Keemun
Keemun (Qimen) from Anhui is the benchmark fine Chinese hongcha: a small-leaf black with a distinctive fragrance the trade calls Keemun aroma, a wine-like, faintly floral note carrying cocoa and a hint of orchid or pine. It is the antithesis of malty Assam-style black, and it is the classic fragrant base behind premium English Breakfast and Earl Grey blends.
Tight, thin, uniform black strands; the finest grades show neat, small, even leaf. The signature is aromatic rather than powerful: a fragrant, slightly sweet, wine-like nose with no harshness. Grades ascend from Keemun Congou through Mao Feng style to Hao Ya A and B. Rough, purely astringent, or flat material is low grade or stale.
Genuine Keemun comes from Qimen County in southern Anhui, where a cool, misty climate and the local cultivar give the aroma its character. The style is relatively young, created in 1875 by an official who studied Fujian black-tea methods, and it was built specifically for export, prized in Europe both as a self-drinker and as a premium blend base. Lower grades are now produced more widely, but the named fragrant grades remain Qimen-specific.
Western: 90°C, 3 g per 200 ml, 2.5-3 minutes; full boiling water flattens the aroma. Gongfu: 4-5 g per 100 ml, 90°C, 15-20 seconds ascending, 5-7 infusions. Quality Keemun is best drunk plain, while everyday grades take milk.
Everyday Keemun Congou runs €12-30 (about $13-32) per 100 g. Named fragrant grades such as Mao Feng style and Hao Ya reach €30-70 (about $32-76) per 100 g.
Prices reviewed June 2026
Dianhong (Yunnan)
The Yunnan malt-and-honey foil to Keemun's wine-like fragrance; the two define the range of Chinese black tea.
Lapsang Souchong
The other famous regional Chinese black, transformed by pine smoke rather than carried by natural aroma.
Earl Grey
Keemun is a traditional premium base under the bergamot; tasting it unflavored shows what the scenting covers or complements.
Jin Jun Mei
The modern all-bud luxury Chinese black, a honey-sweet idea of refinement against Keemun's older, aromatic one.
The trade term Keemun aroma (qimen xiang) is used as a quality descriptor in its own right. For decades Keemun was the most prized Chinese black in the London market, and its wine-like fragrance made it a defining component of classic English breakfast and afternoon blends.