China Keemun

I am finishing my China Keemun sample from Zen Tea this morning along with a cherry vanilla bagel from Panera – the ones shaped like a ribbon for breast cancer awareness month. Since I had breast cancer last year, I am particularly attached to these bagels, especially since a friend came to have bagels and tea the day after my surgery! :)

This is a very good Keemun, it has the strength to pull off being a morning tea, the chocolate flavor to let me know it is a Keemun, and the smoothness to still drink it plain. I can’t say that about all Keemuns! This is one that would also be great with milk and sugar if you are so inclined. It won’t shrink under the additions, but may be even heartier.

Thank you, Zen Tea, for the opportunity to try your tea! I can’t wait to order the black bamboo matcha whisk, the scoop, and the sifter. I think I am going to get the Earl Grey Cream as well since I have never had one and they get such great reviews on here.

Upping the rating on this one a little because it’s pretty tasty. First cup of the morning – a full day ahead of me. Working from home as i’m STILL SICK blech but I have a new computer on the way today! also hoping to squeeze in making some banana bread since i’m home heh.

This tea is pretty darn smooth! I’ve got 3 more samples from zen tea on the table that i need to try but I want to wait until i’m no longer sick. Not to mention? buying 3 samples pack from della terra in one go means i’m sample swamped! I need to get to drinking some down!

I’m so whiny today. K’s off in top-secret meetings all week where they take his phone so he hasn’t even bothered to bring it AND he’s away from the office so no email AND he took the car and I’m just sitting here like it’s the end of the world because I’m addicted to coffee and it’s way over there across the neighbourhood :P :P :P Saddest Ozli.

But this! The blackest of black teas! With milk & sugar for the self-pity. Oversteeped it but it didn’t hurt it any.

This tea is a regular but I ran out about 2 months ago and just restocked on it now. When I opened my order today (in a frantic fashion as usual), I fetched it out quickly cause I wanted it now!!

Im not one to seek after smoky teas, therefore, Keemun can be a real hit or a real miss for me. I like the more fruity type of Keemun, such as this one.

The smell is smoky, but very lightly, and even more so in the taste. Smoky in a way an egg would be when fried in bacon fat, yum!

The light smoke blends perfectly with the natural saltiness I find in it. Lol, did I just write that this tea basically reminds me of salt, bacon and eggs?
Winning combination, is it not? Need I to mention this is the perfect tea for brunch and breakfast.

But the main characteristics are the rich cocoa feel and fruitiness of this tea. It has no astringency, even when brewed longer (5 min. for me) and it is naturally sweet in a dried fruit kind of way. I personally would’t think of adding anything to it since it is so tasty, but this is the kind of tea that would sustain milk and sugar for sure. (And if your name is Sil, a dash of maple syrup would make it heavenly good!)

Zen Tea might not carry a zillion different types of the same teas, but I realize I hold many staples from them: a Darjeeling, an Assam, a Keemun, an Earl Grey…that tells me that Kenneth the owner chooses wisely what he decides to carry.

IMHO, This is tea is a steal and it compares to any higher end Keemun, it well deserves its permanent stash status in my cupboard!

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – August 2024 Tea #1 – Tea with the smallest amount left

I just finished this, so I guess it had the smallest amount left!   By the time I finished this, I think it lost a lot of its strength. It’s quite light now.  And I really like it better when keemun is stronger.  I’m not sure if this is a NOW problem, with how old the leaf is.  OR if it started out that way.  I suppose I should just read my old notes for it….  Since this one is ELEVEN YEARS OLD, I will refresh the memory here.  Originally I said: “this is what I expect a nice keemun to taste like. I must admit that the only keemuns I’ve tried have been from Butiki and Teavivre and this one is just as good!”  So yeah, age of the leaf hits again.  Sorry, poor tea!
2024 sipdowns: 56

Backlog from yesterday.
I don’t think I’ve ever had a straight Keemun before (it may have been in some blends I’ve tried), but if this is what Keemuns usually taste like, I think I can safely say that I quite like them. Chocolatey and smooth. Tasty afternoon tea. Thanks to Zen Tea for the sample!

This tea brews to the colour of maple wood.smells a little like something that has been treated with mild hickory smoke, mixed with chocolate and dried figs. It tastes of charred sweet potatoe, a touch of cocoa and a faint suggestion of smoke with an aftertaste like dried fig. A Sweet initial flavour is followed by a freshening tingle in the mouth, with little to no bitterness. The tea is fairly smooth. It leaves a tingling on the lips and under the tongue. Pleasant. The first time I had this it tasted very smoky, I think I overleafed it that time. This time I reduced the leaf and I quite enjoyed it.

This is my first unflavoured Keemum, so I am unable to speak about how well it represents it type, however it was enjoyable enough that I would like to try some more.

Full bodied chocolatey tea. Not too brisk, but packs a punch.

Hm, I’m not an expert with Keemun at all, so I really can’t say much about this in comparison to others. I do know that to me this is a good, very basic, plain black tea, with no special frills or pleasantries. When first steeped it had almost no flavor, but after cooling slightly it improved. Still, it’s a flavorless black tea to me, smooth and decent, but not worth making again. It may not be Zen Tea’s fault, though, it could just be that all Keemuns are like this. I’m confused as I see descriptions of smoky, or chocolate, but I get absolutely none of that.

Tea #4 from the (Mostly) Unflavored TTB

As mucky as it is out right now, I still wanted tea, so I grabbed this one out to drink. In hindsight I don’t think the smokyness was the best choice when I was already feeling nauseous due to, well, the weather. But I refuse to pour out a perfectly excellent cup of tea because I’m stubborn and stupid like that. Lol!
It was between this one and Teavive’s Keemun Grade 1, but this one smelled a bit less savory/smoky so I figured it would be lighter on the smoke.
Yeesh. This one turned out pretty smoky in the end anyway. It’s a bit sweet, but I mostly get smoke from it. Not Lapsang type smoke, but smoke nonetheless.
It’s good, but definitely not the tea that I should’ve been drinking right now. Honestly, I think I shouldn’t really have had any tea at all, but ugh, what a depressing thought that is. Lol!

(1.5 tsp)