Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Grace Tea Company
Tea Description:
This extra slow-fired tea is of a rare and extraordinary quality. Our most well known and famous blend has an unusual depth, body and color that can be likened in description to a fine wine. A uniquely crafted tea blended with varying China, Formosan and Indian teas, Winey Keemun follows the traditional formulation of an English Breakfast blend. It’s one of our personal favorites.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The theme for this month’s Steepster Select Box is “Around the Clock” and features three teas to enjoy at different times … depending upon what time of day it is. As Steepster puts it:
Tea is a loyal companion. Always at your side, ready to infuse any occasion with flavorful, liquid love. Able to pack a punch or hug you close like a warm blanket, there’s a cup that fits any time of day: morning, afternoon, and night. So keep the kettle going for these three teas that will carry you from sunrise to sunset.
Obviously, this Winey Keemun English Breakfast blend from Grace Tea Company represents the morning tea. And what a lovely tea to select as the morning tea! It is bold, rich and delicious. It “packs a punch” but at the same time has a comforting flavor to it. In other words, it is invigorating but it makes me feel good about getting that burst of gusto.
This dark, full-bodied black tea introduces itself with a sweet start, somewhat fruity – like a well-aged wine. During the sip, I notice hints of leather, malt and earth, and a smoky tone in the background. Keemun tea usually has a variable degree of smokiness … some are very smoky while others are on the lighter side, with mere hints of smoky flavor. This tea is on the lighter side of smoky but I don’t know if that is because the Keemun itself is lightly smoky or if it is the fact that it is a component of a blend that includes several different teas, and the simple fact that this is not a straight Keemun tea may be the reason for the light smokiness.
The tea finishes sweet. There is some tangy astringency, but I notice no bitterness. Perhaps this is because I steeped it for just 2 1/2 minutes in my Breville One-Touch which seems to be the magic brew time for black teas such as this, but either way, I am enjoying the lack of bitterness here. The aftertaste is a light, fruity taste that is somewhat reminiscent of a wine-like aftertaste.
A rather enjoyable tea for the morning, I think this would also make a nice tea to enjoy in the early afternoon, perhaps as a pick-me-up, or even just a cup to savor in the company of dear friends.
Two more teas to explore from Steepster’s Around the Clock series, I hope that the teas they have chosen for afternoon and evening are just as enjoyable as this Winey Keemun English Breakfast.
Winey Keemun English Breakfast from Grace Rare Teas
Tea Type: Black Tea
Where To Buy: Grace Rare Teas
Product Description:
This extra slow-fired tea is of a rare and extraordinary quality. Our most well known and famous blend has an unusual depth, body and color that can be likened in description to a fine wine. A uniquely crafted tea blended with varying China, Formosan and Indian teas, Winey Keemun follows the traditional formulation of an English Breakfast blend. It’s one of our personal favorites.
Tasters Review:
The first thing that came to mind while drinking this tea was…
…when you really want to meet someone because you HEARD they were nice and interesting and when you actually meet them they are everything you HEARD they would be but at the same time they aren’t over-the-top eccentric but they were very far from being boring.
I know that may be a stretch but that is how I feel about this tea – and TRUST ME – that is a good thing!
Winey Keemun from Grace Tea Company is complex but not too much so that the average tea drinker wouldn’t be able to enjoy it and it’s not just average that the rabid tea drinker wouldn’t appreciate the uniqueness.
I agree with other reviewers that this is one of those teas that would ‘go’ with anything…whether it be any kind of meal – any time of day – or if just with conversation or with a good selection of poems while enjoying some quiet or alone time.
This is a great tea!
