Superfine Keemun Fragrant Black Tea

Leaf: Whispy little twists.

Water: Below boiling, bubbles were formed on the bottom of the kettle and had just started being released.

Amount: I used approximately 3g of tea in 8 oz of water.

First steeping:
1 min: This tea is a dark red-orange color. It smells earthy and tastes slightly tangy.

Second steeping:
3 minutes: The tea is now a rich red brown. However, it doesn’t taste like much, but that is likely because I ate a piece of candied ginger just before drinking the tea.

Acquired on my own and used my personal steeping parameters, keeping the recommended temperature. Brewed in a porcelain gaiwan. No rinse. Steeping times: 20 seconds, 10, 20, 40; 1 minute, 2, 4, 8.

The dry leaf smells mostly of sweet potato skin with just a smidge of dates. The fruitiness begins to come through with the heated leaf, from which I pick out dates and figs, and chocolate as well. At first, the wet leaf aroma disappointingly smells of malt and sweet potato. But as I steep the leaf throughout the session, the sweetness truly comes through at its fullest and holds up strong until after the final steep. It’s fruity, chocolately, and a little nutty. In addition, the liquor leaves behind a berry-filled aroma in my cup.

The liquor is orange and clear, and has a light body. The first infusion is gently fruity with a sharp and light mouthfeel, its aftertaste drying. The creme de la creme of the session occurs from infusions 2 through 6, wherein the liquor is thick and silky, very sweet with dark dried fruits, and astringent in the mouth. The taste is also evocative of the fragrance of dewy flowers in early spring. A surprise – the first time a hongcha reminds me spring! While there was no aftertaste in the first infusion, these infusions have a sweet aftertaste that linger a few minutes. I’m beginning to push this keemun with 4 minutes at the seventh infusion. It still tastes fully sweet and fruity, and also feels peppery on the tongue. I then really pushed this at steep eight – at 8 minutes long – which was just plain done and tired with eeking out flavor. At this point, the aroma of the wet leaf has finished, too.

This is a great keemun. I had a difficulty pacing myself and slowing the session. I couldn’t help but down each cup (50ml – small amount and quickly cooling). I loved the aroma, the taste, and the overall feel. By far my favorite of Teavivire’s keemuns even though I have one left to evaluate.

This is my fourth Keemun from Teavivre and, unfortunately, the first disappointment. The dry leaf has almost no fragrance sans for a faint general Keemunish smell. Which is quite ironic since it is called Superfine Keemun Fragrant. After a brief steep in a gaiwan with the recommended temperature (185C) it brew a smooth but really unexciting cup with some notes of baked bread, malt and berries. After I steeped the second infusion more aggressively, with boiling water, the bitterness took the front stage. Not good.

All in all, if you keep the temperature low you get a smooth cup of some stereotypical Keemun without much fragrance. So far all other Keemuns I tried from Teavivre have much more appeal and character (the second grade Keemun, Imperial , and Hao Ya). Given that I see no reason to buy this forgettable Keemun again, especially given its relatively high price compared to its siblings.

I’ve had a few Keemuns but am still fairly new to them, so I decided to try a Keemun sample in order to get more well-acquainted. “Organic Superfine” and “Fragrant” made this one sound appealing, so I went with it.

The instructions said brew for 1-3 minutes, so for the first infusion I went for 1.5 minutes.

As far as colour goes it’s a lovely clear gold/amber. It’s quite pale, probably because I brewed it for such a short amount of time.

The smell is lovely; it’s really rather sweet with tones of honey. It almost smells like candy.

As far as taste goes, it’s very smooth with a touch of caramel. I feel like I’ve brewed it a little too short though, so I’ll just go pop the infuser back in for another minute…

…okay, that’s really nice. It’s still very smooth. While I’m getting the sweetness on the nose I’m not necessarily getting much of it on the palate, and that’s not a bad thing – I’m a huge fan of smooth, caramelly, but not excessively sweet teas.

2.5 minutes was perhaps a bit long (a very slight bitterness crept in) so next time I’m going for 2 minutes on the first steep, and I imagine that would be perfection.

This is a fantastic tea and definitely a strong contender to be upgraded from a sample to a 100g pouch :)

As I explore my new found interest in black tea, there are some teas I’ve encountered that remind me of why I used to dislike black tea in the first place. This happens to be one of them.

True to its description, Superfine Keemun has a sweet potato aroma and taste. I like sweet potatoes and all but that earthy flavor doesn’t quite work for me in tea. Most of it dissipates after the 1st steep though. The second steep has a taste I associate with a typical English breakfast tea. There’s a tinge of smoke, a a bit tannic as it goes down but not bitter.

This really isn’t my kind of tea. I don’t get any of the chocolate, malt, or sweetness that I like in black tea. It’s basically a strong musky flavor with sharp tannins and earthy tones.

Definitely enjoyable. There’s a fairly strong fragrance to this brewed tea that backed me off initially because I have an aversion to strongly scented teas (like earl grey). Other keemuns I’ve tried haven’t had this. However, it lessened enough as it cooled a bit and I was pleasantly surprised that the flavor wasn’t perfumey.

Really easy drinking tea, fairly smooth and medium body. Sweet potato with a bit of malt, tastes like autumn, perfect for this late-September morning. Just a touch of astringency at the finish which melts away quickly. I brewed it for about three minutes, and based on the reviews I’ll be trying it next time at 1/2 that length. Though Angel sent me this sample a few years ago, just enjoying it happily now.

This sample must be nearly 3 years old..

In the dry leaf I smell tobacco, leather, smoke, red wine, cocoa and sweet potato. Underleafed by accident so the brew is a bit light but all the scents translate into the liquid quite harmoniously. The texture is smooth, the finish is very clean.

Enjoying this very much.

Thank you so much for the sample, ashmanra! This tea was sweet and light, with absolutely no smokiness whatsoever. Very good choice for the afternoon, just as ashmanra recommended! This is only my third Keemun, but I’m amazed by how different they were from each other. It seems like there’s a Keemun for every occasion!

I’m really loving this tea! The smell is amazing. Flavor – It’s smooth and sweet, and has a fruity/winey taste that I really love. It’s also got notes of cocoa (another favorite) and pastry.

I got a sample of this with my Teavivre order. It’s nice, light and easy to drink. I don’t get much cocoa, which seems to be the general consensus on this, though might be because I’ve been drinking Teavivre’s Fengqing Dragon Pearls which give me a major cocoa vibe by comparison. This is a lot lighter, sweet, bready, and a bit peppery to me. Not my favourite from Teavivre, but it’s a nice sip.