Initially sampled at the Philadelphia Coffee and Tea Festival, but I'm glad I sampled this on my own because I liked it even more when I brewed it myself. An unusual Keemun with both cooling and warming qualities. Strong enough to be a breakfast tea, but stands out among both other English Breakfasts and other Keemuns. Smooth and aromatic.

Dry leaf smells fresh and like a typical Keemun: rich, earthy, and smoky, but with a unique minty note.

Brews a rich, bold cup with a very dark color, but a smooth flavor. Very pleasant. I've lately been drinking a lot of Foojoy's Keemun for breakfast so it was easy to compare: I think this one is similar in overall character, but a bit more nuanced and has some aromatic tones completely absent in that tea. Aroma is mildly smoky and slightly vegetal, rich and earthy overall. A hint of wintergreen is evident in the finish--a hallmark of high-grade tea. The only other Keemun I've tried that exhibited this wintergreen-like quality was the Organic Superfine Keemun from TeaVivre, a very high grade tea.

This tea has a bit of a kick to it, which makes it well-suited for a breakfast tea, but it also has a surprising natural sweetness. Seems pretty strongly caffeinated, especially relative to the smooth flavor.

Pretty generous on the leaf in each sachet too. I still opted for the longer end of steeping times: 6 minutes, and this tea is smooth enough that it can even go longer if you want it very strong.

Even with a 6-minute first infusion, I brewed a second cup (which I also steeped for 8 minutes)...and it was really interesting...light-bodied, but dark in color, with a fresh, herbaceous character that resembled some of the later steepings of green oolong. There are still wintergreen tones in the second cup; amazing! This cup is much more minty and almost tastes more like some herbal teas...and it still has a remarkable sweetness to it.

This is a very good tea, but I find it a little unusual that they only sell it in sachets, not loose, even though the company does sell loose teas. I would probably only buy this tea loose because sachets tend to be expensive and I mostly drink loose tea anyway, although the sachets might be more convenient for serving this tea in a coffee shop or cafe. The price isn't much higher than the mainstream brands selling similar whole-leaf sachets though, and I definitely think the quality is a notch up.

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