Keemun Gongfu

Aroma is delicate sweet aroma resembling that of dried Chinese dates. Flavor is gentle and soothing with dried fruity honey tone aftertaste. Qimen (Keemum) Gongfu Black Tea is produced in Qimen (often referred in English as Keemun), which is a well-known tea growing area for over 1200 years. Green teas were produced in the past, until 1875 when a civil servant lost his job and returned to his hometown of Qimen. He then started producing black tea, mimicking the black tea production method he learned in Fujian. How It Is Made: Gongfu in Chinese has the meaning of ‘effort’. Then adding Gongfu as a prefix to a black tea means that this black tea has gone through tremendous efforts in its making. Making Qimen Gongfu takes over 20 steps separated into two stages: crude tea process and refinement process. Making the crude tea: Plucking (1 bud and 2 leaves and above) Withering Knead & roll Oxidation Bake-drying Refinement process involving the following: Sifting Winnowing Screening Blending Final baking Packaging The purpose of the refinement process is to commercialize the crude teas by grading and blending for optimal taste and ensure that it does not contain unwanted tea parts and non-tea substances. More about this Keemun: Tea type: Black Other name: Qimen Black Tea Cultivar: Zhuye Region: Qimen County, Anhui Province, China Plant age: 10-20 years Altitude: 600-800m/2000-2600ft Harvest: 2025 Recommended Brewing Instructions: 2.5 teaspoons (2.5g/0.1oz) ea leaves 1 cup (230mL/8oz) water 100oC/212oF brewing temperature 4 minutes brewing time