What does it take to be a championship-winning tea?
That was the main question I had in mind this morning as I enjoyed Teas Etc’s Ceylon OP1, which took first prize in the Ceylon category in last year’s World Tea Expo. It was one of three Teas Etc teas to win a prize (you can get all three together in a special Championship pack).
Chocolate.
That was the first thing that came to mind when I opened this packet of Sungma Clonal Wonders ‘09, a 2nd flush Darjeeling tea sent to my by Benoy of Thunderbolt Tea. I was amazed at how clear and distinct the aroma was.
That was a few weeks ago. Since then, I have been drinking this black tea on a regular basis. To me, it seems like a middle-of-the-road sort of Darjeeling tea — it exhibits some characteristic Darjeeling traits, with a few noteworthy aspects, but in some ways I come away feeling a little disappointed that it doesn’t live up to the promise offered by its aroma.
When I was a kid I dreamed of becoming a writer when I was older. Over the years that dream has faded, but I still enjoy putting pen to paper. This morning, as I drank Tea Trekker’s Bai Lin Gong Fu with the intention of reviewing it, it suddenly struck me how writing a tea review is great practice for a writer, because it forces you to be deliberate and thoughtful about the words you use.
When I write a review, I usually base it around two or three words or phrases, which I think accurately depict something about the tea — either its appearance, flavour, aroma or character. You could condense any of my reviews down into two or three words or phrases, and you would have roughly the same thing, minus all the contextualizing with which I pad the reviews.
Fair trade is a tricky thing. I’ve written before about why I believe fair trade is important, but there’s a flipside: too often, fair trade tea is of lower quality to similarly-priced, non-fair trade tea. Which leaves a tea lover to decide between sacrificing quality or sacrificing an ethical stance.
Over the past year I have bought primarily non-fair trade tea, for one big reason: there are very few fair trade tea options around here in Melbourne, and the ones that I can find tend to be in teabag form. But one goal I’ve set for myself over the next few months is to explore some of the fair trade tea options available online. Here are five online tea stores that sell fair trade tea.
So it’s keemun tea, not keemum tea.
Thank you to Dan for pointing this out to me. After Dan’s comment, I checked a couple of my books about tea and discovered that yes, I was completely wrong. And I felt a bit silly, until I ran a Google search for keemum tea and found 411,000 results — a figure that outnumbers the 378,000 currently being returned for keemun tea.
Seems I’m not the only one who’s a little confused.
So to all you who have stumbled across this on a quest to rectify your ignorance, I assure you: It’s keemun, not keemum.
Long-time readers of this blog will be well aware of my fondness for black teas. While I concede that black tea doesn’t — for the most part — have the depth or range you can find in other types of tea, I remain an avowed fan of our fully oxidized friend. This morning, with heavy eyes from too little sleep, I decided to turn my attention to one of the most well-regarded of all black teas: keemun.
Those of you who have been following this blog for some time will know that I have a soft spot for teas from Darjeeling. A while ago, I received a wonderful bundle of teas from Benoy, the benevolent man behind Thunderbolt Tea, a Darjeeling-based tea vendor. I’ve been following Benoy on Twitter, and one thing that is very clear to me is how much work goes into picking the best teas each season.
So call me slow, but over the past week I’ve seen a few different tea sellers promoting some great specials. If you’re looking to buy some tea, now’s the time!
I came across this gem on Lucy Knisley’s blog and couldn’t resist reposting it here.
The nature of a breakfast tea is to be robust. It is there to awaken. And it needs to be able to handle a drop of milk.
As a result, many lower grade breakfast teas tend to be brutish. You feel awake after drinking them, but your lips are puckered, your mouth is dry and you had to choke down those last few sips. Inevitably, the tea used for this is the scraps — the dust or fanning that remains after factories have pushed out the higher end teas. Because the tea is so small, it infuses quickly; but it also lacks the character you will find in teas made with larger bits of leaf.
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