Shan Valley Tea has recently received a new batch of our Kyaukme Black Tea. This tea comes from the founder’s home town of Kyaukme, a center for tea trade in Burma for centuries. I recently got to try the latest batch. Here are my impressions.
I steeped a teaspoon of the tea in a tea ball in freshly boiled water for 2 minutes. The tea is tightly rolled like coffee grounds, so be sure to use a tea ball that doesn’t have large holes. This tea is quite rich to the nose, not weak like standard store-bought black tea. It has depth and vigor.
Despite the strong nose, the taste of the tea is quite fresh and delicate for a black tea. It’s quite cleansing to the palate. There is bitterness on the back of it, but that is to be expected with a good black tea. It’s about as bitter as a weak cup of coffee. If you prefer less bitterness, try steeping it for two minutes.
Kyaukme Black Tea is also excellent as a pick-me-up in the morning. This would make an excellent coffee replacement for someone who doesn’t like the bitterness of coffee. It’s strong enough to not lose flavor with a spoonful of sugar, but don’t overwhelm the freshness of this tea by adding too much sweeter or honey. You could add milk or chai mix if that is your taste. You could even make a batch of very fancy iced tea!
If you like black tea that smells good, tastes clean, and you can’t find any normal supermarket you’ll definitely want to try Shan Valley Tea’s Kyaukme Black Tea for your next cup.
