I bought and reviewed a few teas from Yunnan Sourcing not so long ago, and they sent these hei cha samples with them (many thanks for that).
Hei Cha should be familiar enough, but if not it translates as dark tea or black tea (probably as well to go with "dark," given English using that other term for something else). It's closest to shu pu'er, but saying just that really oversimplifies things. I've liked versions in the past; they're definitely different, spanning earthy and mineral intensive ranges, not exactly the most approachable category but still interesting and pleasant.
Liu Bao is most common, but these other types of brick teas (one of these is loose, to be clear) tend to have a different, milder, more complex character. All are earthy, but Liu Bao can often express more in mineral range instead, a slate-like mineral aspect along with some degree of char, charcoal-like flavor.
Per normal process I'll just try the teas and write about that, and cite the descriptions before posting a final edit. One of these is loose tea but the other is prepared as cubes of cut compressed tea; that's going to change things for brewing process. It's likely that a Gongfu approach makes less sense than just letting them sit longer in a lower proportion of water, but I'll go with that anyway, since it's the standard approach for me at this point.
For background I'll add the actual vendor descriptions. It stands out that one tea was produced in 2018. That's normally not how that goes with compressed hei cha, with most types of them usually aging some to transition before sale (or at least that's my understanding), but Liu Bao (another loose hei cha, like this Tian Jian version) can be sold "younger," when new. It's possible that the style is similar to that hei cha type.
Yunnan Sourcing vendor descriptions
2012 Gao Jian Shan "Qian Liang Cha" Hunan Hei Cha:
Gao Jia Shan production made from 2012 Spring tea leaves. Pressed into a huge 36 kilogram column called "Qian Liang Cha" (aka 1000 catty tea) and then aged for 7 years before we purchased a whole column and then cut into slices and re-packaged into white wrapper 680-780 grams cake...
Qian Liang tea is compressed in a long column (typically 36kg) through a laborious process that involves steaming the leaves and funneling them into a three layered cylinder of woven bamboo. Then a team of 5 to 8 people will simultaneously compress the tea using leverage and then tighten each section with thick bamboo stripling. Once firmly compressed the Qian Liang "logs" are dried in the sun and then finally cured for months in an indoor warehouse. In this form they can be aged for decades or even centuries without molding, only improving in taste, aroma and complexity with each passing year!
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one disk layer (credit the Yunnan Sourcing page) |
Interesting! Those 800 gram cakes (cut disks) sell for $70, so on the inexpensive side too, as hei cha tends to be. That would be a lot of tea to buy if you didn't know if you liked it but they also sell a 50 gram portion (for $7), which is enough for limited sampling and sharing.
2018 Cha Yu Lin "Liu Bu Xi Village" Tian Jian Basket Tea:
This is a 2018 spring harvest production of Tian Jian tea from Liu Bu Xi village in An Hua County of Hunan（about 20km west of An Hua, here). High quality first flush of spring tea was picked and processed carefully using kill-green (frying), rolling, fermenting, and drying and then steamed and packed into these little hand-made baskets.
This is a smoky, peaty, molasses type Tian Jian. it's very sweet and full-bodied as well. Very rich and complex. If you are a scotch whisky fan or want a non-alcohol equivalent then this is the tea for you!
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it did look more like a compressed tea before separation (credit YS page) |
Again this is moderate in cost, with 500 grams selling for $56, with 50 grams around $8.
Review
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Qian Liang left, Tian Jian right |
2012 Gao Jian Shan "Qian Liang Cha" Hunan Hei Cha: it's not even completely unpacked yet, never mind saturated; this might be equivalent to drinking a second rinse for infusion strength (although some people use longer rinses, equivalent to infusion times), with a third rinse to follow. It works to help the tea loosen and break up, poking it and tearing it apart early on.
Flavor is earthy, as one would expect long-aged cork to be. It will probably "clean up" some within another couple of infusions but it could be mustier than it is; this flavor range is still relatively clean, for it tasting like aged cork. Sweetness often helps the earthier range flavors in different hei cha seem to balance, and that supports this version. Describing a longer flavor list should wait an infusion or two.
2018 Cha Yu Lin "Liu Bu Xi Village" Tian Jian Basket Tea: it's quite smoky. Often that comes across as probably a naturally occurring flavor aspect in some young sheng but I'm pretty sure this tea has come into contact with real smoke. I'm not opposed to the idea of a smoked tea; in the right balance that can make Lapsang Souchong versions very pleasant. Those tend to be more modest quality versions of that tea, versus their typically superior quality level unsmoked counterparts. But then it's flavored tea, so the conventions and overall effect changes.
Again I'll hold off a round on saying much more beyond noting this is smoky. I expected it to taste like Liu Bao and maybe it does, under the smoke. It might even balance well once the smoke fades a little and natural flavors in the tea evolve to ramp up.
I'll give the next round for both around 30 seconds, which might be a little long for optimum results but it will get those early transitions moving along.
Second infusion
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Qian Liang left, Tian Jian right |
Qian Liang Cha: much improved; sweetness ramps up a good bit more, and the old cork flavor fades to be a good bit cleaner, maybe like really old natural fiber rope instead. Just a little toffee flavor integrates along with the sweetness, and some warmer and richer tones along with that. The mineral range that's common in sheng, varying a lot in character across younger and more aged versions, isn't as noticeable in this. The overall effect is a little towards that of a soft, warm, aromatic spice, it's just still more on the earthy side than that.
Tian Jian: the balance of smoke is improving, with that pulling back just a little. At least it's now possible to get a sense of what's beyond it. This does taste a little like a young Liu Bao, that one vegetal aspect that's in those (which isn't the most pronounced flavor; lots of mineral range is typically much more intense). It tastes a little like a moderate quality version of black tea, the way those can have kind of an awkward roughness to them. It's not the kind of thing one would experience too often but much less oxidized black tea (kind of a contradiction in terms, right?) expresses this sort of character, like this one. It seems to relate to stopping the oxidation process before it shifts vegetal range over to the warmer, sweeter and completely different black tea range (malty, or towards cocoa or other flavors).
This probably really does have one more infusion to go to transition to more of how it will be overall though, so it's a little early for mentioning general impressions. I'll back off brewing time to a bit under 30 seconds to try them on a moderate infusion strength side.
Third infusion
Qian Liang: this totally works now; it's where it should be. Sweetness bumps just a little so that it's now part of a pronounced dark caramel / toffee effect. What I referred to as an aged cork to aged natural fiber rope transition is onto a range even closer to a warm spice, or in incense scent range. It leaves off as what I interpret as a heavily malted grain, similar to that really rich scent in processed animal feed. Back in the realm of human foods I guess it's close enough to Ovaltine.
Compared to drinking a good bit of young, aged, or slightly aged sheng (or slightly age-transitioned, depending on use of terms) this is a bit simple in character. The flavors could cover a broader range, feel is limited, and aftertaste covers only a faint residue of that sweetness and earthiness. Shu pu'er also tends to give up a lot of those layers of complexity but to me it still falls in the middle, with all those not completely dropping out, just not expressing the same intensity across a lot of range. With a lot of sheng I would need to drink at least a couple of sips of water between tasting two versions to try to clear away the aftertaste experience of the last (kind of a shame, sometimes, cutting the effect short), but this hei cha is already gone on its own.
Tian Jian: much better; smoke and the rest balance now. That smoke is probably a positive contribution; the tea would be different and simpler without it. Mineral is pronounced in this but not to the extent in Liu Bao (a typical level; those must vary too). A Chinese-Malaysian friend (who just sent me quite a bit more of a young version I'll get around to reviewing) mentioned that the char effect can resemble the slight charcoal / roasted edge of crispy pork, with a bit of savory depth to it that also matches. He's right, and it's present in this too (as in two versions compared earlier in the year, one from that friend in KL).
The vegetal rage is woody, a mix of live or only slightly cured hardwood and bark, the way that peelable barks come across, not necessarily birch or aspen, a warmer, darker-colored and scent bark range.
Fourth infusion
Qian Liang: I might leave off at this infusion, not because the tea is finished, or because it's done transitioning, but only because most of the story will have been told, and going on about minor later transitions won't add much. The flavor is essentially similar but transitions a little; it's a little creamier, with a little more of a light spice-tone depth. This probably would keep up those sorts of mild shifts across another few infusions, only limited by me having used relatively long infusion times so far to produce relatively intense versions of these teas. Drinking them lighter would also work; that's just how I tend to like hei cha.
The malt-like sweetness is still nice in this; that balances the rest. There isn't much for any rougher earthier or mineral aspects to balance against, anything to work in spite of not being mild and positive.
If anything the only limitation is that it's simple in effect; there's decent flavor complexity within a limited range but not much for feel structure or aftertaste. So I guess how much someone likes it relates to their connection with that flavor, and feelings related to the rest dropping out. Even shu pu'er can have a richer thickness and more aftertaste, although I suppose this might match a lighter and less complex version of one. It's nice though; I like it.
Tian Jian: this tea is completely different; it has transitioned quite a bit. Smoke has largely faded away, leaving the light mineral base, greenish wood tone, and bark-like earth / mineral. Neither of these would be for everyone; it would depend on how one takes to the general character and then the flavors. This tea will probably change a good bit over the next half dozen years, but it would be a long time to wait for as simple as the effect is still going to be. It probably would smooth out and pick up depth, most likely improving substantially, some over two or three years and more as time goes on.
It's not bad as it is now, just unconventional, even within the scope of the hei cha I've tried, which tend to vary a lot. Given that there are plenty of other types out there I've not experienced yet that's probably more a commentary on my limited exposure, more than this being that unusual. The character of lightly oxidized black tea relates to some of what's going on with this, that wood-tone. It's an interesting combination with a Liu Bao-related mineral range, and the smoke, but I suppose I do like the warmer, sweeter range in the other tea better.
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Qian Liang left, Tian Jian right |
Again both of these can be brewed in different ways. It's not unlikely that throwing either in a thermos--at a very low proportion, to be clear, even lower than Western brewing ratios--and getting back to them whenever you happen to might provide even better results. They would work prepared "grandpa style," drank in a tea bottle of some sort along with boiling water, refilled to make infusions as long as they hold up. Green tea or oolong might be better for that though; these might "brew out" a bit faster.
The idea of simmering these types of teas comes up. Who knows how close the compressed version (Qian Liang) is to the base for making Tibetan butter tea, touching up a version with a little yak butter and salt. Good luck turning up that yak butter; hunting down a goat milk version is probably close enough, or just using ordinary butter.
This might be slightly better than a version of Qian Liang that I reviewed three months ago, a little cleaner and sweeter. That post goes into background on the type and what the name means, really a distance measurement related to this originally being made in a large pole-like bundle, the same theme covered in that citation. Or smaller versions are made, but per the description this really did come from a 36 kg pressed version, a huge column of tea.
Conclusions
Not bad; both are decent and interesting versions of hei cha. Anyone's take on these would depend on personal preference, which is always true of how anyone relates to any tea, but all the more so or novel earthy and mineral intensive range hei cha versions.
Based on prior experience with hei cha I'd definitely recommend trying samples to see which types and individual versions you like best, versus gambling on an inexpensive half a kilo of one. This other Yunnan Souricing "2007 Xiang Yi "Hei Cha Zhuan" Hunan Brick Tea" (which I reviewed here) might also be worth considering; that was a favorite from another order awhile ago. Two years of additional aging (since that post) wouldn't have changed a tea that was already a decade old then too much, but any difference would probably relate to a slight improvement, given general perspective on hei cha aging.
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that Hunan brick tea (with just a bit of stem); very pleasant in character |
I bet I'd describe that tea differently now, given how much hei cha, sheng, and shu ground I've covered in that last two years, but so it goes hearing input from almost anyone on teas. There are bloggers around who have been at it for a decade (just not many), but in general they've stopped doing detailed tea version reviews years ago.
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