Keemun Black from the Jasmine Pearl

The second tea I'm tasting from my Jasmine Pearl visit is their Keemun Black, OP grade*, which the website enigmatically describes as a "Chinese Indian Black Tea."  I'll have to ask what they mean by that next time I'm in.

This is another delicious one.  It's much less full-bodied than the Golden Needles, and much less sweet, but it has a very balanced flavor and texture.  There's a little bit of a smokiness in the aroma -- just enough -- which is a trait I can't resist.  It has a mild astringency during the drinking, which lingers enough in the aftertaste to distinguish itself from the other elements of flavor and texture.

Keemun Black is a very familiar seeming tea -- certainly much more so than the Golden Needles -- and for good reason: as it says here, it's the most prominent ingredient in the English Breakfast blend.  Appropriately for a breakfast tea, it feels like it brews up a pretty strong kick of caffeine.  I suppose this might be due to the fact that the leaves are quite small, and tightly rolled, so maybe there is just a greater density of tea per teaspoon than I usually get.  Or, who knows?  Maybe I'm just having an odd morning.

In the second steeping, it seems like the tea's sweetness is more pronounced.  And, when I sniffed the drying glass after I had poured the last of the first steep, there was a definite floral, almost fruity sweetness.  A very nice, very affordable, and all around quite subtle tea!

Keemun Black from David on Vimeo.

(First steeping of Keemun black tea from the Jasmine Pearl, Portland, OR.)