Dark tea, one of the six major tea categories, is a fully fermented tea. It appeared in 1034, boasting a history of nearly a thousand years. Because the raw materials for dark tea are relatively coarse and old, and the manufacturing process often involves piling and fermenting for a long time, the leaves mostly appear dark brown, hence the name dark tea.
The main production areas are Sichuan, Yunnan, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, and others. Dark tea uses relatively coarse and old raw materials and is the primary material for pressing compressed teas. The tea-making process generally includes four steps: fixation, rolling, piling (wet fermentation), and drying. Classified by region, dark tea is mainly categorized into Hunan dark tea (Fu tea), Sichuan dark tea (border tea), Ya'an Tibetan tea (the origin of dark tea), Yunnan dark tea (Pu-erh tea), Guangxi Liu Bao tea, Shaanxi dark tea (Fu tea), and Hubei aged dark tea.
Dark tea originated in Sichuan Province, dating back to the early tea-horse trade during the Tang and Song dynasties. The tea in the tea-horse trade initially started with green tea. At that time, the distribution centers for the tea-horse trade were Ya'an in Sichuan and Hanzhong in Shaanxi. The journey from Ya'an to Tibet, carried by porters and horse caravans, took at least 2 to 3 months. Due to the lack of shelter from sun and rain, the tea leaves were often soaked by rain and then dried by the sun. This repeated wetting and drying process caused fermentation through microbial action, resulting in a tea product with qualities completely different from when it was dispatched. Therefore, the saying "dark tea was formed on horseback" has its reasoning. Over time, people added a piling (wo dui) step during the initial or refining process, thus giving rise to dark tea. Dark tea is processed and produced in China's Yunnan, Hunan, Shaanxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hubei, and other regions. Dark tea products can generally be stored for long periods and develop a richer aroma with age.
The term "dark tea" (黑茶) first appeared in the memorial of censor Chen Jiang in the third year of the Ming Jiajing reign (1524): "Due to the inferior quality of commercial tea, collect all dark tea. Production is limited, still grade it as superior and medium, stamp and brand the bamboo containers, inscribe the merchant's name for inspection. Steam and dry every ten catties into one bamboo container, transport to the Tea Office, where official and merchant split equally; official tea is exchanged for horses, commercial tea is for sale" (《Gansu General Chronicle》). This tea, steamed and then packed by trampling, possesses fermentation characteristics and is undoubtedly dark tea.
Tibetan tea is the origin of dark tea, also known as Southern Road border tea. Its production process is extremely complex, involving 32 ancient methods. Due to continuous fermentation, it has high collection value and is the tea variety with the highest collection value among ancient tea types. Ya'an City in Sichuan Province is the place of origin for Tibetan tea, with a history of 1300 years. During the Ming Jiajing period, merchant groups from Jingyang, Shaanxi, successively came to Ya'an to engage in the border tea industry. With substantial capital and business acumen, from the Ming to Qing dynasties, they established more than ten tea firms, quickly surpassing the scale of local Sichuan merchants. Their annual quota of "Yin" (tea licenses) accounted for two-thirds of Ya'an's total. The most famous and largest was the Shaanxi "Yixing Tea Firm," established in the 25th year of Jiajing (Ming Dynasty). To the modern Yixing Tea Firm, it has a history of over 460 years,堪称 a miracle in ancient Chinese commerce. Tibetan tea is characterized by "Red, Strong, Aged, Mellow." "Red" refers to the tea soup's transparent red color, lively and lovely; "Strong" means authentic tea taste, refreshing and酣畅 when drinking; "Aged" refers to the aged aroma, with older teas having a stronger fragrance the longer they are stored; "Mellow" means no astringency or bitterness upon entry, smooth, sweet, and醇厚 in taste. Modern medical research shows: Tibetan tea, made through special prolonged fermentation工艺, contains nearly 500 kinds of organic compounds beneficial to the human body, about 700 kinds of aroma compounds, and is also rich in inorganic substances, including no less than 15 minerals such as phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and selenium.
Green brick tea is a type of dark tea, also known as Hubei dark tea, possessing a natural tea fragrance that other ordinary dark teas and Pu-erh teas do not have. Yangloudong in Chibi City, Hubei Province, is the place of origin for green brick tea, with a production history of over two hundred years. Merchant Lei Zhongwan from Yangloudong established the "Yangloudong Tea Firm" in the first year of the Qing Qianlong reign (1736 AD), later renaming it "Dongzhuang Tea Firm." "Publicly established a tea firm at the temple market, began making tea bricks" (《Biography of Zhongwan Gong》). The tea firm was located in the middle section of Miaochang Street in the ancient town of Yangloudong, with the factory situated 60 meters below Guanyin Spring. It used Yangloudong tea as raw material and drew water from Guanyin Spring for production. Because the vehicle of Guanyin Bodhisattva is a lotus, the produced brick tea "used the lotus as the pattern, with the characters 'Dong Zhuang' as the mark." To this day, it has a history of over 200 years, with the saying "Origin of brick tea, century-old Dongzhuang." An ancient poem: "Ancient lanes of Yanglou, green stone幽, Dongzhuang's century-old wooden building in autumn, a millennium cultivates tea fragrance lingering, Guanyin spring's charm washes away风流" describes the famous Guanyin Spring and the history of Dongzhuang brick tea in Yangloudong. It uses aged green tea as raw material, pressed under high-temperature steam. The tea soup is clear red and bright, rich and aromatic, pure in taste, with a lasting sweet aftertaste. After fermentation, high-temperature steam pressing, and proper storage for natural post-fermentation, the catechins and tea polyphenols in green brick tea dissolve more easily in water than in ordinary tea. Drinking green brick tea, besides quenching thirst and promoting salivation, has unique effects such as digesting greasiness, strengthening the stomach, reducing fat and weight, warming against cold, refreshing the mind, sterilizing, and stopping diarrhea, which other tea types cannot match. It is mainly sold to northwest regions like Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai, and countries like Mongolia, Georgia, Russia, and the United Kingdom.
Shaanxi Fu tea comes from Jingyang, Xianyang, Shaanxi, with a history of nearly a thousand years. It flourished in the Song Dynasty and prospered during the Ming, Qing, and Republic of China periods. The tea body is tight, the color is dark brown and oily, golden flowers (Eurotium cristatum) flourish, fungal aroma溢出, the tea soup is orange-red and translucent, and the taste is醇厚 and悠长. It is suitable for people in cold high-altitude areas and regions with high-fat diets. Especially for nomadic peoples living in deserts,戈壁, plateaus, and other barren areas, whose staple food is beef, mutton, and cheese, and who lack vegetables and fruits. Thus, in China's northwest regions, there are sayings: "One day without tea leads to stagnation, three days without tea leads to pain" and "Rather go a day without grain than a day without tea."
Ancestor of Dark Tea — Qujiang Royal Thin Slices
The earliest Hunan dark tea was the Qujiang Royal Thin Slices produced in Qujiang Town, Anhua County, Hunan, during the Han Dynasty. Anhua has long had the habit of processing smoked tea. Tea leaves, through high-temperature fire roasting, turn dark brown and oily, hence called "dark tea." Dark tea is also a type of tea made using fungal fermentation.
According to different production areas and工艺 differences, dark tea can be divided into Hunan dark tea, Hubei aged green tea, Sichuan Ya'an Tibetan tea, and Yunnan-Guangxi dark tea. For those accustomed to light green tea, initially tasting dark tea is often hard to accept. However, with persistent long-term consumption, people come to appreciate its unique rich and mellow flavor. Dark tea is popular in Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi, Shandong, and other places, and is also beloved by Tibetan, Mongolian, and Uyghur ethnic groups. Dark tea has become an essential part of their daily lives.
Dark tea belongs to post-fermented tea, a unique tea category in China with a long production history. It is mainly produced as compressed tea for border sales, primarily in Anhua County, Hunan, Shaanxi, Hubei, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi, and other places. Main varieties include Anhua dark tea, Hubei Lao Bian tea, Sichuan Tibetan tea, Guangxi Liu Bao loose tea, etc.