Congou () is a description of a black

Chinese tea Tea is a beverage made from the leaves of tea plants ('' Camellia sinensis'') and boiled water. Tea leaves are processed using traditional Chinese methods. Chinese tea is consumed throughout the day, including during meals, as a substitute for ...

variety used by 19th-century tea importers in America and Europe. It was the base of the 19th-century

English Breakfast tea English breakfast tea or simply breakfast tea is a traditional blend of black teas originating from Assam tea, Assam, Ceylon tea, Ceylon and Kenyan tea, Kenya. It is one of the most popular blended teas, common in British tea culture, British a ...

blend.

Name

The etymology of the tea is the same as

kung fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common ...

, from the Chinese for "skill" (工夫 gongfu), via the

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages in ...

pronunciation ''kang-hu''. This is the same word as in the

Gongfu tea ceremony The gongfu tea ceremony or kung fu tea ceremony ( or ), is a type of Chinese tea ceremony, involving the ritual preparation and presentation of tea. It is probably based on the tea preparation approaches originated in Fujian and the Chaoshan area ...

(工夫茶, sometimes 功夫茶), and ''congou'' is locally drunk in this style. The popular variety ''Panyang Congou'' (or ''Panyong Congou'') is a corruption of Tanyang (), the name of a small village in

Fu'an (; Foochow Romanized: Hók-ăng-chê; sometimes ''Fu An'') is a county-level city of Ningde prefecture level city, in northeast Fujian province, PRC, some away from the provincial capital Fuzhou. History Found Fu'an county was found in 1245 A ...

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

that popularized the style. Once the most expensive style of black tea in the West, with exports to over twenty countries and a gold medal at the

Panama–Pacific International Exposition The Panama–Pacific International Exposition was a world's fair held in San Francisco, California, United States, from February 20 to December 4, 1915. Its stated purpose was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was widely se ...

in 1915, a state-owned factory established in 1958 continues to produce small amounts.

Identification

The source the importers called "Cangou" was

Amoy Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an, ...

Kanghu tea, or Teochew Kanghu tea, the 'espresso' of Chinese teas (Chaozhou Gongfu cha, 潮州工夫茶 or 潮汕工夫茶), or

Keemun Keemun () is a famous Chinese black tea. First produced in the late 19th century, it quickly became popular in the West and is still used for a number of classic blends. It is a light tea with characteristic stone fruit and slightly smoky notes ...

Gongfu or Congou (祁門功夫) made with careful skill ("gongfu") to produce thin, tight strips without breaking the leaves.Kit Boey Chow, Ione Kramer - All Teas in China - Page 179 1990 "for promotion purposes, many non-Chinese companies borrow names from Chinese teas, such as Bohea, Congou,

Hyson Hyson, or Lucky Dragon Tea, is a Chinese green tea that comes from the Anhui province of China. It is made from young leaves that are thinly rolled to have a long, twisted appearance that unfurls when brewed. The name Hyson is probably derived ...

, Souchong, Chunmee, Sowmee, Pekoe, Keemun, etc. Such labels may contain little or no tea of ..."

References

{{teas Black tea Chinese teas