Compare two teas
Side by side across seven dimensions. There is no verdict and no winner — the purpose is to understand the difference, not to be told which to buy.
Why these two get confused
The general Anhua category and one of its specific compressed formats. Hei Zhuan lacks Fu Zhuan’s golden flower and is correspondingly plainer.
Point by point
| Dimension | Anhua dark tea | Hei Zhuan |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Dark tea and pu-erh · not applicable · post-fermented (both) | Dark tea and pu-erh · not applicable · post-fermented (microbial wet piling) |
| Production | In order: Kill-green (fixation) → Rolling and shaping → Wet piling (wo dui) → Ageing and storage. mature leaf and summer harvest. | In order: Kill-green (fixation) → Rolling and shaping → Wet piling (wo dui) → Compression → Ageing and storage. mature leaf and summer harvest. |
| Origin | China | China — Anhua |
| Flavour | smoky, woody, earthy and sweet. full bodied and rich in the mouth. Aroma: pine smoke, damp wood, dried date, earth. Moderate in character. Moderate in intensity. | woody and earthy. full bodied and rich in the mouth. Aroma: dry wood, earth, faint smoke. Straightforward in character. Bold in intensity. |
| Brewing | Boiling and decoction: 0.5–1 g/100 ml at 95–100 °C, first steep 600s. Western brewing (teapot or mug): 1.5–2.5 g/100 ml at 95–100 °C, first steep 180s. | Gongfu brewing (gaiwan): 5–7 g/100 ml at 98–100 °C, first steep 8s of 6 authored. Western brewing (teapot or mug): 1.5–2.5 g/100 ml at 95–100 °C, first steep 180s. |
| Cultural context | Not recorded for this tea. | Not recorded for this tea. |
| Who may prefer it | Someone who wants presence without being dominated and is willing to drink something several times before it makes sense. It rewards attention to leaf weight and timing. | Someone who wants the cup to assert itself and has drunk enough tea to notice what changes between infusions. It rewards attention to leaf weight and timing. |
Nothing above is a recommendation. The last row describes the drinker each tea suits, using each tea’s own authored fields and the same sentence structure for both, so neither can be framed as the safe choice.