TeaVivre's Superfine Keemun Mao Feng Black Tea

TeaVivre's Superfine Keemun Mao Feng Black Tea

Just when I think I won’t taste another Keemun that I could love as much as those who have already stolen my heart, here comes another one.  Teavivre’s Superfine Keemun Mao Feng consists of wiry little black leaves that smell of sweet dried fruit and light earthiness. After a 4 minutes steep at 200 degrees f, the liquid is a beautiful amber color and smells of molasses and moss….and it gets better!!! The taste of this tea is much like the leaves… delicate, balanced and completely captivating. It is breathtakingly aromatic, with gentle notes of forest moss, the sweetness of dried fruit and molasses and a touch of light toasty grain to round the flavor profile out. This tea is smooth, fragrant, and not to be missed! 

You can find this tea here.

Flavors: Grain, Molasses, Moss, Peach, Stonefruits, Toasty

Second Breakfast by Whispering Pines Tea

Second Breakfast by Whispering Pines Tea....and ghostie. 

I love good black tea blends.  What I mean by "I love good black tea blends" is that I love good tea in good tea blends.  Because Whispering Pines sells so few straight black teas, and all I have tasted have been to my liking, it was easy to know I would like this tea.  

Second Breakfast dry leaf in incredibly chocolatey smelling.  Not cocoa.  Chocolate.  The chocolate note joins with the sugar cane quality in the Ailaoshan black tea to give a strong scent of warm chocolate syrup.  Wet, the leaves unfurl long and beautiful.  The liquor of Second Breakfast is a warm amber brown that smells of earth and chocolate and a touch of dark stone fruit.  In the cup, the keemun's earthiness mutes the usual boldness of the Ailaoshan black.  It expands the base flavor profile of this tea so much so that there isn't much going on the middle of the cup.  There is some grain and a touch of malt as a middle note, which is a pleasing combination with the earthy chocolate bottom note.  Top note is a dark stone fruit and a dark forest floral note.  Nothing bright in this cup, but nothing overly dark and brooding either. If this cup was a forest and you were Lil Red Riding Hood, you'd continue on your way to your grandma's house. The audience wouldn't be waiting for a big "BOO", and hopefully, when you got to grandma's house, she'd have a lovely large cup of Second Breakfast waiting for you.  Warm, earthy and comforting, it is a good cup of tea with a lovely deep flavor profile.  

You can find this tea here. 

TeaVivre's Yunnan Dian Hong Gold Tips

TeaVivre's Yunnan Dian Hong Gold Tips

Yunnan teas were a big discovery for me.  It didn't seem possible that leaves that were golden and smelled like apricot could ever be hearty enough to measure up to a black tea.  BLACK tea. You know, that had black tea leaves.  Boy, was I wrong.  Yunnans, with their wonderful flavor profile of sweet potato, cocoa and apricot, have become one of my favorite teas....and this tea from TeaVivre is a perfect example why. 

The dry leaf of this tea smells of apricots dusted with cocoa. There is a lovely luster to the leaves that lets you know that it's fresh tea. The leaves are long and golden and practically begging to be put into the cup!  So in they go, and wet, the aroma of the leaf is a sign of things to come in the cup...

There is something different about this tea…yes, very yam-skin (more earthy than just yam), yes some chocolate….but behind the honey smoothness of this tea is a different note that I haven’t associated with Yunnan before….there is a wonderful note of ground nuts that is settling in-between the other typically Yunan notes that makes this different than the others I’ve tried. Nuts. It’s definitely a middle note that brings that wholeness of this smooth tea together. Nuts. This tea has no astringency, which suits me on this warm morning with an empty tummy. Nuts. Or am I just…. nah, that’s too easy. Highly recommended.

You can find this tea here.

What-Cha Yunnan Fengqing Golden Buds Black Tea

What-Cha is a small business in the UK that has some very interesting and unique offerings for tea drinkers. I am a true fan of of most quality Yunnan teas, and this tea is certainly one of those.

What-Cha Yunnan Fengqing Golden Buds Black Tea

Surprisingly, the dry leaf wasn’t actually as tippy as I though it would be, considering the fragrance coming off the leaf! The dry leaf is long and twist…the kind that won’t stay in the teaspoon and you’re never quite sure that you’re measuring properly because it won’t go IN the teaspoon. But I’m not going to complain about that quality in any tea! Notes of cocoa, apricot and yam were gentle but present in the dry leaf. Wet, the leaf is long and beautiful, leaving a golden amber liquor in the cup.

This tea has the same wonderful notes that make me a true fan of teas from this region: dark cocoa, earthy sweet potato skin, a touch of raisin….but this tea also has a woodsy note that some Yunnans have. It’s the taste that reminds me of long-forgotten secret places and old trees that should be visited with reverence. The earthy yam skin and cocoa notes give this tea a beautiful base to balance the raisin and woodsy note on. There is a slight apricot top note, but the strength in this tea lies in it’s deeper notes. Overall this is a well balanced cup of tea, with no astringency and a medium well-rounded mouthfeel that is worthy of a tea drinkers favorite thing….quiet contemplation and enjoyment.

You can find this tea here.