Nicole Martin brought a sample of this to the NYC January meetup at Tea Drunk. Not sure who sent it to her, but apparently that person bought it at Redline Coffee in Washington, D.C. The handwritten description on the packet says:
“Hello, tall, dark, and sexy. 3 min @212°, 1 tsp/8 oz (though you probably knew that already.) May it inspire more baked goodies!”
I have never tried a Keemun on its own — only blended with other teas — so my review here might be broad-brushed. I brewed this in 6 oz water just off the boil and 1 cupweight of tea according to my digital scale. Brewed 3’30. I thought it had a very nice hearty flavor, with a main note of baked bread and a surprising light finish of green leaves. The steam off the brewed leaves after I’d finished pouring had a leather note that was absent in the taste of the tea. One cup of this tea had enough caffeine to clear the cobwebs on an arctic morning when I would have much rather been hibernating, but did not raise me high enough to start bouncing off the walls. The picture is mine, taken in the trimmed-down paper cup I use to measure tea, with a penny for scale.
