And we’re at the final tea of the tea haul! I normally wouldn’t buy black tea because I already have so much (black tea being what most of my family drinks), but I’m also testing out teas for my cousin’s tea bar and this tea was one of the contenders.

Keemun black tea is a famous black tea from Anhui, China and if you’ve ever drunk black tea, you might have drunk this. It has been used in blends such as English Breakfast or as a base in flavoured black teas. That said, although this black tea is cheap compared to my dancongs, it’s not as cheap as teas from other nations. Nowadays, the cheapest black teas are from places like Africa and Indonesia (even Ceylon black teas are considered relatively pricey nowadays), so if you’re drinking something like bubble tea, there probably isn’t any Chinese tea in that (even if the brand is from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, or any other part of Asia).

I think Keemun is pretty well-known so I won’t bother doing a long introduction to it – let’s go straight to the tasting!

The dry leaves were thin and wiry, with a malty and woody smell.

When brewed, the tea was a reddish brown (hence the name “Red Tea” in Chinese) and had a malty scent. It tasted like it smelled – malty, sweet, and woody, with hints of bitterness. The astringency was pretty nice – I liked that it helps the tea to linger on the tongue but doesn’t dry out the mouth.

Like with my other teas, I brewed this a couple of times, but the only noticeable change for me was the intensity. I did, however, try this with milk and sugar (because why not?). The bitter note, which wasn’t very strong even in the first brew, went away completely when milk and sugar were added and the malty and sweet notes were enhanced.

The brewed leaves were somewhat rough and seemed to be large chunks of leaves (rather than whole leaves). I made two batches of this and both seemed to be the same, so I guess it’s just the batch of tea I received.

While I enjoyed this, it wasn’t as ‘exciting’ as the other teas in my haul. This tea is more suited as my morning cup of tea – it’s got a nice taste and can be enjoyed with breakfast. If I ever run out of black tea, I might get more of this as a pantry staple.