Collection and processing of Keemun black tea

08. 09. 2024

The Qimen 祁门 area is located in the so-called "Tea Golden Belt", a strip of tea-producing locations at 30 degrees north latitude. The local natural conditions meet the rule of "four times more and one less", which means many mountains, many clouds, much fog, much rain and little direct sunlight, which defines the perfect environment for the growth of tea trees. This is where the famous Chinese black tea Keemun Black Tea (Qi Men Hong Cha 祁门红茶) comes from. It is one of the three most famous black teas in the world, along with Darjeeling black tea and Ceylon Uva black tea. Unlike the mentioned two black teas based on large-leaf cultivars that come from the tropical zone, Keemun black tea comes from the subtropical zone and its cultivar is the typical Chinese small-leaved Zhu Ye Zhong 槠叶种.

Collection and processing of Keemun black tea

1. Harvest - To get the unique aroma of Qihong tea, the first important thing is to collect fresh leaves. The selection is very specific. Tea gardens usually harvest leaves in April and have high requirements for the fragility of fresh leaves. Spring tea is collected in 6-7 batches and summer tea in 4-5 batches. The collection style is one bud and one to two leaves. According to the fragility of the fresh leaves, they are sorted immediately after collection, then they are stored separately.
2. Sorting – Qihong tea processing requires freshly harvested leaves and quick processing while fresh, which plays a key role in achieving a fresh and lasting aroma. Before loading, the leaves are left to rest in a layer 10 to 15 centimeters thick at room temperature, which has a positive effect on the aroma of the resulting tea.
3. Withering – One of the critical steps. To keep the humidity around 60%, the tea should be left to wither at a room temperature of 33-39°C for 3-4 hours.
4. Kneading - The purpose of the kneading process is to disrupt the cell walls for better oxidation and also to achieve a uniform amount of residual water in the leaves and stems. This step should be performed rhythmically, according to the principle of light → heavy → light, fast → slow → fast. The recommended time for kneading is 50 to 75 minutes.
5. Oxidation - An essential step in the formation of the color, aroma and taste of "Qihong". Spring tea is generally oxidized for 3-5 hours and summer tea for 2-3 hours. After the oxidation, the leaves turn red and the aroma disappears. This is followed by machine drying or hand baking. During oxidation, the ambient temperature is generally 25-26 °C, never more than 30 °C, and the humidity is higher than 95%.
6. Drying - Machine drying can be replaced by charcoal baking. For quality baking, one needs to follow a precise procedure using the "low temperature and long baking" method to obtain "Qi Hong Xiang". Normally, baking starts at 100°C for 15 minutes. Sometimes this is followed by further baking at 85°C for 30 minutes. When the tea is 80% dry, it is spread out in a thin layer on bamboo mats for about 2 hours to dry.

Charcoal baking