314 Tasting Notes
I treat this tea with such irreverance, I’m almost afraid I might hurt its feelings! :)
But no matter how casually this matcha prepared, it stays delicious! Like today, for example, I tossed the tin in my bag and went to work. Once at work, I scooped out a plastic teaspoonful of the powder, threw it in my travel mug and filled it with hot water from the office water cooler. Then I put the lid on and shook it all up.
After allowing it a few minutes to cool, the end result is smooth, creamy, bittersweet green tea goodness! Everything I love about matcha is still here in spades. Yum!
Even from my limited experience, this seems like a very good assam. I only have one tea of the same type to compare it too and that is A&D’s Thomas Sampson.
This seems lighter bodied than TS. But the scent is very similar—malty and Guinness-like…a bit biscuity. The color is a deep, very reddish amber. The taste is all malt, slightly sweet and bready—but very astringent and drying in the mouth.
I like it, it’s very good to have with a heavy meal—but I’m not sure I would choose this over A&D’s assam, for some reason. Although, wouldn’t it be funny if they both came from the same estate?
Preparation
Today, along with the usual pu’erh-type oceanic-like earthiness, I’m detecting some sweetness. A “clear” sweet — like plain white sugar that was just dissolved in hot water with no chance to caramelize. I’m sensing this on my second steeping.
How interesting to get salt-water taffy from a pu’erh!
I’m enjoying another mug of this fine tea and basking in my newfound love for Jackee.
I know this is old news to everyone else (and I am clueless sometimes) but I just realized, on my own , that this is Keemun tea! Just like Thomas is an Assam. I knew their names were significant—A&D is so clever with words. :)
So I’ve been reading up on keemun tea. And thought I’d save this little snippet of information for myself (found on thenibble.com’s tea glossary):
“Keemun: A fine grade of black China Congou tea produced in the Anhui province in central China, typically hand rolled and fired. [It]….is smooth and medium-bodied with notes of fresh pine and brown sugar.”
And such a fine specimen of keemun Jackee is!
Appearance: Brews up very dark—a deep, rich amber.
Scent: Hints of cocoa and malt with a berry-ish edge.
Taste: Surprisingly mild. Not much of the “bite” that I expected from a “robust breakfast tea”. Slight astringency.
(Reads the GM label) —No hazelnuts. Maybe a bit of prune and cherry. There is an underlying honey-sweetness reminiscent of A&D’s Jackee Muntz!
(Adds a touch of milk, per GM’s recommendation) —hmm, I taste only milky black tea. The subtle nuances of flavor have been drowned out by milkiness. May have been too much milk. But the astringency is gone (of course).
Overall, this is a serviceable breakfast tea. A black tea that will not “scare” anyone. Very likeable, pleasant and mellow.
Preparation
Yum…I’m liking this tea more and more! Even with no special steeping procedure (I just threw about a teaspoon and a half in my travel mug and poured in boiling water) the taste is mild, woodsy, slightly smoky and sweet! Not overtly bitter or astringent. Very pleasant.
Jackee Muntz, I think I love you more than Thomas! At least for now. ;)
I wanted an “Earl Grey Latte”, so I added a good amount of milk to this but, for some reason, it made the flavor taste artificial and “tinny” (especially the vanilla). Maybe I should’ve brewed it stronger by adding more leaf? I already used 2 1/2 teaspoons in a tall mug (maybe 10 oz).
Preparation
Used up the last of my tin and added some matcha. Tasted a bit too thin, vegetal and decidedly un-toasty. It’s like the best part of each tea was “cancelled out” instead of enhanced. Maybe there’s an art to creating a proper “Genmaicha Matcha-Iri” than just tossing the two together.
