A Complete Guide to Dark Tea ‘Hei Cha’
Dark tea, also known as Hei Cha, stands as one of China’s significant tea types. It gets its name from its dark appearance during processing. Growers cultivate it primarily in Sichuan, Yunnan, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Anhui, and other regions. This category includes varieties like Yunnan Pu’er tea, Hunan tea selections, Sichuan Tibetan tea, Guangxi Liubao tea, Hubei Qingzhuan tea, Shaanxi Fuzhuan tea, and Anhui Guxi tea.
Producers follow stages of withering, initial rolling, pile fermentation, re-rolling, and baking. They typically use coarse, aged leaves as the raw material. The extended fermentation process gives the leaves an oily black or black-brown color, which is why it’s also called “dark tea.” Known as “border tea,” dark tea serves ethnic communities in border regions.
Dark Tea Overview
| Tea Type | Origin/Region | Production Process | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hunan Dark Tea | Anhua County, Hunan | Fixing, initial rolling, wet piling, re-rolling, drying | Tightly rolled, straight, round, tender leaves, glossy black appearance, rich aroma, orange-yellow liquor |
| Yunnan Pu’er Tea | Yunnan | Sun-dried large-leaf processing | Reddish-brown or deep chestnut color, red tea soup, mellow, smooth, sweet taste |
| Tibetan Tea | Above 1000 meters | Post-fermented processing | Kang brick: rectangular, rounded corners, pure fragrance; Jinjian: rectangular, pure aroma; Kangjian: rich fragrance, red translucent tea soup |
| Hubei Qingzhuan Tea | Southern Hubei | Fresh leaves, production history over 600 years | Various grades; Grade 1: tight strips, dark green; Grade 2: strip-shaped, red stems; Grade 3: curled, dark green |
| Guangxi Liubao Tea | Wuzhou City, Guangxi | Low-temperature fixing, rolling, wet piling | Sticky juice appearance, unique mellow fragrance, moderate processing |
| Shaanxi Fuzhuan Tea | Jingyang, Shaanxi | Similar to Anhua dark tea’s Fuzhuan | Tight structure, black-brown color, abundant golden flowers, clear reddish liquor |
| Anhui Guxi Dark Tea | Anhui | Semi-fermentation and compression | Dark black finished product, slightly red soup, fragrant yet astringent taste |
Hunan Dark Tea
Hunan dark tea comes from Anhua County in Hunan. Initially, producers cultivated it in the Baohui Garden along the Zijiang River. Over time, production spread to other locations along the river, including Yaqueping, Huangshaping, Xizhou, Jiangnan, and Xiaoyan. Eventually, Jiangnan became the main production center, with Gaojiaxi and Majiaxi gaining a reputation for their quality.
Production Process
As for the production process, it includes fixing, initial rolling, wet piling, re-rolling, and drying. Hunan dark tea has varieties such as “Sanjian,” “Sizhuan,” and “Hua Juan.” The “Sizhuan” variety features black bricks, flower bricks, green bricks, and Fuzhuan bricks. The “Sanjian” series includes “Tianjian,” “Gongjian,” and “Shengjian.” The “Hua Juan” series consists of “Qianliang tea,” “Bailiang tea,” and “Shiliang tea.”
The tea is tightly rolled, straight, and round, with tender leaves and a glossy black appearance. It offers a rich, mellow aroma with a pine smoke fragrance. The taste remains smooth without being coarse or astringent. The liquor color is orange-yellow, and the leaf bottom is yellow-brown.
Tibetan Tea
Harvested from tea trees above 1000 meters, Tibetan tea undergoes special processing to become post-fermented, resulting in a dark brown color.
Characteristics
Kang brick tea features a rectangular shape with rounded corners, a flat surface, noticeable spraying, and a brown color. It offers a pure fragrance, red-brown tea soup, a strong taste, and a slightly aged brown leaf bottom.
Jinjian tea also comes in a rectangular shape. It is slightly tight, without layering, and brown in color. It has a pure aroma, yellow-red tea soup, a mellow taste, and a dark brown aged leaf bottom.
Kangjian tea is rectangular with rounded corners and a flat surface. It is brown and provides a rich, pure fragrance, red translucent tea soup, a mellow sweet taste, and a slightly aged brown leaf bottom.
Hubei Qingzhuan Dark Tea
Qingzhuan tea, produced from fresh leaves of high-mountain tea trees, has been made in Southern Hubei for over six hundred years.
This tea comes in various grades. Grade 1 features tight strips, slightly white stems, and a dark green color. Meanwhile, Grade 2 includes strip-shaped leaves with mainly red stems, a dark green color, and a slight yellow hue while Grade 3 contains curled, wrinkled leaves, red stems, dark green color with flowers, and tea stems assessed by the new shoots of the current year.
Guangxi Liubao Tea
Liubao tea originates from Wuzhou City in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It undergoes specific processes and belongs to the dark tea category.
Guangxi Liubao tea features low-temperature fixing, shaping during rolling, and essential wet piling. It has a sticky juice appearance and a unique mellow fragrance. The moderate processing classifies it as post-fermented tea.
Shaanxi Fuzhuan Tea
Shaanxi Fuzhuan Tea, specifically Jingyang Fuzhuan Tea, resembles Anhua dark tea’s Fuzhuan. It belongs to the Fuzhuan category in dark tea and has a long history.
It features a tight structure, black-brown, oily color, and abundant golden flowers. The tea has a lasting unique fragrance, clear reddish liquor color, and a mellow, thick, sweet aftertaste.
Anhui Guxi Dark Tea
Also known as “An tea,” it is a traditional tea made through semi-fermentation and compression. It falls between red and green tea.
The tea features a dark black finished product with a slightly red and thick soup. It has a fragrant yet astringent taste. It is sold domestically in Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hong Kong, and exported to Southeast Asia. Consequently, it is known as “Sacred Tea.”
Pu’er Tea
There has been a long debate over whether Pu’er tea, also spelled Puerh, is a Hei Cha variety. Because it undergoes fermentation, it is classified as a Dark Tea. However, most Pu’er tea growers consider Pu’er to be its own category due to its specific tea trees and leaf types. Pu’er also grows only in Yunnan, which many believe constitutes its own tea category.
Alex Wolfgram
