September 2023
Dark Tea (Hei Cha)
Dark tea is a unique category of fermented teas with a rich history that dates back more than a thousand years. It corresponds to HeiCha in Chinese, which literally means black tea. Originating from Sichuan province of China, dark tea is also produced in Hunan, Hubei, Guangxi, Anhui, and Yunnan provinces. Our previous tea clubs featured Tibetan Tea (Feb 2022) from Sichuan, Shou Puerh (Oct 2022) from Yunnan, and Qing Zhuan from Hubei (Dec 2022). This time, we want to cover the rest of the famous dark teas, so we picked a 2010 Liu Bao tea from Guangxi, a 2018 Liu An Basket Tea from Anhui, and a 2014 Fu Zhuan (Brick) and 2023 Tian Jian tea from Anhua county of Hunan. In the past few months, our curator Vincent visited these producing regions and sourced these teas from local producers. The production of dark tea involves a deliberate microbial fermentation process, resulting in a diverse range of flavors and aromas. For different types of dark tea produced in different regions, the fermentation techniques vary. Dark tea is known for its medicinal properties, and some research has shown potential health benefits from drinking it regularly. Dark tea is also suitable for further aging, which allows it to develop more complexity over time.
