Whoa. This morning I have had my first pot of Keemun, a Chinese black tea that I've been wanting to try for a while. This one came from SanTion House of Tea - one of a number of samples that I purchased from them recently - and I just had to blog about it straight away, no photos, no nothing (though you can see a photo of it on the company's website here). This is listed as an 'A-grade' tea, unfortunately there was no B-grade for me to compare it with, but that's ok.
As soon as I opened the little packet I was struck by the strong bitter-chocolate scent from the dry leaves, with a touch of something sweeter as well, like a dark honey. I brewed about 2.5 grams (half the sample) for 3.5 minutes in about 300ml of water (might go a little longer and with a little less water next time) to produce a stunning copper-coloured infusion with a fragrance of cocoa - like cocoa being made with milk on the stove, not chocolate per se - and the smoothest mouth-feel I've ever had from a black tea. Like, no astringency at all. It was like drinking velvet. A nibble of plain buttered light rye toast went well alongside.
I have made a second infusion of the leaves and it produced a reasonable cup, though not quite as good as the first. I am torn between saving the rest of the little sample for another day, or totally caffeinating myself by using it up now (I've also had a small pot of iced sencha this morning)... oh the temptation. This kind of experience is dangerous, I find... Like right now I really should be doing laundry... but instead all I want to do is sit around sipping tea all day and compose - well, not necessarily poetry - but something, blog posts, probably - the modern equivalent of the ancient Chinese tea sages, about whom I've been reading a lot lately...
Maybe I'll just go and sniff at the leaves for a bit and contemplate restraint. Heh.
I'm glad you had the chance to try Keemun - it's my favorite morning tea, one that I have almost daily. And drinking velvet is a very good way to describe it.
ReplyDeleteWhich tea company do you get your Keemun from Cha Sen? I'm looking forward to trying a variety of different ones to find my favourite!
ReplyDeleteI had my second pot this morning, posted about it on steepster: http://steepster.com/joiedetea
I agree, it's a terrific morning tea!
What a wonderful read! It really inspired me! I am a true lover of black tea and I went to get some from Santion after having read your post. I had bought some tea from Santion before and what an amazing one it was - one of my favorite black teas ever, they call it Black Needle! Amazing value! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI drink the Keemun Golden Buds from Rishi. Rishi has another Keemun tea but its flavor is not as satisfying as the Golden Buds. Hope you get a chance to try it.
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