16 Tasting Notes
Continuing to add my favorite tea’s, here is an exemplar Keemun Hao Ya A from The Tea Stop. I have not found a source more representative of what Hao Ya A should be than this… Delicate, full bloom of balanced flavor, the proper hint of smokiness. Mouthwatering perfection, and I don’t use that word lightly! I am almost hesitant to continue posting these, because part of me has the urge to keep my hard-won, favorite sources secret so they don’t sell out quicker, but what the heck, good tea must be shared…
http://www.theteastop.com/china-keemun-hao-ya.html
Preparation
For $9.50, this is a surprisingly good matcha. Not bitter, really no complaints at this price point, I would rate it 85 factoring in that it is such a bargain. I have had worse matcha’s that cost twice as much.
Good choice for a daily matcha.
https://www.itoen.com/loose-leaf-tea/japanese-tea/matcha-teas-tea-7-oz-can.html
(Again, for any matcha beginners, a bamboo whisk is required- you can use any wide ceramic or pyrex bowl in a pinch, but without the bamboo whisk it just is not going to dissolve or froth up, so it will not taste right)
Preparation
The other of my two favorite matcha’s, along with Ito En’s Koto no Tsuki.
Perfect umami taste, and fair price at 1,500 yen. Fast shipping from Japan.
Highly recommended….
http://shop.ippodo-tea.co.jp/kyoto/shopf/goods/index.html?ggcd=132024&cid=matcha
(Of course for beginners, you really need to use a bamboo whisk… a Chawan (tea bowl) is desirable, but you can get away with using a pyrex or ceramic bowl, but without the bamboo whisk, the matcha really is not going to dissolve properly and won’t taste right)
Preparation
One of my two favorite matcha’s.
High in the savory “umami” flavor, no bitterness, perfect for thick or thin matcha.
$19.50 per cannister, fair price for ceremony-grade matcha.
https://www.itoen.com/loose-leaf-tea/japanese-tea/matcha-koto-no-tsuki-7-oz-can.html
(Note for beginners, you need a bamboo whisk for matcha… a Chawan (tea bowl) is desirable, but you can get away with using a pyrex or ceramic bowl, but without the bamboo whisk, the matcha really is not going to dissolve properly and will not taste right. For some reason using a Western-style metal whisk doesn’t work, probably because the bamboo whisks have up to a hundred tines, whereas metal whisks might have only 10 or 15)
Preparation
This is one of my favorite black teas ever, period. At $24 an ounce it better be good, when I first purchased it in 2008 it was $35/oz that year and I was skeptical. But after tasting, I understood why the high price.
Incredibly delicate, balanced, winey, not smokey like Hao Ya Keemun. Good for a splurge every now and then.
Preparation
What a price! How many steepings will this last you, and how do you brew such a thing?
Same as normal tea, 6 to 10 brews per ounce depending on how much you make at once. I use glassware, a bodum or pyrex cup, 4 minutes with boiling water, then pour through a handheld strainer. You could do traditional gongfu as well, but one can never go wrong with neutral glassware.
Thanks for the info. When you steep this tea, do you get multiple steepings out of each session’s-worth of leaves? I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a black tea at this price point, so I’m curious about how giving a session of leaves can be.
Notes of wine. I’d never think to look for that flavor.. I’ll have to keep my “eyes” out for it now.
Yes, well I am no expert but a delicate yet complex perhaps slightly fruity tannin structure often strikes me as wine-like. See the following, excerpt from James Norwood Pratt’s tea tasters lexicon:
“Winey: usually descriptive of a mellow quality fine Darjeelings or Keemuns acquire with six months to a year or more of age; more rarely used to describe overfermented tea”
And no I don’t do multiple steeps from this, but if you were doing it gongfu style perhaps you could. Again, even at $24 an ounce (and I too was skeptical at first, but you’ll see if you try it), that comes to maybe $3 a session, which is still less than one would pay for a beer at a bar, or a latte at starbucks, so to my reasoning it is not so terrible.
Speaking of wine, an ounce of tea for $24, vs a decent affordable bottle of wine for the same price, i’ll take the keemun spring dawn ;)
