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Upon opening the canister the powerful heady aroma of this tea scents the air with smokey goodness. The dry leaf is tightly rolled, fine, and very dark.

I’ve come to the conclusion that with most good teas, less is NOT more, and i’ve been using more leaf per brew with very satisfactory results. I used 2 tsp per cup, brewed at 185F for 3 minutes.

This produced a pale rootbeer colored liquor that was clear and full bodied. Full bold malty flavor fills the mouth and drowns the senses with this one. A sweetness underlies the strength of the yeasty malt flavor, with no sense of bitterness. This is what a good black tea should be, in my opinion.

Second steepings of black teas usually disappoint, and this one is no different, but the second steeping here was good, not bad, and i regularly re steep this tea.

An another note I’ve brewed this into a killer iced tea that finished with a sweet taste of dark chocolate!

This is a tea that i drink frequently, and re-order regularly.

A very good tea, indeed.

Big loose green leaves scented strongly with vegetal and floral notes, while strongly suggesting the winey scent i’ve read about.

Previous brews were disappointing, so I used 2 tsp per cup of water, and brewed this time at 205F for 4 minutes. The resulting tea was richly colored of straw, almost orange, but definitely yellow.

A mild sweet scent wafted off the bright clear liquor, not at all indicative of the full flavor to some with the first sip. The floral sweetness of the brew surfaces first, giving way to the soft taste of buttered toast. The flavor of lingers on in the mouth, growing and becoming larger until the next sip resets the flush of tastes.

While labelled as a black tea, this one definitely recalls some of the bet Oolongs i’ve tasted in terms of scent, color, and taste.

I’ll savor this one as long as my 100g lasts!

Gene

Smokey black leaves, long and twisted, not green and semi balled like the other Oolongs in my cupboard, these leaves present a smooth sweet light scent of spice and grass with a buttery undertone.

It looks like a black tea, so i brewed it like a black tea, 2 tsp per cup at 185F for 3 minutes. The tea was pale orange, light bodied, and offered only the slightest aroma of the dry leaves.

Typical Oolong flavor, light yeasty, bready taste; no hint of malt or astringency, ends with a rich floral note that lingers on the palate. It was a soft pleasant brew, tasteful, refreshing, and worthy of a regular place in my cupboard.

Tomorrow I’ll re-steep the leaves, just to see how they’ll hold up to another brewing.

Gene

I’ve reordered this one, and will do again.

The quickest description of this tea is: Black lite. It has all the earmarks of a good black tea. it has a rich deep red color, a wonderful scent of yeast and malt. It tastes of fresh baked bread (home made bread, not the commercial stuff), malt, and has an inherent sweetness, not sugary; without any astringency.

It’s not as full bodied as Big Red Robe or Golden Monkey, and the taste doesn’t linger on the palate as it does with those other teas. It has all the traits of the big blacks, but not to excess.

Still, this Keemun is a favorite of mine, and will surely serve to seduce many green or oolong drinkers into the cult of the black tea.

Gene

This one came to me as part of a sampler of teas from Teavana. Being a fan of rich full black teas I put off trying this one for some time.

It smelled of rich black tea, not the faint dainty scent of the green teas i’m used to, then this isn’t a green tea, is it?

I brewed the tea at the rate of 6 tsp. for 3 cups of water at 176F, for 4 minutes. The liquor was a soft butter yellow color with the light scent of grass. It was sweet and mild with no hint of bitterness or astringency.

Not a bad cup of tea, but i’m not sure I’d pay the full price for it on my own (gifts gratefully accepted, of course!).

A mild and soothing cup of tea without the astringent elements from some green teas (or am i not brewing the green teas well?)

Gene

Arrived in their 5 for $5 assortment, and i decided to give it a try, even though I’m not a fan of green tea. I decided to use my Bodum Yo-Yo tea set for this one. The dry leaves were strongly scented of smokey vegetables, NOT a bad thing, but not what I expected of a green tea. They had an almost Oolong appearance.

1 tsp. of leaves, 175F water, and 1 minute later the tea was a soft buttery yellow, sweet and mild but sill rich in flavor. NOT a shrinking violet here. Taste of grass and toast.

1 1/2 minutes second steeping was the same color, but stronger in taste, with a more pronounced fruity finish.

2 minute third infusion was just slightly darker, milder in aroma and taste, but still more pleasant than many other green tea first steepings!

I have found a green tea i will buy and brew.

Not as many rich golden tips a with other GM’s, but the dark, small dry leaves offer a mild grassy scent. Brewed western style at 4 tsp. per 3 cups of water at 4 minutes, the tea was a rich rootbeer brown, slightly cloudy, with a full malty taste typical of GM’s. I drink my tea unsweetened, and this one had a bit of astringency in the finish. Not unpleasant, it recalled the finish of a Darjeeling.