ITea World An Hua Dark Tea / Hei Cha

I'm reviewing the third of four hei cha / dark tea versions sent by ITeaWorld for review (many thanks to them).  This follows review of a Liu Bao and Hubei compressed mini-tablet version.  Those were pretty good; better than I expected.  

I hadn't learned it at the time but the Hubei version was processed from black tea, which explains why it didn't seem like a pressed green brick version (what Hubei is known for) would seem as warm in tone as it did.  The Liu Bao was a drinkable, mellow version, not always how those go, but the trade-off of intensity and complexity for more approachable character would be positive for many people.  Maybe it was the pre-fermented style, similar to shou in pu'er; that would explain that.

Before even trying this it wasn't what I expected.  I'm most familiar with a hei cha type from Anhua that's a long compressed log-like shape, which is often then presented as discs, sections cut off that large shape.  Apparently there are other hei cha versions from there.  I looked up a reference that says a little about that:

https://exquisiteleaves.com/anhua-dark-tea-introduction/

Basics

Geography: Anhua Dark Tea is produced in Anhua County and Xinhua County in Hunan Province, China.

History: In 1524, the expression ‘dark tea’, was used for the first time in print. It specifically meant dark tea from the Anhua region.

Tea type: As indicated in its name, Anhua Dark Tea belongs to the post-fermented dark tea type.

Tea plant: The tea plants growing around Anhua County are middle-sized bushes.

Processing: ‘Smoking’ / drying the leaves over pinewood is what gives Anhua Dark Tea its unique character. Different types of compression and wrapping result in Anhua Dark Tea’s different variations.

Variations: Heizhuan (Dark Brick), Huajuan (Patterned Roll) and Tianjian (Heavenly Tips) are variations that offer premium teas of the highest quality.

This version is smoked too; you can tell that before brewing it, from the dry leaf smell.  The type I had been familiar with is this one:

https://yunnansourcing.com/products/2012-li-yuan-long-shi-liang-cha-anhua-hei-cha

Qian Liang tea is compressed in a long column (typically 36.5kg) 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!

This other style of tea would tend to be aged a bit before sale, and this version being sold is less than three years old now, as described in part of their website information:

This sells for $20 for 100 grams, for a sample set of 20 of these teas in 5 gram samples.  That's inexpensive as above average quality teas goes but still in a fair range, given hei cha tends to cost a bit less than many types.

On with how it came across.

Review:

#1:  smoky.  It was easy to tell from the dry leaf scent that this is a smoked tea. 

I got distracted online and brewed the first infusion way too strong, and used a flash infusion to dilute it, really drinking two together.  I'll go lighter on the next round; intensity seems pretty good, a bit much brewed long like this.

Pine smoke comes across most; that will probably fade some over the next couple of rounds, letting the rest shine through.  The rest of the flavor profile is pleasant, just less distinct for strong pine smoke overwhelming it.  It tastes clean, warm and rich, and has good depth.  Gongfu brewing may not be ideal for this tea type; often for smokier teas brewing them Western style works better, letting aspects that would turn up across a number of infusions mix together instead.  We'll see, and I can try it again, since it's a sample set with 5 samples of each type.

Some people see warm teas as more a fall and winter theme, and where I am now it's always room temperature out (in Honolulu).  Bangkok is in the middle of a rough heat wave, up to around 40 C / just over 100 F, more iced tea range.  I seem to be fine with drinking different teas at different temperatures, only once in awhile craving something that relates to that theme.  I'm feeling relatively low energy today and some calm, mellow tea like hei cha sounds good, versus getting blasted by high energy sheng, the usual.

it's bright and sunny here but not hot

#2:  smoke still stands out but the profile has already shifted a lot.  There's a little less pine effect in this smoke but the basic smoke taste is perhaps even stronger, like smelling a campfire.  Other lighter and brighter warm tones are just now starting to show through more, but it will probably work better to list them out next round.

#3:  much nicer balance; the smoke is on an even level with the rest, nicely integrated.  It matches the character of the rest well.  I really like smoke teas when the tea base is suitable, like a well-made Lapsang Souchong.  Lots of those don't balance well though.  Warm mineral provides a nice base for the rest, to the extent one sees the layers that way, or else the smoke could be interpreted as such.  It doesn't taste like it would be a complex or fruity tea, beyond that one input, but warm tones are complex, and there is sweetness helping the rest balance well.  The effect is relatively clean; some hei cha can seem a little musty, off in flavor, or even sour.  

It's hard to break down that warm range.  There's mineral, like dark rocks, and warm tones a little closer to black bread.  Maybe very minor inputs relate to spice or dried fruit; it seems complex in comparison to just covering mineral and warm earth range.

#4:  for the rest continually ramping up that smoke really hangs in there.  It's pleasant how full the tea feels in your mouth.  Hei cha tend to be simpler and less refined teas, covering less flavor range, mostly a range of warm earth and mineral, with less developed feel.  The feel is nice (not exceptional, but pleasant), and this has decent complexity, even though the flavor range is complex but narrow set.  Aftertaste is interesting in this too, the way some of that warm mineral hangs around.

#5:  not transitioning much.  I'm not doing the mineral complexity justice here; there are really a few tones mixing in that, like warm rocks, a bit leaning towards spice, and a touch of struck match, a hint of sulfur.  It's not complex in the sense of covering a lot of range, but at least there is complexity within that range.

#6:  this is fading a bit, even for that infusion running longer.  It seems like whenever processing oxidizes or ferments a tea quite a bit, or maybe even related to a roasting transition step, you trade out some durability in the tea for that change.  Sheng would be half finished at this point.  Then again sheng is so intense I would've needed to use much shorter infusions; maybe it's just that.  Brewing that first round as two infusions, both a bit strong mixed together, probably didn't help either.

Conclusions:

Pretty good.  It's a basic kind of tea, as hei cha tends to be, but the smoke component worked well with the rest.  People really into smoked teas might love this, and others could see it as tasting like an ashtray after the initial blast of pine wore off (the smoke form didn't retain the pine note past the initial rounds).  

The first rounds probably would've balanced better if I hadn't brewed the first a bit strong, and this may have been just as good used to prepare three infusions brewed Western style.

The tea itself contributed other flavor range beyond pine, smoke, and mineral, just nothing too distinct.  Still pretty good, for what it is.

Diamondhead, that old volcano we live near, from a beach further away