On November 29, 2022, the project “Traditional Chinese Tea Processing Skills and Related Customs” submitted by our country was reviewed and approved by the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO and has been included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO.
To enhance public awareness of traditional Tea processing skills and related customs, increase understanding of the importance of protecting intangible cultural heritage related to tea, boost national pride, and strengthen cultural confidence, we will be sharing 44 items of intangible cultural heritage (including 39 traditional Tea processing skills and 5 items of folk-related intangible cultural heritage) with you in due course.
The Green Tea chapter of traditional Chinese tea processing skills has already concluded. Today, the editor will begin explaining the production techniques of Black Tea, starting with Qimen Black Tea.
Qimen Black Tea, also known as “Qi Hong,” is one of the top ten traditional Chinese teas and one of the world's three most fragrant black teas. It is named after its place of origin, Qimen County in Anhui Province. In the first year of the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty (1875), Qimen Black Tea was successfully created, and upon its introduction, it quickly gained a reputation both domestically and internationally for its unique quality.
Traditionally, Qimen Black Tea was made by hand, and its quality depended on manual skill, hence the name “Qimen Gongfu.”
The production techniques of Qimen Black Tea are divided into primary processing and finishing. Primary processing includes withering, rolling, fermentation, and drying; finishing includes sieving, cutting, air-sorting, sorting, blending, re-drying, and homogenizing.
Withering
Rolling
Fermentation
Drying
The characteristics of Qimen Black Tea include a fine and slender shape, good tip formation, a lustrous dark black color; a bright red liquor; a rich fragrance with floral and fruity notes; a smooth and sweet taste; and a soft, even red leaf bottom. Qimen Black Tea particularly emphasizes tenderness and the tightness of the tea leaves. Defective qualities include hollow, loose, and light-bodied leaves, dull greyish color, shallow liquor, rough fragrance, thin and Astringent taste, and dark green leaf bottom. The quality varies between different seasons, with spring tea having better tenderness, a lustrous dark black color, and fresh, sweet fragrance, while summer and autumn teas have brighter liquor and leaf bottom but lack the freshness and sweetness of spring tea, making them generally lower in quality.
Dry Leaf: Fine and slender, good tip formation, lustrous dark black color
Liquor: Bright red
Leaf Bottom: Soft, even, and red
The excellent natural environment and exquisite, unique production techniques create the outstanding quality of Qimen Black Tea. Qimen Black Tea produced using these techniques has a lustrous dark black color, fine and slender leaves, and a distinctive rose-like fragrance that is long-lasting, earning it the praise as “Qimen Fragrance.”