China Keemun tea - a great forgotten tea?

For those of you who follow my blog, you will already have read about our Darjeeling, Assam and Ceylon offerings. Yesterday we tasted our Keemun tea, a tea that I hadn't tasted for some time. The problem for tea growers today is that virtually the only option on the supermarket shelf is the ubiquuitous and anonymous tea bag. Tragic if you are trying to offer something a little special. I believe that China Keemun falls into this category.

Keemun is a black tea, with very little of the "tippeyness" of the classic Indian teas.

We found that it infused to give a more malty flavour than its Indian cousins without any unpleasant bitterness.

Keemun is the English name for the "Qimen" precinct in the Anhui province in the South Eastern part of China.

From my research I found that Keemun is a relatively new tea, first produced in 1875. It was a development on from Green tea that had in the past been traditionally produced by the Chinese.

Although we don't use it in our Breakfast tea blend, Keemun was in the past a prominent ingredient. When you taste it you can understand why. It offers a great full bodied flavour.

Although this tea can be drunk black, it does come up well when milk is added.

You can buy China Keemun tea from our website, and whether you're a keen tea drinker or just experimenting you won't be disappointed.

The only thing that disappoints me is the lack of information available on one of the world's great teas.