Capital of Heaven Keemun Black Tea

First Sipdown of the week!!
This is a pleasant cup, a little bit on the astringent side, but not bad. There is some sweet potato in there, a little clove maybe, & it’s although it’s not my favorite Keemun, it’s not bad, and now it’s gone!!
That puts me at 317 teas in my cupboard, I think. I added a few from butiki over the weekend, oh, and the verdant bundle…

So I’ve decided today is Sipdown Monday. I’m gonna look through each category of teas & try to finish off the ones that I don’t have much of. I really want to drop my numbers to something manageable, so I can actually drink everything on my list at least once a month! LOL :D

Thank you Terri for this sample! There’s actually enough in the bag for three sittings.
This tea has the smokiness of Keemun, an added astringency that isn’t usually present in Keemuns (at least not the ones that I have tried), and less sweetness than in other Keemuns. It also really needs the full three minutes of steep time recommended.
Not my favorite keemun by far, but a nice tea to try out.

PS – Just when I promised myself not to buy more tea (I went a little wild during Verdant’s Black Friday sale, and I had more than enough before it anyway), Norbu Tea has 25% off your order until the 31st of Jan (code: 2014Horse). Bought three interesting new oolongs and their wonderful white bud pu’er. If you haven’t purchased from Norbu yet, I urge you to give it a try. They have some of my favorite teas, and have yet to disappoint me.

Another sample from my swap with terri.

While this is not my favourite keemun to date, this is a lovely cup of tea. There’s a bit of astringency here that isn’t my fav but it’s not overwhelming and certainly doesn’t ruin the cup. Glad to have tried this one..i will try all the teas someday.

This one is waaay better than the sorta-pineapple thing from the other day.

I spent a while looking through the Teavana booklet, and while I’m really not happy about many of the things that have resulted from the takeover, I am pleased with their selection of straight blacks. I do think I will have to try them all, especially the first flush Darjeeling they have right now. I have wanted to try a FF Darjeeling forever; even if it’s not the best one in the world, it’s something I can walk in and buy rather than order online, and I think it’s almost a good thing to start with a baseline of “not as good” tea so that you really appreciate the good stuff when you drink it.

This one is very, very pleasant. It’s the first Keemun I’ve ever tried, so I have little to compare it to, but I like it. It’s not as dark as I was hoping; it’s maybe mid-way between a Ceylon and an Assam. It’s a wee bit floral and a wee bit smokey, but it takes to some sugar very well nevertheless. A decent breakfast tea if you don’t need too much of a kick in the pants, but the floral notes might be strange first thing in the morning. It might be a better cup in the evening.

Also, I talked to the SA who poured my Keemun about the pricing issue. He’s certain they are not using the American prices, and when I watched him pour exactly 50g (he did try to over-pour me six grams – on one of the more expensive teas? – but he did ask me, and I did refuse it), the price matched the price in the booklet and on the wall. The quantity on the receipt was strange though, 1.76, which he said is a result of their prices being adjusted from American prices. So it appears I was over-poured by 23g last time after all.

I will be watching those pours super-closely from now on.

I got more of a smokey flavor this morning that I haven’t noticed as much in the two years I’ve been drinking this tea. I usually catch wine noted from this. Hmmm…

This is the Christmas tea (of the morning and early afternoon). I gave in and bought a couple ounces of this about two weeks ago, and have refrained from having any because the time just didn’t seem right. Today, apparently, at 5:30 a.m. was the right time. This tea is as delicious as I remember it being. Earthy, a bit smoky, and a bit of a yeasty/bake-y thing going on. It is wonderful. It is even good on the resteep.

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it! If you don’t, have a marvelous tea-drinking day!

I’m a Keemun tea newbie but I really enjoyed the only other sample that I had of this Chinese tea. I was therefore excited to experience Teavana’s take on Keemun.

After steeping this tea for three minutes at 195 degrees, a rich golden brew was produced. The aroma was rather earthy like peat moss.

The taste of this nice blend is earthy, woodsy, smokey, and slightly spicy. I did notice a tad of astringency with my first cup, but nothing to keep me from drinking this tea on a regular basis. Perhaps brewing for two minutes (instead of three) would have reduced or eliminated this minor grumble.

Of the two Keemum teas that I have tried so far, I prefer Teavivre’s
Premium Keemun Hao Ya black tea selection. To me, that tea has a bolder, richer, and more complex flavor. However, if I were stranded on a desert island with no tea except Teavana’s Capital of Heaven Keemun black tea, I’m sure Wilson and I would still consider ourselves quite blessed.

The leaf appearance is jet black, with a high gloss, a sign of a very high grade Hao ya Keemun. I see very little twig debris here. The leaves were whole, and even in size, and the leaves appeared to a light brownish red after brewing. A wonderfully toasty nose, fruity notes and a subtle, playful pine smell. The tea itself is a reddish brown, very bright and luster-y. This tea was very full bodied, with a complex taste incorporating a bit of a fruity, smokey, sweet flavour. I store mine in a wooden container, which gives the tea a woody aftertaste.

This is quickly becoming a favorite black tea. I seem to gravitate toward it when I want a basic black tea in the morning and it’s excellent iced as well.

Made this in the Keurig this morning since I was in a hurry. This tea has an earthy, woodsy flavor, almost like it was aged in a wood barrel. Otherwise, it has a strong keemun taste sets it apart from other black teas.