TeaEarleGreyHot Send Message

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drank Keemun Mao Feng Premium by Tealyra (formerly Tealux)
178 tasting notes
In the year since I posted my first tasting note on this tea, I have continued to drink it, and ordered several times again from Tealyra. Even at work I will pull out one of these sachets every day or two and enjoy a cup. I have noticed that the leaves in the sachets are somewhat larger than the leaves in the bulk bag I keep at home, but the taste is the same. The sachets contain less leaf than I would normally use, probably around 1.0 to 1.25 g per sachet. Today I used 2 g and brewed in 8 ounces of boiling spring water for 2 min. The liquor was deep brown, and so very aromatic! And with every sip both my mouth and my nose was filled with deliciousness. Malty and sweet, this is a fine black tea that stimulates not only the sides and back of my tongue but also the roof of my mouth all the way back. It’s almost fruity, but not quite. And delivers a good caffeine kick! The second 2 min. Steeping was equally deep brown, but not nearly as aromatic. Flavors of leather and tobacco were evident alongside the now-tempered malty sweetness. With the sachets, I let it go 3-4 min and get one steep out of them. No fannings or dust either way.

Flavors: Leather, Malt, Tea, Tobacco

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec 2 g 8 OZ / 236 ML
3 comments
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TeaEarleGreyHot 10 months ago

I had been drinking so much of this that I bought a whole pound of leaves. Only to discover that this big lot is not as good. Less aromatic, less fruity, and tasting more toasted. I wonder if Tealyra changed suppliers, or if this batch got overcooked. Or maybe just a different year. Still quite quaffable, but I need to back down from using a full teaspoon of leaf per 16oz pot as this is just so strong!

ashmanra 10 months ago

Teavivre recommends 190F for their Keemun teas. I wonder if dropping the temp would help? I know it made Harney’s Organic English Breakfast, which is pure Keemun, more palatable for me.

TeaEarleGreyHot 10 months ago

That’s a good idea, ashmanra, I’ll give it a try!

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Comments

TeaEarleGreyHot 10 months ago

I had been drinking so much of this that I bought a whole pound of leaves. Only to discover that this big lot is not as good. Less aromatic, less fruity, and tasting more toasted. I wonder if Tealyra changed suppliers, or if this batch got overcooked. Or maybe just a different year. Still quite quaffable, but I need to back down from using a full teaspoon of leaf per 16oz pot as this is just so strong!

ashmanra 10 months ago

Teavivre recommends 190F for their Keemun teas. I wonder if dropping the temp would help? I know it made Harney’s Organic English Breakfast, which is pure Keemun, more palatable for me.

TeaEarleGreyHot 10 months ago

That’s a good idea, ashmanra, I’ll give it a try!

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Life is too short to drink bad tea!
Pan-American: Left-coast reared (on Bigelow’s Constant Comment and Twinings’ Earl Grey) and right-coast educated, I’ve used this moniker & Email since the glory days of AOL in the 90’s, reflecting two of my lifelong loves—tea and ‘Trek.

Now a midwestern molecular biologist (right down to the stereotypical Hawaiian shirts), I’m finally broadening the scope of my sippage and getting into all sorts of Assamicas, from mainstream Assam CTCs to Taiwan blacks & TRES varietals, to varied Pu’erhs. With some other stuff tossed in for fun. I enjoy reading other folks’ tasting notes (thank you). I’ve lurked here from time to time and am now adding a few notes of my own to better appreciate the experience. Note that my sense of taste varies from the typical, for example I find stevia to be unsweet and bitter. My dislike of rooibos may be similarly rooted in genetics, which impacts perceptions of many flavors, from asparagus to stevia to cilantro.

I don’t work for a tea vendor, and I’m not a professional tea sommelier. And I don’t taste every nuance, hint of flavor or note of aroma, nor am I trained to describe those that I do detect. But I taste enough to have opinions, and do my best to be descriptive. Sensory preferences can shift from day to day and person to person, so numerical ratings are kinda bogus, especially between and among various people. But there are individual trends, and I try to reflect that. As reference points for my ratings, I give Lipton Black Tea bags “orange pekoe and pekoe, cut black” a score of 65 because it is widely available and profoundly consistent. I view it as just okay. I would give plain, hot, quality spring water a rating of 25, and I buy Crystal Geyser brand for brewing because my local well water is stinky and discolored, and my filtration & softening system leaves it salty and unpleasant. Tea should make the commercial Spring Water better, not worse, so a rating below 25 speaks for itself.

I am conversationally friendly but absolutely not here looking for dates or money, nor to sell anything. If I’ve started to follow you, I don’t mean to be creepy, it only means you posted something I liked reading, or it was about an interesting tea or event. And I’ve recently discovered that the Steepster system only notifies me of new posts written by people I follow. If you follow me, I won’t assume anything. If I do not follow you, it isn’t a snub—you’re still a good human being!
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