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Black Tea

Keemun

Keemun

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Price: $ 10.99

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Quantity:

10 grams
Price: $ 2.19


Other Names:	Keemun Black Tea, Keemun Tea, Keemun Hao Ya, Keemum
Flavor:	Rich and sweet flavor with hints of honey and orchid.
Growing Region:	Qimen County, Anhui Province
Harvesting Period:	April, 2012
Health Benefits:	Good for skin, weight loss, relieving stress, good for your stomach
Basic Brewing:	2 tablespoons, 200°F and above, we recommend a gaiwan or clay pot for best results.

Keemun black tea, also known as keemun hao ya or keemum

, comes from Anhui Province’s Yellow Mountain, where the conditions are perfect for making this keemun black tea – lush forests, warm and humid weather, deep and rich soil, abundant rainfall, and thick clouds.

Producing Keemum requires meticulous preparation. First, leaves are picked using the 2-leaves 1-bud standard. Next they are withered, rubbed, and twirled until the green leaves become a copper color. Finally, they are baked dry. The finished product is small, smooth, and black tea leaves that come alive when brewed, bursting with a full bodied flavor typical of red teas, but with the light and fresh subtleness of orchids and honey, found in Xuan’s grade A keemun black tea. Each sip rewards you again, with a long, sweet, and soothing finish.

The history of Qimen goes back around 130 years. According to written records, in 1875, the first year of Emperor Qing Gaungxu’s reign, Yu Ganchen, a man from Anhui’s Yi County, was dismissed from office, and returned home to start a business modeled after Fujian province’s “Min Hong” tea. In 1876, he returned to Qimen County and established a large tea garden. He was encouraged by the successful production of black tea in Guixi, Jiangxi province.

At the time, Shanghai’s “Tong He Rong” was lending money towards the production of black tea in Qimen. The selling price was high and distribution was fair, so others followed Yu Ganchen’s lead and flocked to Qimen to grow black tea. Eventually, this keemum tea became known under the unified name of Qimen.

Shortly after, the English took a liking to Qimen tea because it kept its strong flavor, color, and aroma even after adding milk, whereas other black teas would turn yellow. It came onto the international stage at the 1915 Panama World’s Fair, where the tea was awarded with a gold medal. At that time, it also entered Webster Dictionary under the name Keemun. In 1983 the tea was again awarded the gold medal in a Chinese country-wide competition for comparing quality products. It then became known as China’s gift tea, and a symbol of the warm and welcoming nature the Chinese have towards guests.

While modern records put the expansion of keemun black tea back 130 years, there is a legend about the tea that goes back all the way to the time of Shen Nong, the supposed discoverer of tea 5,000 years ago. Shen Nong’s legend details that he typically experimented with many herbs, some of them poisonous, in China’s forests. One day, a tea leaf floated into his pot of boiling water, and the rest is history. This particular legend of Qimen takes place while he was conducting these experiments. One question remains – Qimen tea’s modern history dates back to 1876, yet this story takes place in ancient times. Nevertheless, here is the legend presented to you not only of the origin of Qimen, but the origin of the Chinese name for tea, which is “cha 茶." It is translated from Chinese by Xuan Tea, from Studying the Art of Tea by Li Wei.

The goddess Wang Mu learned that Shen Nong had discovered many treats. She invited him up to heaven to attend a banquet. At the banquet, Wang Mu, the Jade Emperor, and Zhongxian, another god, were all very thirsty. Shen Nong, being prepared, took out some pure water and tea leaves, and served the beverage to the gods. After a cup of the tea, the initially weary gods felt immediately rejuvenated. The Jade Emperor spoke first,"what is this rare treasure? Where did it come from?" (The words used by the emperor are "奇宝," which is pronounced "qi bao," and can be translated as rare treasure).

Shen Nong replied, "These leaves come from Qi Mountain at Qimen." However, The Qimen of which he spoke was not the same place where today's leaves come from (Shen Nonghshi spoke of 奇门, whereas the tea is from 祁门, but the two places are pronounced identically).

The Jade Emperor went for a walk with Shen Nongshi, nodding his head and listening attentively. When they were done, the Jade Emperor appointed one of his generals to go down to earth and search for Qimen.

When Shen Nong returned to earth, he sought to give seeds to the smartest and most industrious people he could find so that they could plant tea themselves. He believed this to be the only way he could escape being pulled back to heaven. Also, everywhere he went, he asked everyone he came across, "How many Qishans are there on earth?" Eventually, one man replied to him, "There are many, not many; few, not few." Shen Nongshi listened with great interest, but still did not fully understand. "What do you mean by these words?" he replied.

The man's wife pointed off to the distance, "There are lots, Qi Mountain, Qi Mountain, Qi Mountain, Qi Mountain," she said, pointing in four different directions. (In the written version, her words are 旗山, 骑山, 齐山, 奇山, all of which are homophones). "However, none of these mountains have a 'treasure' on them, which hardly makes them 'rare'."

Shen Nongshi was satisfied by the woman's words, and as a token of his appreciation, he decided to give them his rare treasure. As the man was reaching out his hand to receive the packet, Shen Nong spoke, "Hold on, I still wish to say one thing that I hope you will remember. Plant the rare treasure at the top of this mountain, and soon the whole slope will be covered with it." He then handed them the packet, and walked away.

The man opened up the packet and was surprised to find seeds inside, but his wife said, "There's no way this old man was lying to us. This certainly is a valuable item he has handed us." The two of them went to the peak of Qi Mountain and planted the seeds. After one year, the seeds were doing quite well, and bright green saplings had sprung up from the soil.

Not long after, buds had begun to flower. The man picked some leaves and boiled them into what he called "rare treasure water" and gave it to all the villagers to drink, who reported feeling greatly refreshed after drinking the red liquid. The villagers began calling the mountain Qi Mountain and the home of the couple Qimen (men means door, and was used to symbolize their house).

Then, one day two men appeared at the door. The wife asked, "Where are you from? What do you want here?".

They answered, "We are generals from heaven, sent down by the Jade Emperor to seek the rare treasure at Qi Mountain, Qimen." The wife, finally understanding Shen Nong's questions about Qimen, responded, "Oh, this is Qi Mountain (祁山) Qimen (祁门), not Qi Mountain (奇山) Qimen (奇门)." The two generals accepted this answer, and were on their way. Once they were off in the distance, the man spoke,
"How dangerous! If it wasn't for my smart wife they surely would've stolen our treasure up to the heavens with them. In the future we must be more careful." The wife nodded in agreement, and decided that since they were searching for the leaf using the name "rare treasure", a name change might protect them in the future. The generals were searching, (查pronounced cha) so they decided to give tea the name "cha" (茶 - the Chinese character for tea), and officially change the name of their town to Qimen (祁门).