Keemun Imperial Black Tea

The raw leaves for making this tea were grown in the original birthplace of Keemun tea, at an elevation of 800m above sea level. The one bud, one leaf (which has just started to open up, called ‘Chu zhan’ (初展)) for making this tea were hand-plucked around the Chinese season of Qing Ming during the early spring. These fresh first-plucking leaves are loaded with nutrients: consequently the finished tea leaves are neat and bold with a lot of tiny golden tips.

The taste is sweet and mellow, and leaves a pleasant smooth sensation in your mouth. Overall, the first infusion of this tea has a prominent roasted sweet potato flavor mixed with a floral aroma; the second infusion mellows out, and the third brings back a lingering sweetness and fragrant aftertaste.

	Cup Method		Chinese Gongfu Method
	Teacup: 12oz / 355ml		Gaiwan: 3.8oz / 110ml
	185℉ / 85℃		185℉ / 85℃
	2 Teaspoons / 2.5g Tea		5g Tea
	Brewing time: 2 - 5 mins		5 steeps: rinse, 7s, 7s, 15s, 30s, 40s Rinse time is around 5 seconds

Baita (which means White Tower) Tea Garden (白塔茶园) is located in Keemun County, the corn-producing area of Keemun black tea, in Huangshan City. There are more than 9,225 acres of ecologically-rated tea gardens here, including almost 3,000 acres of organic-certified gardens.

Keemun has a short (by Chinese standards) history, beginning in 1875 in Qimen. An unsuccessful bureaucrat by the name of Yu Gancheng decided to quit working for the government and instead try his hand at making tea. Due to the great demand and high prices for black teas at the time, he travelled to Fujian to learn how to make them; after returning to Anhui he introduced black teas to the area, which up until then had only produced green teas. Over the next decade or so, the processes and the teas themselves continuously improved, culminating in 1883 with what is now known as Keemun black tea. The amazing taste and aroma of this tea, combined with skillful marketing, resulted in this tea becoming an instant hit and led to it being in huge demand overseas in England and in the US. It won the international prize in the 1915 Panamanian World Expo.