Jesse’s Premium Selection Qimen Red Tea

What is Red Tea?

What we call "Black Tea" in the West, Chinese call "Red Tea" (Hong Cha 红茶.) It is rich and crisp with a sweet taste and a smoothly tannic aftertaste.

It is an excellent tea for drinkers used to Western tea blends, like Earl Grey or English Breakfast.

THE TEA

Qimen (Keemun) Red Tea is the base tea for English Breakfast, so those familiar with Western tea tradition should enjoy trying this super high-quality leaf pure. Bold but surprisingly light and refreshing.

Qimen tea is known for its distinctive “Qimen Fragrance”

The tea doesn't need any extra sugar or milk to be tasty - but if you want to try mixing some, this is a good tea to use as a base for mixing.

Jesse’s Review:

Qimen red tea is such a core Chinese tea that we included packets of it in our very first tea sampler. It has been a fan favorite so far, I think largely because it is very approachable for new tea drinkers.

As the teahouse grew, however, I’ve made a point to continually try samples of the earliest teas on the website, in large part because post-Covid, with the borders open, and also with a solid following online now, I have many more options than when I started the shop so long ago.

This premium Qimen instantly caught my attention. It is sweet, super crisp, and responds well to brewing at any temperature between 80-100C. The fragrance has a sort of spicy snap to it that makes this tea. Overall, I think it is a sweeter, smoother, and subtler tea than our previous Qimen, and I am sure all our red tea drinkers will enjoy!

Going forward, this Qimen is the one I will be recommending. We will eventually replace our old Qimen in the samplers going forward as well.

VALUE AND QUALITY

Jesse's Teahouse started because Jesse realized the quality and value of the tea directly from the Beijing Tea Market was so much higher than what could be easily found in the States -- and around the world.

Nowadays, Jesse travels back and forth to Asia, looking for great teas and making educational video content on Chinese tea culture. He partners with tea farmers directly, as well as with his friends’ small tea shops.

They send their best teas to him, and he sends them to you. That's it!

These teas are high quality and can be re-steeped multiple times! Each serving makes between 3-6 cups of tea, so at around $.50 a cup, you get top quality Chinese teas at a price that you can enjoy every day.

NOT JUST TEA, TEA CULTURE

Jesse believes the key to making good tea is to help his Chinese tea friends share not just their best teas, but the best ways to make the teas.

That's why each box comes also comes with an info card that tells you:

• Tea Origin

• Steep Temperature

• Steep Time

• Directions for both teapot steeping and gaiwan steeping

All Jesse’s Teahouse Tea Friends (that’s you now!) also get access to private YouTube videos where Jesse and his Chinese tea friends show you how to make the teas and explain the tea-making process. 

The links are on QR codes on the back of the info card included in the tea box.

Don't Forget Your Tea Pets!

In Chinese Gongfu Tea Tradition, Tea Pets accompany you at teatime and you "raise" them by feeding them tea! Check out the tea pets at the bottom of this page.