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Keemun Tea

Q: Is Keemun Tea natural or synthetic?

. Extraction: No specific Keemun tea extract for perfumery. Black tea absolute (Camellia sinensis, fully oxidized) is the closest commercial product. The specific Keemun character would need supplementing with smoky and malty modifiers..

GREENS, HERBS AND FOUGERES / rich · fruity · fresh

Keemun Tea

Category	GREENS, HERBS AND FOUGERES
Subcategory	rich · fruity · fresh
Origin
Volatility	Heart Note
Botanical	Camellia sinensis var. sinensis
Appearance	Tightly twisted dark brown to black tea leaves with golden tips
Odor Strength	Medium
Producing Countries	China
Pyramid	Heart

Smoky, coco a-laced, orchid-like. Keemun is Chin a's gre at black tea — roasty, complex, with a particular floral-smoke quality Europeans call the 'Keemun arom a.'

Scent
The Full Story
Fun Fact
Extraction & Chemistry
In Perfumery

Scent

Smoky, coco a-tinged, with a particular orchid-like florality. More complex than generic black tea — the malty aldehydes and floral geraniol create the unique Keemun arom a. Like opening a caddy of fine Keemun — roasty, faintly sweet, floral, with wisps of gentle smoke.

Evolution over time

Immediately

Smoky-malty, orchid-floral, roasted warmth

After a few hours

Softer, more cocoa-like, less smoky, warm

After a few days

Faint warm tea-roast residue, gentle

The Full Story

Keemun (Qimen) is a celebrated Chinese black tea from Qimen County, Anhui Province. First produced in 1875, it quickly became a prized black teas in the West — a key component of English Breakfast blends. Its particular arom a is often described as orchid-like, smoky, and faintly coco a-tinged.

The volatile profile includes geraniol and linalool (floral), 2-methylpropanal and 3-methylbutanal (malty), various pyrazines (roasted), and particular unsaturated aldehydes that produce the characteristic 'Keemun arom a' — a complex, slightly smoky, floral quality unique to this terroir.

Qimen County sits at the juncti on of the Huangshan Mountains and the Yangtze River pla in, with specific microclimate conditions (cool, humid, foggy) that produce the tea's particular character. The best Keemun (Keemun Mao Feng, Keemun Hao Ya) is produced from early spring pickings.

In perfumery, Keemun provides a specific black tea note that is smokier, more complex, and more floral than generic black tea accords.

This note in Première Peau. Simili Mirage · Gravitas Capitale. Sample all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.

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Did You Know?

Did you know?

Keemun tea was created in 1875 by a failed civil service candidate named Yu Ganchen, who traveled to Fujian to learn black tea production techniques and brought them back to Qimen — within 40 years, Keemun had become a expensive teas in Europe.

Extraction & Chemistry

Extraction method: No specific Keemun tea extract for perfumery. Black tea absolute (Camellia sinensis, fully oxidized) is the closest commercial product. The specific Keemun character would need supplementing with smoky and malty modifiers.

Molecular Formula	N/A — complex tea (geraniol, linalool, methyl salicylate, theaflavins)
CAS Number	N/A — no single CAS (processed tea leaf)
Botanical Name	Camellia sinensis var. sinensis
IFRA Status	No known restrictions
Synonyms	Qimen tea, Keemun black tea
Physical Properties
Odor Strength	Medium
Appearance	Tightly twisted dark brown to black tea leaves with golden tips

In Perfumery

Keemun tea is a specific black tea note providing smoky, floral, malty complexity. Reconstructed from black tea absolute, smoky modifiers (guaiacol), floral materials (geraniol, linalool), and malty aldehydes. Functions as a clean tea heart note in Chinese-inspired, smoke-tea, and structured compositions.