1/2 tsp in 4 oz
Taste test of 4 KeemunsHarney & Sons: English Breakfast ($1.62/oz)
My favorite of the bunch. Lightest flavor. Kind of fruity with no smokiness or earthiness. Could drink this every day for refreshment. I bet I’d love it iced. Will definitely get a large tin. Very pleased. I have been on the search for an inexpensive tea that I would enjoy as a daily drinker so I can save my favorites for times when I can sit quietly and really savor them. This fits the bill.
Harney & Sons: Hao Ya B ($3.00/oz)
My least favorite. Wow is it ever smoky. If I didn’t know what it was, I’d think it was a Russian Caravan blend with plenty of Lapsang Souchong in it. The smokiness overpowers any other flavor there might be in there.
Teavivre: Organic Superfine Keemun ($5.40/oz)
2nd best to me. Though it does have an earthy or mushroomy quality that I find a bit off-putting.
Adagio: Keemun Concerto ($4/oz)
3rd place. Most similar to the Teavivre but with more of that mushroomy quality that I just wouldn’t want in my tea. (I really dislike Puerhs for example.)
NONE of these teas was the least bit astringent which really pleasantly surprised me. Though I think one factor is that in order to taste each one without the others muddying the flavor, I did take a sip of water in between sips of tea. I find that sometimes tea is not astringent for the first few sips, but gets so as it builds up on your palate.
What amuses me is that the cheapest one is my favorite. Perhaps that means that Keemuns are not for me. The ones with more intense flavors pretty much turned me off. I liked the one with the lightest, sweetest taste.
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Wow. You’ve been busy. I’m surprised you didn’t like the Hao Ya B. I’ve had it from Upton and loved it—but I love Keemuns in general and I’m addicted to pu-erhs, so . . .
I love it when people do comparisons! I try to do them from time to time, although I often don’t have the words to describe the differences I’m tasting. :)
I really the like the one from Teavivre. To me, it smells a little bit like roses…sigh…
I wouldn’t say that. Price isn’t always a representation of quality, it an also be a reflection of fashion, and the ability of a distributer or packager to buy in volume and sell with less of a margin etc. Having said that I was reading a thread on another site where many of the respondents preferred the “lower quality” version of Keemum at Teavivre and where others preferred an older style of Keemum and not the type that is in vogue now.
Thanks all… Doug, do you find that the Upton Hao Ya B is very smoky? I honestly wonder if I got the wrong tea from Harney because no one really characterizes it as smoky, and that’s all I taste!
I don’t find it smoky, but then again I like smoky teas. There’s a great inexpensive Keemun from Upton called Keemun Mao Feng that I love; tastes more like red wine and chocolate.
Wow. You’ve been busy. I’m surprised you didn’t like the Hao Ya B. I’ve had it from Upton and loved it—but I love Keemuns in general and I’m addicted to pu-erhs, so . . .
I love it when people do comparisons! I try to do them from time to time, although I often don’t have the words to describe the differences I’m tasting. :)
I really the like the one from Teavivre. To me, it smells a little bit like roses…sigh…
I wouldn’t say that. Price isn’t always a representation of quality, it an also be a reflection of fashion, and the ability of a distributer or packager to buy in volume and sell with less of a margin etc. Having said that I was reading a thread on another site where many of the respondents preferred the “lower quality” version of Keemum at Teavivre and where others preferred an older style of Keemum and not the type that is in vogue now.
Thanks all… Doug, do you find that the Upton Hao Ya B is very smoky? I honestly wonder if I got the wrong tea from Harney because no one really characterizes it as smoky, and that’s all I taste!
I don’t find it smoky, but then again I like smoky teas. There’s a great inexpensive Keemun from Upton called Keemun Mao Feng that I love; tastes more like red wine and chocolate.