If there's one thing I hate more than monkeys, it's things that are made in China. Buy American! But even I have to admit that the Chinese make some things really well, and one of those things is Keemun tea. Assam may be India's best region for breakfast tea, but the Qimen county of China's Annui province gives it some stiff competition. Keemun (a Western bastardization of Qimen) tea is known for its fruity maltiness, and it's often used in higher quality breakfast blends. It often gets compared to burgundy wine; who knows what that means? Not me!
YerbaMateLover and I had been drinking TeaSource Grand Keemun for breakfast for awhile now, but we were starting to go insane due to the lack of variety. To mix things up, we got a few ounces of Szechwan Imperial from Pasadena's Chado Tea Room (by far the best tea shop I've been to in LA). Boy is it good. Szechwan is the keemun-iest keemun I've had yet: intensely malty, richly plum-like, and capped by that weird Keemun taste that can't really be described unless you've had it. It's an intense flavor experience that can't be taken lightly. I'd go crazy if I had to drink it every day, but as an occasional breakfast treat it's a true delight.
Is Szechwan Keemun from the Szechwan province of China or from Qimen County? I don't know; there seems to be some sort of contradiction here. Geography majors? Either way, it's fantastic tea. I've gotten mine to last four steeps: it starts to lose its maltiness after the second, but it retains a light flavor that's perfect for the afternoon. Have it with or without milk: milk cuts back the wildness of the flavor, which could be a good or bad thing depending on your mood.
#NOM!
You can get Szechwan Imperial Keemun by the ounce at any of Chado Tea Room's three locations; FJ HOUSE advocates for the Pasadena shop, located at 79 N. Raymond Street in Pasadena.
-Ben "The Best" Tuthill
No comments:
Post a Comment