No. 14
Chinese Keemun - Loose Leaf Tea
The godfather of Chinese breakfast teas, this single-origin Keemun offers smooth malty, cacao notes with a hint of spice for a luxurious start to your day
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The godfather of Chinese breakfast teas, this single-origin Keemun offers smooth malty, cacao notes with a hint of spice for a luxurious start to your day
The godfather of Chinese breakfast teas, this single-origin Keemun offers smooth malty, cacao notes with a hint of spice for a luxurious start to your day
Bold and luxurious, our single origin Keemun loose-leaf black tea from China has a dried fruit and malty aroma and complex characters with an alluring, slight hint of cacao and caramel. Robust in flavour, it tastes of honey and oak, with a smooth mouthfeel that makes it a luxurious alternative to a regular breakfast tea.
With its strong, black wiry leaves and light amber infusion, this single-origin summer flush is a premium, special high-grade version of Keemun black tea that brings deliciously refined luxury to the daily ritual of tea making. The wonderful aroma of this exceptional Chinese loose-leaf black tea is enhanced by adding a splash of milk, which brings out its extraordinary, soft floral notes. Although perfect as a breakfast brew, this refreshing tea can be enjoyed at any time of day.
Requiring great skill to produce, Keemun is the most famous Chinese black tea, known in China as 'Qimen', Keemun is made from the Chinese variety of the tea plant, Camellia Sinensis. Its name stems from its place of origin, Qimen County in China's Anhui province, located between the Yellow Mountains and the Yangtze River. Keemun tea undergoes an unusually slow process of withering and oxidation during production, which creates the nuanced characters and non-astringent flavour that has won it generations of fans as a great breakfast tea.
Keemun was first produced in the late 1800s. At the time, China was primarily exporting green teas, and Keemun's invention was an attempt to compete with the black teas produced in India. Keemun tea quickly became popular in the West and is used as one of the key components of English breakfast tea blends, partly for its flavour and partly for its high caffeine content.
Like all black teas, this smooth Chinese Keemun tea comes with all the benefits of being packed with polyphenols, the antioxidant plant compounds that have been linked to everything from lowering cholesterol and the risk of heart disease to helping improve gut health. If you want to make it a vegan tea, simply serve it black.
Alternatives to this smooth breakfast tea
For more full-flavoured breakfast brews, try our Margaret's Hope Darjeeling or Assam Breakfast or Assam Manjushree all of which are excellent breakfast teas. For something another Chinese black tea, we recommend our Tarry Lapsang Souchong, a strong, smoked tea with an amber infusion with tobacco and burnt caramel notes.
There's more to morning tea than a classic English breakfast or Earl Grey. For the full range of varieties to start your day, check out the range of Breakfast Teas available in our Tea Shop.
This tea offers a smooth hint of cacao aroma and dark orange infusion. A bold cup with honey and oak notes with smooth, caramel and touch woody mouthfeel.
Pure Chinese black tea
Region
Qimen, Anhui Region, China
- MJMark J.Rated 5 out of 5 stars8 months agoPleasure in a cup
There's a slighty honey creaminess to keemun tea that i enjoy. This is one of the best i have tried. Highly recommended.
The Tea Makers of London8 months agoHello, Mark
Thank you so much for the wonderful review!
We’re thrilled to hear that you’re enjoying our Chinese Keemun Tea — the honey flavour and smooth mouthfeel is one of our favourite things about it too. Knowing it’s “one of the best” you’ve tried truly makes our day.
Thank you again for the recommendation, and we hope every cup continues to bring you pleasure!
Many Thanks,
Maddie
The Tea Makers of London - ARAndrew R.Rated 2 out of 5 stars8 months agoNot for me
I found this tea had a very strange finish, which I didn’t like at all, so much so that I abandoned it half way down the 125g caddy
The Tea Makers of London8 months agoHello, Andrew
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback — and we're really sorry to hear that our Chinese Keemun Tea wasn’t to your taste. We know how disappointing it can be when a tea doesn’t quite hit the mark, especially after giving it a fair try.
Chinese Keemun does have a distinctive character, with its dried fruit and malty aroma and a hint of cacao and caramel, which some tea lovers enjoy but others may find a little unexpected.
Sometimes the flavour profile can shift quite a bit with small tweaks, so you might find it more enjoyable by adjusting the brew. We recommend using 3–4g per cup, brewing at 100°C, and experimenting with a 3–5 minute steeping time to see if a shorter or longer infusion suits your palate better.
That said, taste is very personal, and it’s perfectly okay if this one simply isn’t for you. If you ever need help finding a tea that matches your preferences closer, we’d be happy to guide you.
Many Thanks
Maddie
The Tea Makers of London - NNeilRated 3 out of 5 stars10 months agoA good everyday Keemun
A good everyday Chinese black tea. Works well with a splash of milk or on its own (or better yet with a biscuit!). This makes a good change if you are a fan of English breakfast looking for something a little different with a rounder, milder and almost chocolatey character.
- RRRidley R.Rated 5 out of 5 stars10 months agoTea
I have reviewed all my purchases for a number of years. Once you start selling my favourites 26 and 91 I will start reviewing
- SAShaun A.Rated 5 out of 5 stars1 year agoRecent order.
Excellent product and fast delivery.