Chinese dark tea that less popular in the world

China is a country with a diverse and ancient culture. Though China is one of the most modern and technologically advanced countries today, it is still home to many old and mysterious practices. One of the most bizarre and unique of these practices is the art of fermentation, which uses traditional methods to create dark tea.

Among all teas, dark tea has a unique property. As the name suggests, the brew is darker than any other variety, like black, oolong, green, or white. The tea’s color and flavor are due to the series of post-processing steps. One of the steps includes microbial fermentation.

The word “dark tea” must have triggered the name “Puer” in your mind. But that’s not the only dark tea known in China. Ask a Chinese tea lover, and he will start listing all the names: Fuzhuan, Liu Bao, Mi Zhuan, Kang Zhuan, and many more.

Table of Content

The making of Dark Tea

Dark tea is an old Chinese formulation. It was used to make the transportation of tea easier. In its compressed form, the tea took up less space and was easier to preserve. Such tea was convenient for trading with faraway places. As it took months to reach the trading places, microbes like brewer’s yeast and bread molds grew naturally. These microbes fed on the tea and converted it into dark tea cakes.

The Chinese have many types of dark tea. Each carries the secret of its place of origin. It comes from five provinces: Yunan, Hanan, Sichuan, Hubei, and Guangong. The techniques differ from one place to another, giving them a unique identity. Based on the processing, it can be divided into two types: raw dark tea and post-fermented tea. Raw dark tea is a natural aging process, and post-fermented tea is a quick aging method or damp pilling.

The raw dark tea vs. post-fermented tea

The Primary Steps involved in making Raw Dark Tea;

• Withering; is a process to reduce the water content of the tea leaves and promote oxidation.
• Pan frying; is a process of roasting the withered leaves on a mild heat to stop the oxidation and fix the green color.
• Rolling; is a process of releasing the oils.
• Drying; is a process to reduce the moisture content further.
• Compressing; is a process of compressing the dried leaves into cakes. The leaves are put into molds and steamed. Later transferred to bags and pressed to give a shape.
• Aging; is a process that can take from a few months to many years. The microbes grow into compressed tea cakes. With time the cake dries up, and the color changes darker due to the microbial action. It can be of two types, with or without aging.

The making of post-fermented tea;

• Damp-piling; is fermenting the rolled tea under higher humidity and a standard temperature for several hours. Where the water is sprinkled on the pile of tea and kept under cover. The process enhances the growth of bacteria and yeast. It quickens the aging process.
• Compressing; is a process of compressing cooked tea into cakes or bricks.
• Aging; is a further process of fermentation applied to tea like Fu cha and Liu Bao.

Fuzhuan Tea

Hunan and Shaanxi provinces are the oldest pioneers in Fuzhuan. These provinces are located in the south-central and northwest regions of China. The Yiyang Fu Cha comes from the Yiyang of the Hunan region, and the Xianyang Jingwei Fu Cha is the specialty of the Xianyang region of Shaanxi.

It has a distinctive look, similar to a brick with a golden flower. Yes, you read it right, but not the regular one. It is a mold with golden spores. The name of the mold is Eurotium cristatum, and the spores are ascospores attached to the mold branch. This sort of mold requires a unique environment to grow.

It follows two-stage processing, pile fermentation, and golden flower blooming. The pile-fermentation process starts with the picking of mature leaves. Because mature leaves are already dry, they are pan-fried or steamed rather than wilted. After rolling, it is pilled into massive heaps and fermented above 25 °C with more than 86% humidity for 40 hours (or 12 to 24 hours of fermentation, then rolling for the second time). Then the drying process reduces the moisture and turns it into a dark tea.

For the second stage, dark tea is blended with other grades. Then the tea is steamed and left for short-term piling. It is compressed into bricks and inoculated with mold. The blooming process occurs in a drying room with humidity below 70% and a temperature above 25 °C. The process continues for 21 days or months, depending on the environment. The final fu cha contains 6% moisture.

What does it taste like?

How will a tea full of mold taste? It should have a musty or earthy flavor. But fu cha is the opposite of what we can explain about a moldy product. The tea brew has a subtle flavor with a sweet undertone, similar to a date. It has a milder astringency and is light on the palate.

The mold of fu cha creates a magical taste and flavor. It breaks down the catechins, tannins, and other components to give a sweeter product. The brew has a rich dark orange color compared to other non-dark tea.

Apart from taste, the Fu cha can surprise you with its health benefits. In ancient times tea was a daily consumable for the nomadic. Their diet contains more fat and protein, so the fu cha acts as a digestive. The Fu cha contains many bioactive elements and probiotics that help improve gut health.

Liu Bao Dark Tea

Liu Bao is a partially oxidized, aged tea. It is produced in Guangong province and is known for its woody flavor. The dark tea is aged in the bamboo basket after damp-piling. The process starts with withering and then heating the leaves to stop the oxidation and fix the green color. It is followed by rolling and heating again. The leaves are then fermented via the damp-piling method for 20 days.

The aging starts with steaming and compressing the fermented leaves. The compressed leaves are loosened again. This process is repeated in case of double compression. Then, it is transferred to the baskets as loose tea or compressed blocks. The aging takes as long as one year to three years.

The longer the aging process, the more likely the development of the Fu cha’s golden bloom. Unlike Fu cha, it has high caffeine content. Apart from that, it has many antioxidant components, which are good for immunity and the stomach.

Mi Zhuan

What is the maximum possible use of tea you can think of? Tea in a hot beverage, flavored tea, or food preparation. But to imagine tea as decore or currency must be hard. The Hubei province of China produces such tea. Its history is as old as 100 yrs. The Zhao Li Qiao Tea Factory in Hubei is the oldest producer of Mi Rice Zhuan. The word Zhuan in Chinese means brick. It is a hard brick of compressed tea engraved with Chinese encryptions. It makes it so beautiful that you can display it as one of your collections.

Mi Zhuan is the dried tea leaf powder compressed into a hard brick. The manufacturer steams the tea powder and compresses it into a mold. It turns into a hard solid brick. The tea particles are so small that it looks like rice grains. Thus, the name Mi rice Zhuan.

Before World War II, tea bricks had some economic value. It was an edible currency for the people of Mongolia or the nomadic region. It might be as healthy as other dark tea but can be a must-try for tea lovers.

How to prepare?

Break it into small blocks of 3 g (approx). You can get 4–5 infusions from the very same block. For the first infusion, transfer the block to a cup. Add hot water at 100 °C. Steep for 3 to 5 minutes. For the next infusions, increase the steeping time by 30 seconds to 1 minute. As the steeping continues, you will notice a change in the tea block. The first steeping will give you bigger chunks of the block. At last, the tea chunks will dissolve into fine particles. The color of the infusion will go from dark to lighter.

To understand the taste, you can enjoy it as such. You can prepare it as a butter tea by brewing the block with water and butter.

Kang Zhuan

It is a brick tea that comes from the Sichuan province of China. The Tibetans drink it with almost every meal. As the meal is high in fat and protein, tea helps to digest it and is a source of vitamin C. The raw material need not be only young leaves. But it can be a combination of mature leaves, twigs, and flowers. The processing involves pile-damping or fermentation. It is supercompressed into a brick-like hard iron. You may hurt yourself if you are not paying attention while cutting the block.

5 g of block can give three infusions at 100 °C in 100 ml water. The first infusion will give you a smoky flavor. The flavor gradually changes to honey and caramel woody with a hint of fruity sourness.

You may have become very curious about dark brick tea. But here’s a word of caution: the Tibetan or other nomads often complained about fluorosis. It is a disease of high fluoride in blood plasma. The soil of the Sichuan plantation has high fluoride content. Whatever brick tea comes from these plantations shows an elevated level. But only too much consumption can cause this problem. Tibetans drink it in huge quantities. If you want to enjoy it, check the number of cups.