Black · Qimen, Anhui, China
Keemun
Moderate caffeine
The orchid-scented black of Anhui, born in 1875 and poured into every great English breakfast blend since.
Recipe
- Temperature
- 95 °C · 203 °F
- Leaf
- 3.5 g
- Water
- 250 ml
- First steep
- 3:30
- Each next steep
- +0:30
- Steeps
- 2
Suggested starting point.
Time this brew with Pekoe
Aroma notes
orchid · pine · cocoa
Tasting notes
winey · smooth · aromatic
Harvest
April–June
Making
Plucking 
Withering 
Rolling 
Oxidation 
Firing 
Sorting
Origin
Qimen · China
In the low wooded mountains of southern Anhui, cloud is frequent and growth is slow. The leaf takes its time to load up on fragrance.
Lore
When Yu Ganchen came home to Qimen in 1875 with black-tea skills learned in Fujian, the county's greens became a black with a fragrance the trade simply called 'Keemun aroma': orchid, pine, a trace of cocoa. London poured it into its morning blends and never quite let go.
