The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea - Michael Harney [32]
KEEMUN MAO FENG Keemun Downy Tip
Arguably China’s most famous black tea, Keemun Mao Feng has been a Western favorite for over a century. Darker than Panyong Congou, both Keemun Mao Feng and Keemun Hao Ya A, following, are famous for their intriguing chocolate flavors. Keemuns have a captivating quality that evokes unsweetened cocoa, but without the bitterness.
The name Keemun is an older Western spelling of the town now known as Qimen (pronounced “Chee-men”). The tea grows near the town, in a region between the Yellow Mountains and the Yangtze River. The rolling flats can get quite steep. The little hills are stumpy compared with the dramatic peaks of Darjeeling and a far cry from the terraced hills of Wuyi, where Lapsang Souchong comes from. The green teas grown in Qimen (as in every other black-tea region in China) are second-rate, hence the region’s interest in making black tea for export.
Mao Feng is a more elegant, lighter, and more refined Keemun than its cousin Hao Ya A. This sophistication is due in part to the earlier harvest; Mao Feng is gathered over just a few days in late April and early May, earlier in the spring when the leaves contain softer, rounder polyphenols and superior amino acids. Mao Feng is also harvested in leafsets of two leaves and a bud, whereas Hao Ya A contains mostly full leaves. Buds lighten and sweeten Mao Feng. I recommend tasting both Keemuns together to compare.
Both teas undergo an unusually long wither of between three and four hours, which makes the teas more aromatic. After withering, the tea is rolled and slowly oxidized for around five hours, almost twice as long as many British Legacy Teas. Then the leaves are gently yet thoroughly rolled. The rolling machines give the leaves a lovely twist. The rolling also accentuates the buds to make them look larger than they are. After the rolling, the leaves are loaded into long, deep bamboo baskets and covered with cloth. The baskets stand in a steam-filled room. Over the hours, the tips turn a charming golden color and the leaves begin to acquire the cocoa flavors for which Keemuns are so famous.
Keemun Mao Feng is quite rare. Most Keemun tea makers skip the Mao Feng harvest, saving their leaves for the Hao Ya harvest that begins just a few days later and lasts much longer. Fruitier and lighter than its later-season cousin, Keemun Mao Feng remains a treat worth trying.
KEEMUN HAO YA A
As I’ve discussed in the previous section on Keemun Mao Feng, Keemuns are some of China’s oldest and most renowned black teas. They come from the rolling hills surrounding the small town now written as Qimen. The tea fields lie between the Yellow Mountains and the Yangtze River. Hao Ya is made in late April or early May, after the Mao Feng harvest, when the leaves are bigger and more flavorful. While Mao Feng is harvested over only eight to ten days, Hao Ya season goes on for as long as six weeks.
Ha Ya teas are separated: The best tips become Ha Ya A, the next-best tips become Ha Ya B. The grading system is an affectation adopted for the U.S. market; A and B grades don’t exist in China.
Hao Ya A is processed much like Keemun Mao Feng. Whereas Mao Feng makers accentuate the bud, drawing out the subtlety and sweetness of the tea, Hao Ya makers go for power. When