The classifications of dark tea are:

San Zhuan (Three Bricks): Hei Zhuan (Black Brick), Hua Zhuan (Flower Brick), Fu Zhuan (Fu Brick)

San Jian (Three Tips): Sheng Jian, Gong Jian, Tian Jian

Yi Hua Juan (One Flower Roll): Qian Liang Tea

What are the differences between the categories?

Hei Zhuan (Black Brick): Has the longest history, dating back to the Tang Dynasty's "Qujiang Thin Slice." It was part of Princess Wencheng's dowry when she married Songtsen Gampo. It has the most robust and heavy flavor, belonging to the strong aroma type.

Hua Zhuan (Flower Brick): Is an improved variety of Qian Liang tea. Since the production process of Qian Liang tea is too complex, Hua Zhuan uses the same raw materials but omits the bamboo basket and manual pressing, using machine pressing instead. It belongs to the fresh 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 is believed to help regulate metabolism, enhance physical constitution, delay aging, and provide effective pharmacological health benefits and disease prevention.

San Jian (Three Tips): The three tips are divided into three grades. Sheng Jian was for common people, Gong Jian for officials, and Tian Jian was tribute for the emperor. With the improvement of living standards, currently only Tian Jian is still in production. Thus, Tian Jian has become the only loose-leaf tea among dark teas, mostly consisting of buds and leaves. It has a bright yellow liquor, a relatively strong pine-smoky flavor, and is packaged in the most ancient bamboo baskets.

Qian Liang Tea: Also known as Hua Juan Tea (Flower Roll 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 included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list.