Shímén hóngchá · thetea.app

Shímén hóngchá (石门红茶) is a red tea of Shimen County (石门县), Changde prefecture-level city, in the northwest of Hunan Province, deep in the Wuling Mountains. The county is the old center of the Hunan part of the 宜红 (Yíhóng) area: at the end of the Qing the Guangdong merchant Lu Cilun founded here, in present-day Hupingshan Town, the “Taihehe” tea firm (泰和合), and its red tea, according to the saying “北祁南宜”, was paired with Qimen tea. Today “石门红茶” is one of the county’s two main tea brands, alongside the green Shimen Yinfeng. The name is protected by a geographical indication mark and is included in the 2024 list of geographical indications of the Hunan provincial government. Not to be confused with Hubei 宜红: the marks “宜都宜红茶” and “宜红工夫茶” belong to another province.

1. Classification and Origin

Type: Red tea (红茶, hóngchá), fully fermented. The class is stated in the name itself.
Category: Hunan red tea; geographical indication mark of the 2024 provincial list. A popular overview assigns Shimen red tea to the 湘红 (xiānghóng) line of the Wuling area (now Changde prefecture) — as distinct from the 湖红 of Anhua.
Origin: China, Hunan Province (湖南, Húnán), Changde prefecture-level city (常德, Chángdé), Shimen County (石门县, Shímén Xiàn).
Zone: The provincial list names Shimen as the administrative affiliation of the mark holder. A reference database of geographical indications names the entire present territory of the county as the zone; I have not checked this against the mark document.
Protection regime: A geographical indication mark — certification or collective; the type is not named in the sources consulted. The reference database gives the number 34101143; I did not find the holder or the year of registration.
Geographic coordinates: Hunan Ribao places the county on the “golden tea belt” of the 30th parallel.

2. History and Cultural Significance

History:
- End of the Qing — “Taihehe”. According to material in New Hunan (2026), the Guangdong merchant Lu Cilun (卢次伦) founded the “Taihehe” tea firm in Hupingshan (壶瓶山); its 宜红茶 was paired with Qimen tea — “北祁南宜”, “in the north Qimen, in the south Yíhóng” — and, as the newspaper writes, went to Europe along the “Tea Horse Road” (茶马古道). The material does not name the year the firm was founded.
- The Hunan part of 宜红. The 宜红 area lay on both sides of the border between Hunan and Hubei; Shimen red tea is its Hunan branch.
- 2024. “石门红茶” is in the list of geographical collective and certification marks of the Hunan provincial government.
- 2026. Hunan Ribao calls “石门银峰” and “石门红茶” the two regional public brands of the county; the newspaper estimates the comprehensive output of the county’s entire tea industry at 3.48 billion yuan.
Name:
- Shímén (石门) — the name of the county, literally “stone gate”.
- “Hongcha” (红茶, hóngchá) — “red tea”.
- “北祁南宜” — a saying that places Yichang red tea next to Qimen tea.
Cultural significance: The county holds the titles “homeland of famous tea of China” and “homeland of organic tea of China” — so writes Hunan Ribao. Mount Jiashan also lies in it; according to the same newspaper, it is the source of the tea and Chan culture with the formula “茶禅一味” — “tea and Chan are of one taste”. This is the context of the locality, not a description of the tea.

3. Botanical Description and Raw Material

Varieties / Cultivars: For the red tea under the mark, they are not named in the sources consulted. The newspaper writes that in Ziliang Town (子良) 6,387 mu of gardens are occupied by clonal varieties — Fuding Dabai (福鼎大白), Bixiangzao (碧香早), Zhuyeqi (槠叶齐) and others; these are the town’s varieties for all teas, not the varieties specifically for red tea.
Raw material: The reference database describes the dry leaf with elegant whole tips (锋苗俊秀完整); a harvest standard is not found in the sources consulted.
Harvest time: No data in the sources consulted.

4. Terroir and Cultivation Features

According to material in Hunan Ribao (2026):

Region: Deep in the Wuling Mountains (武陵山) in the northwest of Hunan.
Scale: The county has more than 180,000 mu of tea gardens and 35,100 t of dry tea a year — according to the newspaper, for all classes together.
Altitudes: The newspaper names individual tea sites: the highest point of the Baiyunshan forest farm is 925 m, its organic gardens are at 800–880 m; Dongshanfeng is on average above 1200 m, and the green Dongshan Xiufeng grows there. Altitudes of gardens specifically for red tea are not found in the sources consulted.
Hupingshan: The town of the old “Taihehe” firm today has 33,000 mu of tea gardens.
Certificates: In Luoping Township 13,000 mu of gardens, according to the newspaper, hold the European Union organic certificate, fair trade certificates and “Rainforest Alliance” certificates.
Climate and soils: No data in the sources consulted.

5. Production Technology

I have not seen a document with requirements for the technology of Shímén hóngchá. Below is the general class scheme for gongfu red tea, not a description of the technology of this tea:

Withering (萎凋, wěidiāo): The leaf loses part of its moisture and becomes soft.
Rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn): The leaf is rolled into twists, breaking the cells.
Fermentation (发酵, fājiào): Oxidation, which turns the leaf red.
Drying (干燥, gānzào): Fixes the result.

The appearance according to the reference database — thin, straight twists with whole tips — points to a rolled rather than a broken tea; parameters are not found in the sources consulted.

6. Organoleptic Characteristics

The description below comes from the reference database of geographical indications: 条索紧实细直，锋苗俊秀完整，色泽乌黑莹润，汤色红亮清澈、滋味香高味醇、内质花果芬香、叶底红明饱满、饮后齿颊留香，有回甘.

Dry leaf appearance: Tight, thin, straight twists with elegant whole tips (条索紧实细直，锋苗俊秀完整), black and lustrous (乌黑莹润).
Dry leaf aroma: No descriptions in the sources consulted.
Liquor aroma: Floral-fruity (花果芬香), high; the aftertaste lingers in the mouth (齿颊留香).
Taste: Aromatic and mellow (香高味醇), with a sweet return (回甘).
Liquor color: Red, bright and clear (红亮清澈).
Spent leaves (wet leaves): Red, bright, full (红明饱满).

7. Chemical Composition

Physico-chemical data are not found in the sources consulted.

8. Brewing

Class practice for red tea.

Water temperature: 90–95 °C.
Tea amount: 3–5 g per 150 ml.
Teaware: White porcelain gaiwan or teapot — it shows the color of the liquor.
Process:
1. Warm the teaware.
2. Put in the tea.
3. Briefly wet the leaf with hot water and pour it off.
4. First infusion — 15–30 seconds in a gaiwan.
5. Pour out completely.
6. Four or five repeat infusions, adding 10–15 seconds each time.

9. Storage

Class practice. In tight packaging, in a dry, cool, dark place, away from foreign odors. A refrigerator is not needed.

10. Price and Counterfeits

Price data are not found in the sources consulted.

How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the geographical indication mark “石门红茶” on the package.
- Check that the producer is from Shimen County.
- Do not confuse it with the Hubei marks “宜都宜红茶” and “宜红工夫茶”: these are different names from another province.
- The leaf — thin, straight black twists with whole tips; the liquor — red and clear.

11. Interesting Facts

Shimen is also part of the zone of the prefecture-wide name 常德红茶 — an inter-county name with a list of named townships in three counties — while the county mark, according to the reference database, has the whole county as its zone.
The old Shimen red tea was sold under the name 宜红 — after the Hubei area, and today the Hubei marks for 宜红 belong to the Yidu association.
The county has two main tea brands — a red and a green one, and the newspaper counts their output together.
The “Taihehe” firm stood in Hupingshan — a mountain town that today has 33,000 mu of tea gardens.

12. Comparison with Other Teas

Yihong Gongfu (宜红工夫): A Hubei gongfu red tea of the same historical area; Shimen red tea is its Hunan branch.
Changde Hongcha (常德红茶): The prefecture-wide name over parts of Shimen, Linli and Lixian counties — a different level of protection over the same land.
Qimen Hongcha (祁门红茶): The Anhui red tea with which Shimen 宜红 was paired — “北祁南宜”.
Anhua Hongcha (安化红茶): The red tea of Anhua County — the 湖红 line, as distinct from the 湘红 of the Wuling area.
Shimen Yinfeng (石门银峰): A green tea of the same county, its second main brand.

In Conclusion:

Shímén hóngchá is a county red tea brand that grew out of the Hunan branch of the old 宜红: the “Taihehe” firm in Hupingshan, the saying “北祁南宜” and the road to Europe. Few documents about the mark itself have been found — a number from the reference database and a line in the provincial list. Its profile, according to the reference database, is thin, straight black twists, a red, clear liquor, a floral-fruity aroma and a sweet return.