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
- Shou pu-erh (ripe): Yunnan.Fu Zhuan: Hunan.
- Fermentation mechanism
- Shou pu-erh (ripe): Controlled wet-piling with a mixed microbial population.Fu Zhuan: Deliberate cultivation of a single fungus, Eurotium cristatum, visible as golden specks.
- Signature flavour
- Shou pu-erh (ripe): Damp earth, dried date, cocoa.Fu Zhuan: Dried grain, mushroom, hay — distinctly sweet.
- Format
- Shou pu-erh (ripe): Cakes, bricks and tuocha.Fu Zhuan: Hard-pressed bricks.
- How old the practice is
- Shou pu-erh (ripe): Wet-piling dates from the 1970s.Fu Zhuan: Centuries, originally pressed in Shaanxi.
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 | Shou pu-erh (ripe) | Fu Zhuan |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Dark tea and pu-erh · not applicable · post-fermented (microbial wet piling) | Dark tea and pu-erh · not applicable · post-fermented (microbial wet piling) |
| Production | In order: Withering → Kill-green (fixation) → Rolling and shaping → Sun-drying (shai qing) → Wet piling (wo dui) → Compression. | In order: Kill-green (fixation) → Rolling and shaping → Wet piling (wo dui) → Ageing and storage. mature leaf and summer harvest. |
| Origin | China | China |
| Flavour | 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. | earthy, nutty, sweet and woody. smooth and full bodied in the mouth. Aroma: dried mushroom, toasted grain, hay, sweet earth. Moderate in character. Moderate in intensity. |
| Brewing | 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. | Boiling and decoction: 0.5–1 g/100 ml at 95–100 °C, first steep 600s. Gongfu brewing (gaiwan): 5–7 g/100 ml at 98–100 °C, first steep 15s of 5 authored. Western brewing (teapot or mug): 1.5–2.5 g/100 ml at 95–100 °C, first steep 180s. |
| Cultural context | Used in Chinese tea house culture. | Long drunk across north-western China and Central Asia, usually boiled and frequently taken with milk and salt rather than as a steeped tea. The golden specks are the point and should be visible on a broken face of the brick. Their absence indicates the flowering did not take; a grey or green mould is a different organism entirely and indicates a storage failure rather than a feature. |
| Who may prefer it | Someone who wants presence without being dominated and wants to enjoy it on the first cup. It tolerates an imprecise brew. | 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.