Klasek Tea

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Recent Tasting Notes

86

I saw that Klasek Tea had some teas from Bhutan in offer; so I took sample packages of them. But then I saw they have some new Nepalese teas; white one (Kalapani White Lotus) and some great looking Gold Jeevan, so I took 50g pouches of those too. They weren’t too expensive (unlike Bhutan teas); so I considered that a good deal.

They have added this one as a free sample — thank you! I was actually checking it out, but decided that I don’t need another 50 g of black tea.

Okay, to this tea. Firstly, the leaves are a bit worse quality, maybe a bit broken, not so dark, as other Nepali teas I had from them before. However the dry leaves are nice in aroma, like 2nd flush Darjeeling but less herbaceous as Darjeeling sometimes is.

When brewed, western style, according to vendor instruction 1g/100 ml; so 3g/300 ml in my case and steeped 2-3 minutes (I did 2.5 – 2.75 min) I got a lovely gold coloured liquid in my glass mug, with aroma of baked bread with honey and also some other sweetness, which could be sugarcane as they suggest. The liquid itself has flavours of above + very smooth texture with long mouthfeel, absolutely no bitterness and a little astringency saying “I am a black tea”, but not in any offensive way. In aftertaste are dried fruits, apricots maybe, or peaches; I am never sure about those, which is which, and citrus zest notes, somehow reminding me orange.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 2 min, 45 sec 3 g 10 OZ / 300 ML

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88

Much tamer than the Nepal Jun Chiyabari Himalayan Shiiba I had from another vendor several years ago. Lots to discover here. Magnolia nose. Within the soft texture is a mid-toned tropical jackfruit taste and a cool, quartz-like mineral element. Complex fruity aftertaste morphs with each steep, bringing out notes of peach, pineapple, banana, plumeria, lemon, cream, ginger, passionfruit and grapes.

This harvest reminds me of Nilgiri high mountain black teas. I think it has to do with how the density of flavors are expressed within the texture. Like those teas, the character of Himalayan Shiiba really shines in glass teaware.

Thank you Martin for another generous sample of Nepal Jun Chiyabari tea!

Flavors: Banana, Bread Dough, Caramel, Cream, Floral, Ginger, Hazelnut, Honey, Juicy, Lemon, Magnolia, Milky, Mineral, Passion Fruit, Peach, Pineapple, Plumeria, Silky, Soft, Spinach, Tangy, Tropical Fruit, Umami, Vanilla, Vegetal, White Grapes

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 0 min, 30 sec 5 g 5 OZ / 150 ML
Martin Bednář

My brother who had it once or twice said it is indeed a fruity tea. He was so puzzled when I said him it is plain tea :)
Definitely very fruity and mellow and I am actually considering getting another pouch once available.

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88

I was editing my review for this tea to add a few tasting notes. While I had the pop-up window open, I accidentally swiped right or left on my touchpad and that deleted any history of my review. Except I can see that a “review”# still exists in the admin site but the accompanying “note”# is gone. I wonder what is the difference between a “review” and a “note” in Steepster’s programming.

So to anybody who swears they’ve reviewed a tea but “Steepster ate the note”, this might be how it happened.

Boo >:<

Flavors: Almond, Astringent, Beer, Broth, Brown Sugar, Brown Toast, Camphor, Caramel, Chocolate, Cinnamon, Citrusy, Cocoa, Geranium, Grapefruit, Honey, Juicy, Lavender, Lemon, Lemongrass, Malt, Malty, Oak, Oily, Peanut, Rose, Rye, Salty, Soft, Tannin, Tea, Vanilla, Wood

Martin Bednář

Okay, this is the least expected explanation I read about Steepster eating notes.
Ecactly as you said…. _"what is the difference between a ‘review’ and a ’note’"? We will never find out I am afraid!

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82
drank Nepal Shangrila Gold by Klasek Tea
1541 tasting notes

A nice Nepali black, though I’m having difficulty bringing out its full potential. A lower temperature than normal for black teas – 185F – seems to do it well.

Sweet and nutty nose of chocolate-covered peanuts. It’s darker in tone than the Annapurna Black Beauty. Astringent but smooth. Not particularly sweet; rather, it’s malty-nutty-earthy and tangy with rounded flavors and a touch of cream. I like this as a post-breakfast tea to cut grease but it’s not so bold that I could enjoy it with a meal.

Thanks for sharing, Martin!

In other news, it’s hella storming and a section of our front fence was destroyed early this morning by a fallen power pole in the corner of our yard. It missed my neighbor’s truck parked on the street by about 6 inches. Lucky guy!

Also, I’ve pretty much adopted one of the semi-feral backyard cats since Sophia passed last year. She’s a small grey and white firecracker of sweetness. President of the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee. Responds to “Dora”. She’s a ratter and a bugger and also sadly a birder — Kiki said she brought in a hummingbird the other day. But I love her so.

Flavors: Astringent, Bergamot, Bread, Chocolate, Citrusy, Cocoa, Cream, Earthy, Geranium, Honey, Juicy, Malt, Nutty, Peanut, Round, Smooth, Tangy, Wood

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 g 10 OZ / 300 ML
gmathis

Welcome to our world, Dora!

gmathis

And..(this should have been the lead-in)…glad you are safe. Falling anything is no fun!

Martin Bednář

Glad that damage was only material and neighbor’s truck is fine. Also, saved cat is always a good thing :)

ashmanra

Glad you are safe! And so happy to hear about Dora! <3

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drank Annapurna Black Beauty by Klasek Tea
1541 tasting notes

I wish I could’ve gotten this Nepali black tea to work for me since Martin esteems it highly.

It’s a very high-pitched aroma tea for me with lots of red berry and citrus; deeper notes of malt, leather and cocoa. The taste is less sharp but still tangy-citrusy and malty, also salty and peanutty. Overall, rather tonal. I love that it makes my mouth water but a soapy aftertaste kind of kills it for me.

Thanks, Martin! On to the next Nepali black :)

Flavors: Berries, Citrus, Citrusy, Cocoa, Dust, Grilled Food, Hay, Leather, Malty, Meat, Osmanthus, Peanut, Red Fruits, Salty, Soap

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 g 10 OZ / 300 ML
Martin Bednář

Soapy aftertaste? Shame… I don’t recall that though.

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95

I have very same tea from What-cha in my wishlist and bought a pouch of this; from Klasek Tea. So, naturally I can’t compare them side by side; that would be interesting.

Anyway, this is FF 2023 (so not that fresh anymore), steeped 5 grams (a bit too much maybe…) western style in 300 ml of water that used to be boiling, but cooled down to 90°C. Roughly 4 minutes steeping (which was a bit over vendor suggestion as well)

Definitely lighther hand next time will be better; but still it is tasty! Strong cocoa notes, aroma of candied fruits and florals. Mouthfeel long, smooth malty (dark malts and caramel malts), roasted barley and with hints of astringency and bitterness, like high percentage chocolate or stout beer (that’s something that Crowkettle notices on What-cha’s tea and it is true for this tea too). Reading other tea notes doesn’t help me much as it wasn’t definitely woody or green pepepr notes aren’t here either. Maybe because it’s FF; or/and different harvest year.

I can see why derk likes Nepalese teas and it is second most favourite region of black teas for me, Georgia being the first.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 4 min, 0 sec 5 g 10 OZ / 300 ML
derk

Aye, thanks for all the Nepali teas! Can’t wait to start drinking them in January.

Martin Bednář

Can’t wait to hear your opinions!

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92

I have a week-long sick leave and antibiotics, but my taste and smell doesn’t seems to be affected; so I can drink tea, gongfu it and such… Definitely something I will enjoy and hopefully I will get my tea cupboard a little smaller too. This is not yet a sipdown, but I have less than half from the pouch, so definitely a focus tea.

6 grams / 125 ml gaiwan / 90 °C water / no rinse

Dry leaves smell partially citrusy, dark malts and a little chocolately, but in preheated gaiwan the dark malts and dark honey has appeared with slight citrus note. Visually this tea looks similar to Annapurna Black Beauty by the same vendor, but leaves here are definitely less thick and they are smaller.

1st steep, 15 seconds
There is a “clash” between cocoa notes and dark honey notes in aroma of wet leaves, but it makes a wonderful complex aroma, with some spices in the background.
Flavour is very round, mouth and throat coating, quite sweet and creamy, with hints of cocoa and dark honey as the aroma; with sweet spices background. Those spices are a bit hard to describe, but it definitely reminds me a bit of the sweet cinnamon, but not really sure about that.

2nd steep 10 seconds
Flavours mentioned in the first steep note are here, but stronger, definitely more flavourful, even more creamy. The spicy note is an interesting twist, again I think it is the cinnamon. NO astringency. Wet leaves smell after wild and dark honey.

3rd steep 15 seconds
This time cocoa note dominates, with hitns of its bitterness. But there is still creamy mouthfeel that mutes that bitter note.

4th steep 30 seconds
Definitely cocoa and jammy fruits, but also round and cremy flavour with spicy aftertaste. Not only cinnamon this time, but can’t point out the other spices here, with little “juicy” astringency.

5th steep 45 seconds
Very similar to previous one, but with less round and less creamy notes. Also, a little note showing me that this tea is past its prime time – that “finished black tea” flavour; I don’t know how to describe it better. Astringency rises a bit, definitely it’s more drying and I think I will do one, last, 1 minute long, steep.

6th steep 60 seconds
Leaves aroma says definitely that this tea is finished, maybe you can get more from this tea if you are using colder water. But 5 flavourful steeps is a good work from tea that it is probably more suitable for western steeping and moreover it was very tasty and nice complex steeps.

Sadly, all teas have their last steep and this tea in 6th steep doesn’t bring anything but slight astringent liquor with creamy notes; but all cocoa, honey and spicy notes are gone.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 15 sec 6 g 4 OZ / 125 ML
ashmanra

Hope you feel better quickly!

Kaylee

Wishing you a full and speedy recovery!

Martin Bednář

Thank you both! I am today like a badly greased machine. Everything hurts and somehow all stiffen.

gmathis

I hate to tell you this, friend, but once you hit middle age, that’s how you feel every morning! ;) But for now, rest, sleep, and keep drinking those hot liquids!

Michelle

Feel better soon!

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94

A lovely FF Darjeeling bought during the tea festival in June. I already tried it, but today was the delicious day.

Dry leaves smell like a typical FF Darjeeling. Quite herbal, slightly woody and slightly fruity. I put 4 grams in fillable tea bag, used almost boiling water, and voilá!. Steeping 3 minutes is absolute maximum.

It was so smooth, fruity — yellow melons and ripe stonefruits, with little herbaceous profile and little bit of astringency. That astringent note is welcomed though, because it was adding a little depth to overall pleasing experience. I have 50 grams of this tea and with its price point it is worth it!

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 2 min, 45 sec 4 g 10 OZ / 300 ML

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Martin sent a beautiful little packet of these leaves my way—the kind that are so long you can’t get them on a spoon properly, so you have to guess at proportions just a bit. With new-to-me teas, I tend to err on the side of “don’t overdo it,” so my first cup of these beauties was a touch on the light side, but still malty and sweet.

I’m convinced that this will hold up well to longer and slightly more heavy-handed treatment.

Martin Bednář

Ehh, I had it yesterday too and I thought I have overleafed; but actually, nope. I think it is light tea on its own.

gmathis

I did kind of a sloppy grandpa steep today: popped in some new leaves with the old ones from yesterday, steeped a cup, and iced it down. The flavor still wasn’t overly strong, but it held up well.

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96

A sipdown! (M: 6, Y: 83)
Last one this year. Maybe, maybe not? Sad one? Definitely.

Last 4 grams and 90°C water.

Well, lovely tea that will be missed; and lots of going here in flavours. As I noticed in first note, from dark fruits through malty notes, honey flavours with the cherry on the top being brown sugar. Round, sweet, flavourful; with distinct flavours and wonderful leaves to the eye (though my last amount had only little of the golden tips).

Affordable and enjoyable. I won’t get next year harvest probably, as I definitely need to cut down tea amounts; but I will keep this tea in mind.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec 4 g 10 OZ / 300 ML

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96

I have tried this one on the tea festival and immediately wrote down I want a pouch. It is for 195 CZK (8.91 USD) for 50 grams; which I think it is rather cheap considering how good is it.

I found out that water seems to be very similar in Cieszyn to my home water, because the flavours were quite similar. Back there I tried it prepared in cupping method, now I have tried it “basic” western steeping.

Also, why you can’t dislike this tea… just look how the leaves look! Long, wiry, many golden buds, very aromatic (afterall it’s harvested just a few months back) and overall just lovely.

It is very complex in flavours. I have noticed many different flavors, ranging from dark fruits, dark malt (almost like a dark beer), forest honey and with long, sweet and round aftertaste. In the end of aftertaste I noticed notes of brown sugar, it’s quite sweet on its own.

Well, I guess that my 50 grams won’t last long!

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 4 min, 0 sec 5 g 10 OZ / 300 ML

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87

I got a generous sample of this tea from klasektea.com with the purchase of teaware. I’m not seeing the tea on the website as of this writing, but it is early May and 2015 teas are just arriving in shops.

Normally I’m not a fan of Darjeeling First Flush which is really just plain wrong of me, since it is a miracle of tea processing. The floral scent of this picking is unparalleled. Having said this, for some reason this tea hit a sweet spot for me last night and I stayed up until 5 a.m. drinking it. Maybe the spring blossoms and lilacs outside got me in the mood for this fresh floral.

This tea is the bomb! It is not so cloyingly floral and doesn’t go bitter when brewed hot. I know it’s wrong to brew this much over 85 C but I usually want a little bitterness so I go 95 C. Brewed about 1 tsp of leaves gong fu in Lin’s Ceramic 100 ml teapot and cup. I continue to be hugely impressed with Lin’s cups especially, the heat distribution improves the mouthfeel of just about any tea I’ve tried. It is like a round bubble of warm tea in my mouth when I take a good sip.

Another thing I noticed is this tea lasted for more quick steeps than others I’ve had in the past. I long brewed it on steep 7 and still got a strong cup.

Flavors: Floral, Honey

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 15 sec 1 tsp 3 OZ / 100 ML

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