Keemun ( zh, t=祁門紅茶, p=Qímén hóngchá, l=
Qimen red tea, c=, cy=Kèihmùhn hùhngchàh) is a famous
Chinese black tea
Black tea (also literally translated as red tea from various East Asian languages) is a type of tea that is more tea processing, oxidized than oolong, yellow tea, yellow, white tea, white, and green tea, green teas. Black tea is generally st ...
. First produced in the late 19th century, it quickly became popular in the West and is still used for a number of classic blends (such as
Earl Grey tea). It is a light tea with characteristic
stone fruit and slightly smoky notes in the aroma and a gentle, malty, non-astringent taste reminiscent of unsweetened cocoa. Keemun is said to have floral aromas and wooden notes.
History
Original Keemun is produced exclusively in the
Qimen County in the south of
Anhui
Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...
province. It is grown in
Guichi,
Shitai,
Dongzhi, and
Yixian.
The name of the tea is an older Western spelling of the name of the nearby town, Qimen (pronounced "Chee-mun"). The tea-growing region lies between the
Yellow Mountains and the
Yangtze River
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...
.
The cultivar used for Keemun is the same as that used in production of
Huangshan Maofeng. While the latter is an old, well-known variety of green tea, Keemun was first produced in 1875 using techniques adapted from
Fujian
Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...
province farmers.
Many varieties of Keemun exist, with different production techniques used for each. Nevertheless, any Keemun undergoes particularly slow withering and oxidation processes, yielding more nuanced aroma and flavor.
Some of Keemun's characteristic floral notes can be attributed to a higher proportion of
geraniol
Geraniol is a monoterpenoid and an alcohol. It is the primary component of citronella oil and is a primary component of rose oil and palmarosa oil. It is a colorless oil, although commercial samples can appear yellow. It has low solubility i ...
, compared to other black teas.
Varieties
Among the many varieties of Keemun perhaps the most well-known is ''Keemun Mao Feng'' (). Harvested earlier than others, and containing leafsets of two leaves and a bud, it is lighter and sweeter than other Keemun teas. Another high grade variety, containing mostly leaves and stronger than others, is the ''Keemun Hao Ya'' (). For Western markets, it is separated by quality into Hao Ya A and Hao Ya B categories, the former being somewhat better than the latter. Either has a markedly intense taste.
Other varieties include those specifically tailored for the
Gongfu tea preparation method (''Keemun Gongfu'', or ''Congou'' – ) and ''Keemun Xin Ya'' (), an early bud variety, said to have less bitterness.
One of the black teas produced in neighboring
Hubei
Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...
province is sometimes referred to as a ''Hubei Keemun'' () by several tea companies, but is not a Keemun in the true sense of the term.
References
External links
Tea Guardian: Qimen Maofeng (Keemun Black Tea)
{{Teas
Black tea
Chinese teas
Chinese tea grown in Anhui
Huangshan City