Red tea · Anhui
Qimen Hongcha
qímén hóngchá · 祁门红茶
Keemun — the famous red tea of Qimen in Anhui, prized in Europe for its "Keemun aroma". Fine, tightly-rolled dark leaf brewing a smooth cup of cocoa, dried rose and a hint of pine, sweet and softly malty.
- Region
- Qimen county, Huangshan, Anhui — 100–800 m
- Harvest
- Spring; finely sorted and rolled
- Oxidation
- Fully oxidised (85–95%)
- Cultivar
- Qimen zhuye bushes
In the cup
Cocoa, dried rose and a malty sweetness, with the orchid-floral "Keemun aroma" — smooth and refined, with a clean, gentle finish.
What it gives
A smooth, warming red — fully oxidised and low in astringency, the body of a fine black tea without the bite.
Qimen Hongcha — known the world over as Keemun — is the most celebrated of China’s red teas abroad, the leaf that anchored the classic English breakfast blends and won medals across Europe from the late nineteenth century. It comes from Qimen county near Huangshan in Anhui, a region of green tea that turned to red in the 1870s and quickly mastered it.
The leaf is worked fine: tightly rolled, dark and even, the best grades wiry and tipped. What set Keemun apart for European drinkers is its perfume — the Keemun aroma, Qímén xiāng, an orchid-and-rose floral note over a base of cocoa and malt that no other black tea quite matches. It is refined where many reds are robust.
In the cup
Keemun is versatile. Brew it gongfu, around 90–95 °C and short, for a layered cup of cocoa, dried rose and a faint pine; or Western, three minutes in a pot, for a smooth, malty mug that takes milk kindly if you wish. Either way the body is gentle and the finish clean — a red of finesse rather than force.
How to brew
Qimen Hongcha
Water
90–95 °C
Leaf
5 g per 100 ml
Steep
Rinse, then 10–20 s gongfu, or 3 min Western
Vessel
Gaiwan, pot or mug
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