TeaHQ

Hei Zhuan

Anhua’s hard-pressed black brick, distinguished from Fu Zhuan by having no cultivated fungal bloom. It is the plainest of the Anhua formats and the most durable, made from coarse leaf and pressed to a density that resists almost everything.

Dark tea and pu-erhBold intensityIntermediate to appreciate黑磚
Brew at 98–100 °CUse 5–7 g per 100 mlFirst steep 8sGongfu brewing (gaiwan)Full schedule and equipment →

Character

Plain, woody and honest. Without the golden flower it lacks Fu Zhuan’s sweetness, and it is priced accordingly.

Flavour
Woody, Earthy
Aroma
Toasted
Mouthfeel
Full bodied, Rich
Complexity
Straightforward
Notes
dry wood, earth, faint smoke
Aftertaste
Dry and woody.

Bold intensity: full-bodied, astringent or bitter enough to lead the cup.

Provenance and production

Origin
China
Region
Anhua
Oxidation
Not applicable
Post-fermentation
Microbial wet piling
Harvest
Summer
Processing
Kill-green (fixation) → Rolling and shaping → Wet piling (wo dui) → Compression → Ageing and storage

Brewing

No caffeine estimate is authored for this tea. TeaHQ does not infer one from its category, because category predicts caffeine poorly — matcha and gyokuro carry more than many black teas.

If you like this

Grouped by why they were suggested, strongest reason first. Nothing here is a blended score — a suggestion appears under the best reason that exists for it, and never under a weaker one as well.

Editorially linked

Someone wrote down why these two belong together. The note below is theirs.

  • Anhua dark tea

    The general Anhua category and one of its specific compressed formats. Hei Zhuan lacks Fu Zhuan’s golden flower and is correspondingly plainer.

Similar sensory profile

Shares controlled flavour, aroma and mouthfeel descriptors. A looser match — two teas can share descriptors and still taste nothing alike.

  • Qing Zhuan aged

    Shares 5 descriptors with Hei Zhuan: woody, earthy, full bodied, rich and toasted.

  • Tibetan brick tea

    Shares 5 descriptors with Hei Zhuan: earthy, woody, full bodied, rich and toasted.

  • Tie Luo Han

    Shares 5 descriptors with Hei Zhuan: woody, earthy, full bodied, rich and toasted.

  • Aged Liu Bao

    Shares 4 descriptors with Hei Zhuan: woody, earthy, full bodied and rich.

  • Aged white tea cake

    Shares 4 descriptors with Hei Zhuan: woody, earthy, full bodied and rich.

  • Ba Xian

    Shares 4 descriptors with Hei Zhuan: woody, full bodied, rich and toasted.

  • Da Hong Pao

    Shares 4 descriptors with Hei Zhuan: woody, full bodied, rich and toasted.

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