Keemun is my absolute favorite tea for breakfast. Once upon a time long ago, if you asked for breakfast tea, Keemun was what you were given. These days, even specifically ordering English Breakfast can result in many different types of tea being delivered to you, with Assam or Kenyan tea being the most likely to show up at your table. There are many, many kinds!
But Keemun is gentler on my stomach and still has that “start the day” vibe. Although I rarely add anything to my tea, Keemun can take additions of milk and/or sugar and still shine. The taste is so great as is that I don’t want to dampen it.
This particular Keemun is the middle grade offered by AprTea Mall. I reserve the highest grades for afternoon tea or for drinking by themselves, and I don’t enjoy lower grade Keemun teas nearly as much, but I find a mid-grade to be just what I am looking for in a breakfast tea or to pair with a meal.
The leaves are very dark, long, and lightly twisted. These are whole leaves and not broken bits. The dry leaf aroma is fruity, and the wet leaf aroma is fruity and bright.
It has just enough heft and just enough cocoa or malt flavor to be paired with waffles and syrup and clear the palate without the pucker factor of most breakfast teas. This particular Keemun also has that hint of fruit that earns some of these the designation of a “winey” Keemun, although it is just a hint here and not terribly pronounced.
Overall, I deem this to be a good, serviceable Keemun that I can enjoy as a daily drinker.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: AprTea Mall
Description
Keemun Mao Feng (祁门毛峰): Keemun Mao Feng is a kind of Keemun Black Tea,has a more refined production process.using one bud and one leaf for full fermentation. the shape is cord tight knot small as eyebrow, the luster is Ukraine; tea aroma lasting fragrance, like fruit orchid fragrance, the aroma has this special name “Qimen fragrant” in the international tea market; tea soup color and leaf color is red and bright, the taste is fresh and thick, and even drink with milk and the sweet sugar, the aroma is not only reduced, but more fragrant.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Zhen Quo Fine Black Tea/A Southern Season
I have seen this tea sold under several different spellings, but this is the only one of this type I have tried. It is one of the first fine loose leaf teas I ever purchased, and I haven’t outgrown it. When I am in the town where they sell it, I get a bit for the shelf.
My husband only likes his black tea with milk and sugar, and since he tries to cut back on sugar where he can he prefers that we drink green, white, oolong or puerh together. I had a hunch that he would like this one plain, and it paid off. That tells you a good bit about this special tea from the Yunnan Province. It tells you that it doesn’t taste like a breakfast tea, it isn’t malty, and it isn’t very brisk. So let’s talk about what it IS.
This lovely black tea steeps up a little light in color, but it is far from light in flavor. There are layers of goodness in each cup. This is smooth, slightly savory, and has hints of golden raisin and honey, a hint of sweet pastry, and a little fruit. High notes and middle notes abound, with just a little bit of bass.
It resteeps wonderfully, so even though this is a regional shop with only a few locations, they do ship, and it is worth a try. Or perhaps you can try a Zhen Qu from other sources and let us know how it compares to this description!
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Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: A Southern Season
Description
A black tea from Yunnan province, a big bodied, deep rich brew that is a mix of dry savory notes balanced by pervasive sweetness and a hint of fruit
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Darjeeling Spring Black Tea / Udyan Tea
Never have I seen a tea company use so many tea puns. I love it!
There is a lot to love about this company, besides the puns of course. They are a team of tea lovers who want to bring the best tea to others.
They offer only Indian teas but from what I can tell they only offer top grade tea.
For those herbal lovers they also have an interesting line of wellness teas.
As for this Darjeeling, I am impressed. It has a bit of astringency to it but it works well with the sweet floral notes. The moment you open the bag and smell the dry leaf there is no doubt in your mind that it is a Darjeeling.
It has that classic aroma which turns almost muscatel when wet. Speaking of which I detect a faint amount of honey but not much in the way of muscetal notes. The only unfortunate part for me is that they are located in India.
If you don’t mind the extra time and cost in shipping definitely check these guys out.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Udyan Tea
Description:
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Wild Black Tea-Dian Hong/Teabook. . . .
I have had this sample of Wild Black Tea/Dian Hong for quite some time now. I have taken it out to make it countless times and then got distracted by another tea and went that route instead.
Well, when I finally made it, I didn’t even drink it hot. My sister called to FaceTime me with her puppy and the call went for some time. The tea cooled. Yet when I did finally take my first sip, I quite liked it.
The tea is somehow both brisk and smooth at the same time. For me, briskness is usually synonymous with astringency but this tea managed to have one without the other. The good morning-pick-me-up without the bad bitterness. With that said, at times it can be drying but mostly it is a sweet honeyed malt.
Is this tea my favorite Dian Hong I have tried? No. But it is nice. A solid option.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Teabook
Description
This tea is not listed on the site but click below to learn more about Teabook.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
2017 Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong from Verdant Tea. . .
The Backstreet Boys have a song on an early album that went, “If you wanna get it good, girl, get yourself a bad boy.” This is pretty rich coming from the Backstreet Boys, obviously, but one cannot deny the appeal of a bad boy. Cigarettes, leather, motorcycles, hard liquor, and a devil-may-care attitude.
In my teas (and in my real life), I tend toward the “good boy”: straight or sweetly-flavored teas. But every once in a while, the bad boy winks at me — and I see, for a moment, what all the other girls are gushing about.
This lapsang souchong is a trouble-maker. It’s smoky and rich and dark and mineral. Its flavor is “natural and subtle addition that came from drying the leaves in a wok heated by pine wood. The smoke from the pine wood naturally mixed with the tea, creating a deeper and more foresty flavor that accentuated the tea’s minerality.”
If you’d like to see that drying room in action (you know you do), you should go to the listing for the tea.
Although this tea isn’t my “type,” I totally see its appeal for other people, and think that, if you want to try a rich new lapsang souchong, this might be the one for you. It’s a wild, satisfying ride.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Description
The earliest Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong, (or Lapsang Souchong as it is commonly referred to in the West) was never deep-smoked. The smokiness was a natural and subtle addition that came from drying the leaves in a wok heated by pine wood. The smoke from the pine wood naturally mixed with the tea, creating a deeper and more foresty flavor that accentuated the tea’s minerality. The Li Family preserves this old-school aesthetic with careful application of smoke from local resinous pine. The sweet, roasted quality of the smoke processing blends with the rich flavor of the tea to yield a dark fruity flavor, and bring front and center the mineral texture of the soil of Wuyi.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
