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.
TeaHQ has written about this pair
Four dark teas from four provinces, each with its own fermentation practice. They are grouped as one category and share less than the grouping suggests.
- Province
- Anhua dark tea: Hunan.Shou pu-erh (ripe): Yunnan.
- Fermentation mechanism
- Anhua dark tea: Wet-piling, with the province’s range of compressed formats.Shou pu-erh (ripe): Controlled wet-piling with a mixed microbial population.
- Signature flavour
- Anhua dark tea: Pine smoke, wood and dried longan.Shou pu-erh (ripe): Damp earth, dried date, cocoa.
- Format
- Anhua dark tea: Everything from loose basket tea to thirty-six kilogram logs.Shou pu-erh (ripe): Cakes, bricks and tuocha.
- How old the practice is
- Anhua dark tea: Centuries, tied to the border trade.Shou pu-erh (ripe): Wet-piling dates from the 1970s.
In summary: Pu-erh dominates the conversation and is one of four traditions. Fu Zhuan’s golden flower and Liu Bao’s basket ageing are as distinctive as anything Yunnan does.
Point by point
| Dimension | Anhua dark tea | Shou pu-erh (ripe) |
|---|---|---|
| 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: Withering → Kill-green (fixation) → Rolling and shaping → Sun-drying (shai qing) → Wet piling (wo dui) → Compression. |
| Origin | China | China |
| 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. | earthy, woody, sweet and chocolate. full bodied, smooth and rich in the mouth. Aroma: damp earth, forest floor, date, dark wood, cocoa. Moderate in character. Moderate 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): 5–8 g/100 ml at 98–100 °C, first steep 5s of 6 authored. Western brewing (teapot or mug): 1.5–2.5 g/100 ml at 98–100 °C, first steep 240s. Gongfu brewing (Yixing pot): 5–7 g/100 ml at 98–100 °C, first steep 10s of 6 authored. |
| Cultural context | Not recorded for this tea. | Used in Chinese tea house culture. |
| 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 presence without being dominated and wants to enjoy it on the first cup. It tolerates an imprecise brew. |
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.