Mint sans additions. This is so refreshing and chocolatey and Mmmmmm!

Thank you so much Lady Londonderry & Ashmanra! You both helped me keep a sound mind and pocketbook today, whilst having a delicious and decadent tea day!

Pretty good, nice in the morning with some milk and sugar tho that made it a bit heavy on my belly.
Not sure if the caffeine or the milk and sugar but my belly kinda hurts now, It was worth it tho lol Yummy delish tea :)
I’ll taste it again soon without the additives

This is a very satisfying afternoon tea. The wisp of smoke is very restrained and I am certain that this tea would be perfectly acceptable to those who do not like smoky teas.
Upton offers good teas at decent prices. I think that I’ve tried much more costly Keemuns which have spoiled me a bit for their more pedestrian siblings. This smooth tea is really a delight. After drinking some Hao Ya Keemuns this tea certainly seems like a step down, but I feel a bit churlish writing this.

It might be analogous to eating a lobster dish after you’ve sampled caviar (not that I’ve had a lot of experience there). What might have seemed like a wonderful tea a couple of weeks ago seems a little simple-minded compared with more brilliant teas.

What am I getting at? If I were grading papers I would give this one an “A” even if there were another paper that went miles and miles beyond the outer reaches of what I know to be an A+. Excellent tea, Upton!

I’m kind of wimpy when it comes to smoke notes in tea. I want there to be just the slightest suggestion of smoke, if any … like the trace of tobacco you’d barely detect in the elevator after getting into it an hour after your pipe-smoking neighbor had gotten out. So this tea by itself is a bit too smoky for me. However, yesterday I made a two-cup pot of Organic China Black FOP and blended in just a pinch of this, and it was a revelation. Those few leaves of Keemun Mao Feng elevated it from a satisfying brew to a sublime one.

Thank you Charles for sending me a sample of this tea. I wanted to comment on it this morning while I was drinking it but my computer at home is acting funny.

I don’t believe I’ve had a Kemmun before. I brewed this in the tetsubin which I am using for mostly black tea these days. I think I erred a little too much on the side of caution and did not add enough leaf. I liked this though. It was a light brown, woody and smooth tea with some smoke in the aftertaste. I’m not a huge fan of smoke but I didn’t mind it here it seemed very unobtrusive. I tried adding soymilk and that was not a good idea, I preferred the taste of it plain.

I’ve been dying to write this one up for several days, but had to consult with a buddy to see what loveliness lurked in the little foil sharing pouch.

This Keemun is superlative. The dry scent is pretty keemuny, maybe a little lighter than some, but don’t let that fool you. It is rich and brothy and has beautiful harvest-season burgundy grape notes to it. Straight up, no additives whatsoever.

This tea requires double or more the usual leaf to brew the way I like a morning cup. I’m terrified of overbrewing, so I took several tries to be bold enough to go the recommended longer range time of 8 minutes. Bingo! The 8 minute brew with boiling water produced the sweetest, closest to cocoa flavor that I desired. This is an excellent everyday choice, I can afford to stock up on this one. And it is rich and strong enough for a work morning beginning at 5:30 a.m. (And no, I am so NOT a morning person…) I find Golden Moon’s Keemun the standard for cocoa goodness, but the cost is more.

I had that tea for a while and every time when I was drinking I really liked it. Which is a bit strange, since 1). most of Upton’s Keemuns are decidedly not very good and 2). this particular Keemun does not conform with the requirements of the breed at all.

This tea has none of typical for Keemuns bite and the taste of cherries. Instead there is malt, malt, malt anda bit of smoke and roast, both in the aroma and flavor. That’s it it is not complex at all. But somehow it is really charming and attractive in its simplicity. I like it a lot, especially sipping it from a travel mug on long car or train rides. Every little sip delivers the same strong maltiness and roast like a clockwork. This tea is also incredibly forgiving to the water temperature and steeping time.

China Keemun Mao Feng is like a very good and experienced role player on a team: it cannot do many things and wow the crowds but a few things that it can – it does them very well and reliably. And every tea cupboard needs not only stars but also trusted role players.