Culture · Tea · Black tea (红茶)
Keemun (Qimen Black Tea)
祁门红茶 · Qímén Hóngchá. China's celebrated black tea with a characteristic wine-like, slightly smoky aroma — the so-called 'Burgundy of teas' — produced in Anhui's Qimen County since 1875.
About this tea
Keemun (the old postal romanisation of Qimen) is China's most internationally prominent black tea, one of the original components of English Breakfast blends and the tea that introduced the world to Chinese black tea as a premium standalone drink rather than a blending ingredient.
The tea was developed relatively recently in Chinese tea history: Hu Yuanlong, a former government official, adapted Fujian oolong-processing techniques in 1875 to produce a fully-oxidised black tea from the small-leafed Zhu Ye Zhong cultivar grown in the Qimen area. The resulting tea became one of the most sought-after by European and American importers within a decade.
The characteristic aroma — often described as a wine-like floral fragrance, sometimes with subtle smokiness or dried-fruit notes — is called Qimen Xiang (Keemun fragrance) and is caused by a high concentration of geraniol and other aromatic compounds specific to the local cultivar and terroir. The leaves are long, thin, and tightly twisted, producing a dark red-copper liquor with a medium body, low astringency, and a clean finish that needs no milk. Higher grades (Hao Ya A, Hao Ya B) have a more pronounced aroma and greater delicacy than commercial export grades.
How to brew
Water at 90–95 °C. 3–4 g per 200 ml Western style. Steep 2–3 minutes. Keemun is pleasant without milk; if adding milk, use second-flush or commercial-grade leaves. For gongfu style: 6 g per 120 ml, 20-second steeps, 5–6 infusions.
Where to buy
- Qimen County town tea shops, Anhui — look for Hao Ya or Gongfu grades
- Tunxi (Huangshan City) tea market — Keemun sold alongside Maofeng
- Anhui specialty food shops in Hefei
- Online: Yunnan Sourcing, Teavivre, Upton Tea Imports, Postcard Teas (London)