As is well known, China classifies tea leaves into six major categories based on differences in tea processing techniques and fermentation levels. Among these, within the broad category of dark tea, Anhua Dark Tea is particularly famous. Here, we discuss the classification of Anhua Dark Tea.
The classification of dark tea includes:
Three Bricks: Hei Zhuan (Black Brick), Hua Zhuan (Flower Brick), Fu Zhuan (Fu Brick)
Three Tips: Shengjian (Raw Tip), Gongjian (Tribute Tip), Tianjian (Heavenly Tip)
One Scroll: Qian Liang Tea (Thousand Liang Tea)
What are the differences between the categories?
Hei Zhuan (Black Brick): Has the longest history. The Qujiang Thin Slice from the Tang Dynasty was a form of Anhua's black brick tea. Princess Wencheng brought "Qujiang Thin Slice" when she married Songtsen Gampo. It has the most robust flavor and belongs to the strong aroma type.
Three Major Categories Combine to Form the Famous Anhua Dark Tea
Hua Zhuan (Flower Brick): An improved variety of Qian Liang Tea. The production process of Qian Liang Tea was too complex, so Hua Zhuan uses the same raw materials as Qian Liang but omits the bamboo basket and manual pressing, using machine pressing instead. It belongs to the light aroma type.
Fu Zhuan (Fu Brick): The most distinctive. Fu Zhuan uniquely contains Eurotium cristatum, a yellow beneficial fungus occasionally found on thousand-year-old lingzhi mushrooms. Long-term consumption can help regulate metabolism, enhance physical constitution, delay aging, and provide effective pharmacological health benefits and disease prevention for the human body.
Three Tips: The Three Tips are divided into three grades. Shengjian was for common people, Gongjian for officials, and Tianjian was tribute for the emperor. With the improvement in people's living standards, currently only Tianjian is still produced. Thus, Tianjian has become the only loose tea among dark teas, mostly consisting of buds and leaves. It has a bright yellow liquor and a relatively strong smoky pine flavor, packaged in the most ancient bamboo baskets.
Qian Liang Tea: Also known as Hua Juan Tea (Flower Scroll Tea), it is called the "King of Teas" worldwide. It weighs 36.25 kilograms, which was one thousand liang in the old measurement system, hence the name. The production process of Qian Liang Tea involves 23 steps and is recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage.