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This keemun has the classic keemun flavor you would expect – cocoa and a little smoke. But it tastes like a resteeping of leaves you had already enjoyed! A while back we tasted this one side by side with the Hao Ya A from Harney and Sons, and this is weak and pale by comparison. If you want full, powerful Hao Ya A flavor, get Harney. If cocoa notes and light smoke are a little much for you, this one should do nicely. My youngest daughter loves this tea and our tea party guest liked it very much as well.

A quick cuppa before heading out for my first radiation treatment, or as my eldest calls it, OFF TO GET MICROWAVED! I hope I get a superpower. Note to self: avoid dung beetles.

I thought I would give this another try. It is unchanged, as is my opinion! It isn’t terrible, it is plain black tea. There is a tiny bit of astringency but not much. It has decent body but lacks nuance. It would be fine with lunch but I would rather have a tea that makes me oooo and aaaah. I think this must come from camellia assamica bushes because I have that little tummy rumble I get when I drink assams and yunnans! I do best with camellia sinensis teas!

I read JacquelineM’s hint about steeping this at a slightly lower temperature and I tried it today. It was lovely, so I think I will continue just so I don’t get the accidental bitterness that a few have experienced. (Though I haven’t had that problem so far.)

This is a decent breakfast tea – nothing out of the ordinary but very serviceable and went well with my “faux Mexican” food lunch. (Tortilla full of cheese rolled and squished in the Breville, then doused with enchilada sauce. See? Fake Mexican food!) So now I have had 40 ounces of tea already and have a small tea party to do on one hour! I will definitely be sloshing by 4 pm, but at least I am getting lots done with all this caffeine coursing through my veins!

Bwa hahahaha! Yes, I said I was out of this, but I saved that last little basket of used leaves to rebrew another day, and today was the day! I had enough to make a 20 oz. pot and drank it all sans additions. Ah! It is definitely weaker, but still has lovely notes. The color is pretty much unchanged from the first steep! Enjoyable.

We had tea on the patio this morning to enjoy the early spring warmth and sunshine, though it was still a wee bit chilly. This was my pot of choice while hubby had Kenilworth Ceylon OP, but we each had one cup of the other one’s tea!

I would be distraught that I used that VERY LAST OF MY LEAVES of this most beloved tea in the house, except last week I discovered that I had filled a tiny tin with about one and a half ounces to get me by until Harney restocks…..Make it soon, Mike! Make it soon!

Lovely tea this morning after breakfast! This is good sans additions to me, though hubby likes it with milk and sugar – the way he takes all his teas! :)

It is 75 degrees and sunny. We had a dozen harrowing errands to run so I told the girls we would have a picnic tea when we got home! We chose Emperor’s Red to go with our plate of Danish Wedding cookies.

I have always found it to have chocolate aromas but today when I lifted the cup to my lips I thought, “Wow, there is a fruity note there I hadn’t picked up this strong before. Maybe baked apple?” Then I saw Jacqueline’s post today where she referred to it as fruity as well! It was delicious as always, and like Jacqueline, this was the last of my leaves! We had Sandy on speakerphone to "join " us for tea since she got back to the states yesterday. She said that she had already had to endure the sorrow of seeing the last leaves…we are thinking about starting a support group.

Youngest and I have opened the doors and set the tea table to enjoy a pot of tea and a few cookies on this beautiful day! She chose this one. This has a lot of flavor for a decaffeinated tea. I tried the Decaf Assam and can’t drink it – no matter how much leaf or how much time it tastes like the water you used to rinse out your cup! This one has real tea flavor, and can even handle milk and sugar if you wish. Nice body, nice tea flavor, and even strong enough to go with food.

I forgot I had drained my cup of Kenilworth Garden OP and had refilled it with this! I lifted the cup to my lips, sipped, and went, “Aaaaaaahhhhhh! That is so good!” Of course it is! It is Harney’s Golden Monkey! The best Golden Monkey I have EVER had!