An old recipe
Anhua Dark Tea (安华黑茶) is a type of post-fermented tea (dark tea) produced in the mountains of Anhua County in Hunan Province, China. It is produced according to an old and elaborate process, which includes drying the leaves over embers of pine wood branches.
A compressed tea
Most variations of Anhua Dark Tea are compressed or semi-compressed. This dates back to a period, when this was easier for transportation. Anhua Dark Tea comes in many different shapes and different traditional packaging.
An ageing tea
In the appropriate environment, Anhua Dark Tea can be stored and aged forever. Over a period of ageing it will mature and develop a more mellow taste.
Golden flowers
Some Anhua Dark Teas develop golden flowers, which are beneficial microorganisms.
Refined tastes and aromas
The complex production processes, the various shapes and the different vegetal packaging layers, as well as the conditions of ageing confer Anhua Dark Tea a range of refined tastes and aroma.
Calm energy
While many tea drinkers evaluate their favourite teas entirely based on how they taste, amateurs of Anhua Dark Tea will tell you that what they are looking for is a sense of well-being. In my personal opinion, nothing compares to the calm energy that is confered by a cup of Anhua Dark Tea.
A tea like no other
After twenty years of drinking all sorts of tea, especially the more famous regional varieties of dark tea (Puerh, Liubao, etc.), I always come back to Anhua Dark Tea as my personal favourite. No other tea possesses the gently comforting qualities of a fine Anhua Dark Tea
Many variations
| origin | traditional grade | compression | traditional shape | golden flowers | |
| dark brick | Anhua County / Xinhua County | all sizes | hard | brick / sometimes cut into small cubes | almost never |
| fu brick | Anhua County / Xinhua County | bigger leaves with some stems | light | brick | always |
| huajuan (shiliang, bailiang, qianliang) | Anhua County / Xinhua County | medium sized leaves | medium | round logs / sometimes cut into slices or small cubes | sometimes |
| tianjian | Anhua County / Xinhua County | young leaves | very light | almost loose | sometimes |
| maocha | Anhua County / Xinhua County | young leaves to medium leaves | none | loose leaves | never |