Details:

This Keemun is a particularly fine example of a winey Keemun - very often referred to as the “Bordeaux or Burgundy of Tea”. The tea has a thick rich liquor that has an orchid like fragrance - a fragrance that some say can be enhanced with milk. This grade has tightly rolled leaves that promote a deep rich concentrated flavour - in fact when properly stored takes on a deeper winey and mellow character. This is the third highest grade of Keemun that is available, (the two top grades are Hoa Ya A and Hoa Ya B), and is only made during March and April growing months after which the leaf and cup quality are not sufficient to meet the Imperial Mao Feng grade.

Cup Characteristics:

Winey and juicy with a very clean cup that has depth and character. The tea almost has a natural orchid character.

Infusion:

A reasonably thick reddish liquor.

Grade:

Imperial Keemun Mao Feng Sacred Garden

Manufacture Type:

Orthodox

Region:

Anhui is a province of the People's Republic of China. Located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River, it borders Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a tiny section in the north. The capital of the province is Hefei.

Keemun is produced in the Qimen precinct of Anhui province in central China. Qimen County was established in 762 during the Tang Dynasty. 'Keemun' was actually the English name for 'Qimen' during the colonial era.

History & Origin:

The name Keemun comes from Qimen county in southern Anhui province, where almost all the mountains are covered with tea bushes. Qimen county produced only green tea until the mid 1870’s. Around that time a young man in the civil service lost his job. Despite being totally heartbroken and completely embarrassed by his shame, he remembered what his father told him - ‘A skill is a better guarantor of a living than precarious officialdom’. Following this advice, the young man packed up his courage and his bags to travel to Fujian Province to learn the secrets of black tea manufacturing. Upon his return to Qimen in 1875 he set up three factories to produce black tea. The black tea method was perfectly suited to the tea leaves produced in this warm moist climate with well drained sandy soil. Before long, the superb flavor of Keemuns became very popular around the world. In fact, it is reported that the Queen of England counts upon Imperial Keemun Mao Feng as one of her teas of choice.

Despite its relatively short history (for a Chinese tea!) Keemun became world renown by 1915 and in taste tests conducted by the leading tea companies of the day, was preferred over Darjeeling! 1915 also marked another milestone in Imperial Keemun’s storied history - it won gold at the International Exposition in Panama. Even though in recent years tea connoisseurs have taken more to Assams and Ceylon black teas, Imperial Keemun Sacred Garden remains ‘king of the black teas”.

Hot Tea Brewing Method:

Bring freshly drawn cold water to a rolling boil. Place 1 teaspoon of tea for each cup into the teapot. Pour the boiling water into the teapot. Cover and let steep for 3-7 minutes according to taste (the longer the steeping time the stronger the tea). Even though milk and a dash of sugar help capture the malty character of this tea, it is perfectly acceptable to consume this tea ‘straight-up’

Iced Tea Brewing Method: (to make 1 liter/quart)

Place 5 teaspoons of tea into a teapot or heat resistant pitcher. Pour 1 1/4 cups of freshly boiled water over the tea. Steep for 5 minutes. Quarter fill a serving pitcher with cold water. Pour the tea into your serving pitcher straining the leaves. Add ice and top-up the pitcher with cold water. Garnish and sweeten to taste. [A rule of thumb when preparing fresh brewed iced tea is to double the strength of hot tea since it will be poured over ice and diluted with cold water]. Please note that this tea may tend to go cloudy or ‘milky’ when poured over ice; a perfectly normal characteristic of some high quality black teas and nothing to worry about!

Tea & Health

No matter what your age, tea delivers a multitude of health benefits that range from: being cardio-protective, a good source of fluid and being friendly to your teeth. As educated people we know the importance of eating a balanced diet that contains five portions of fruit and vegetables, plenty of complex carbohydrates and restricted amounts of saturated fat. However, when it comes to what we drink, even health experts can get a little confused. In a recent survey of health professionals, only 23% of GPs thought that tea could be included in the daily fluid allowance, whereas more than a fifth of practice nurses believed tea to contain the same amount of caffeine as coffee.

Not All Tea Is the Same

Roughly 2.5 million tons of dried tea is produced each year, and about 20% of it is "green tea", which is made by steaming the fresh tea leaves lightly, and drying them quickly. The rest of it is called "black tea", and it involves fermentation of the fresh tea leaves. For medicinal purposes, green tea is considered superior to regular black tea, since it has as much as five times more of the polyphenols that are of interest to us as potent anti-oxidants and cancer preventives. The composition of the green tea varies with the geography, climate, seasonal fluctuations and the methods used in growing it. When tea is harvested, they are supposed to take only the leaf bud and the two adjacent young leaves. Older leaves are considered inferior, and they have much less of the medicinal polyphenols. Usually, a good quality green tea has about 10% by weight of polyphenols. Our teas are of the best quality which promotes the high concentration of polyphenols.