TGFOP Tea Reviews (c) Silverneedles est.2005

Keemun Mao Feng .ItoEn

Tea notes> Black tea> Keemun (for more)

ItoEn NY Store (review)(product link)9$/oz= 144/lb

10g of stuff doing the ikea glass ghettobrew

3.5g of stuff doing the fancy gaiwan review style infusion

Dry: leaf looks smallish and quite broken for a maofeng… just a couple longer leaves.

Method: 3.5g in 4oz, 10g in .5L and various other. did in gaiwan, glass, plastic, foam and various other cups and pots.

Flavor:
3.5g/4oz/200F h2o/2 min: smell: malty burnt sugar/molasses?) solid flavor keemun malty, some woody tho i dont think much. low smoky. Strong flavor, it comes with some hardness to it, but not teabag/cheap harsh. Aftertaste is good, more of the tannin. infusion #2: more watery, 1/3-1/2 less flavor, harsh tannin more prevalent than flavor compared to infusion #1. #3 (4 min) is very low flavor low astringency. no greenness to it as i felt in this other qimen maofeng.

Wet leaf… uhm, i see lots of chop

Overall: pretty good, price/flavor/leaf aspect not my favorite.

China Black Tea .FooJoy

Found at Hong Kong Supermarket/Elmhurst NY. ~3$/box(7oz) ~ 0.4/oz  ~7/lb … for real

Unlike any of the teabag boxes i’ve bought this one has a bag of plastic with flaps that fold over the teabags – kinda helps to keep from ventilating but its not perfect… still for 3$ its a nice thought.

Method: 1tbag/6oz, 2tbag/12oz <3min. Teabags seem a bit weird, not very permeable, seem a bit slow to infuse too. I opened a bag and infused the fannings by themselves and it came out much faster.

Flavor: low strength, keemun-like thing? Aroma is nice similar to keemun maybe some very low smoky.
If steeped a bit longer: a sharp wave of “teabag tannins” on the tongue. Medium astringent in sides of mouth, but this goes away with the swallow. Aroma is nice similar to keemun maybe some very low smoky.

Tastes much better cold, astringency is not as apparent. There is some low aftertaste similar to flavor, not bad.

Overall: still a teabag with the kind of astringency/tannin i dislike, ok flavor. not sure i’d get again.

China Keemun Tea .Twinings

Methodical: 1tbag + 8oz @ 200F x 3-4min

Taste: maybe low keemun, smoky, some woodyness, and more astringency than flavor. Astringency doesnt quit, keeps going and going. Dryness, dusty on tongue/throat. I like to say that it reminds me when i was in middleschool, and used to chew on the No.2 pencil, which had a sortof crusty glaze on the wood – thats how this tea tastes to me – like chewing a No.2 pencil.
Ofcourse, astringency is the main “flavor” here, these, above, are detected while trying to ignore the astringency.

Again? No.

The black Yunnan tea from Royal King Brand (while not keemun, tho i dont know for sure it is yunnan and not some sort of blend)- has better flavor, so if RKB made keemun i’d like to try that.

Keemun Hao Ya .Rishi Tea

found at whole foods nyc columbus circle

whole foods has a coffee & tea place inside, starbucks like, pay there not at the exit checkout.
it houses a variety of Rishi teas (of course fair trade antifloxidants organic usda angus beef natural ecgc et c . e tc.)
for sale as loose leaf tea in containers, or to buy in a cup of boiled water.
large cup of tea is 1.95$, but they just put it in more water.

between concrete, grass, tea… and … can you spot the owl?

this keemun wasnt bad, good taste, strong keemun flavor. not bad. good purchase 1 of 3 (1bad green t, 1bad black t).

buy again: yup. if you’re at the whole foods AVOID the bottled teas and get some of these teas instead. much better choice.

Keemun Mao Feng (Keemun Hair Peak) .Jing Tea

Tea notes> Black tea> Keemun (for more)

thank you JingTea.com (UK) for the review sample.

Leaf: LEFT: Keemun Mao Feng: leaf is longer, more delicate, with a curly appearance. RIGHT: Keemun Hao Ya (regular keemun).

Method: forget grams in how much water x 3min @ ~90C/198F (yes. who brews black tea @ less than boiling…. yes… who… i guess its me)

Taste: Infusion 1, 2 : smells like keemun, tastes like keemun, woody-chocolaty-keemuny yup, …but there is a little extra flavor somewhere there… @infusion 4 -> out pops into the liquor a tinge of green tannin !? … Might be that the tea is not enough oxidized/fermented to a ‘perfect’ black tea status. not sure.

Also not sure what is up with a couple of green leaf in the mix…

Overall: nice leaf, good flavor/interesting/unsure about its blackness.

Qi men red tea .Wing Hop Fung

well, this is a ‘red’ tea, but it was with the blacks, and online found Qi Men as a region in China where they produce Keemun, so i temporarily put it here with the keemuns. >> apparently ‘keemun’ is the western translation of Qimen.

looseleaf $2.81/oz ($45/lb)

leaf is very thin, its very cute.

taste: strong full taste, stronger than the other keemun i had, similar taste, i think the woody/fermented taste is a bit more pronounced here, and its got a stronger bitter side than keemun, but the aftertaste is good, minty! .overall like it well.

keep? YES.

1st grade Kee Mun .Wing Hop Fung

looseleaf $1/oz (16$/lb) (+tax)

got some keemun to compare with the keemun from Chado.

3min exactly, boiled water stood for 1 min, brewed in ‘french press’.

i have to admit, keemun is better hot.

comparison:
leaf: length same, thickness: the chado leaf is somewhat thicker than the wing hop fun keemun.
smell: same.
taste: same. good ol’ kee mun, a bit of a woody taste, nice smell, good caffeine content :D. did not sense any significant difference between them. i’ll need to have a big stash of this. update: i love keemun. 😛 🙂

keepit? YES.

choice? WHF keemun over chado because of price.

Grand Keemun .Chado Tea

looseleaf ~$2.50/oz

description “ Very attractive leaves. Orchid like aroma, sweet and flowery. Excellent for digestion. Weak in theophylline. Good for night time.“.

hmmm. the store recommended it as a “strong black tea”…hmmm

almost boiling water, 3-4min.

nice, smooth, aromatic, a bit of fermentation taste (but not as strong as a puerh).
good. some woody taste. keep? NO. take wing hop fung’s keemun (priced lower).