Spiced Apple Keemun

Doesn’t look like I rated this previously, although I know I tried it. Unfortunately, it came off as just a black tea to me. Nothing special at all. And since I’m not a huge fan of keemun, it was even less interesting to me (though I drank it – it probably is a decent cup for those who enjoy this sort of profile). Thanks to… Sil? VariaTea? Cavocorax? Whoever gave me the remainder of their sample :)

this is another one from variaTEA sadly to me this is really just a keemun. Malty, delicious and tasty. But apple? spices? nope. not here.

I probably shouldn’t have had another cup of black tea, but I couldn’t resist trying my last sample from Cameron B.!

So, based on other reviews, I knew it wasn’t going to taste exactly like the name suggests. I tried really hard to get apple, and I could maybe see how this was apple flavoring turned something else. That something else being honeydew! As a honeydew tea, it’s good! I’m not sure about a honeydew tea with a black base, but it turned out to be very silky in texture. Again, an indication of a good base tea.

Interesting! I agree with other reviewers – the primary scent I get from this tea is actually honeydew melon, not apple. I kind of wish I hadn’t read any previous reviews so I’d know if I were being unduly influenced by them, but I’m pretty sure I would have come to this conclusion on my own. :) There is a subtle spiciness, but not as much as I would expect from something called “Spiced Apple”. The keemun base is interesting, I don’t think I find it to be particularly chocolatey, more malty with a bit of acidity/sourness that gives more of an apple impression than the actual flavouring does. I’m trying to decide if I get any smokiness from it… maybe on the aftertaste. Overall it’s a nice tea – smooth, pleasant to drink, with a long and interesting finish. It’s just a bit odd as well. :)

Edited to add:
Well I guess it was interesting enough to merit a 2nd steep, even though I have SO much tea to try right now. :) Steeped again, this time for 5min, and added sugar. It’s really nice sweetened as well, seems to bring out the spiced apple (or spiced honeydew!) flavour.

Cameron B. was dead on when she said this tasted like honeydew. I am a little disappointed because to me the dry leaf smelled strongly of apple but this is a smokey honeydew tea for sure. Very strange. Not bad strange though. It is pleasant but not something I need to keep around. Still, I don’t think I would necessarily turn away another cup.

Another one from my Tippy’s Tea sampler! I tend to be a sucker for apple things, so this was a no-brainer. Another blend with just tea and flavoring, no frou-frou additional ingredients. The Keemun leaves are somewhat small and thin, but not broken. Dry, the tea smells like caramel apple pops and honeydew (?).

Hmm, this is an odd one for me. The Keemun base is nice and smoky, but I can’t find any apple. It just tastes like honeydew to me for some reason! No spice either. There’s something resembling pie crust, probably just bready notes from the Keemun base. Odd! Honeydew and smoke is surprisingly not a terrible combination, but it’s not what I was looking for with this tea. I would give this a rating of 80 based on taste, but since it’s nowhere near what the name promises, I’ll drop it by 5 points.