Oriental Leaf Fu zhuan hei cha comparison, Lincang and Fengqing versions

 

red wrapper Fengqing version on the left, in all photos

I'm comparison reviewing two exceptional Fu cakes from Oriental Leaf.  I think the zhuan part relates to a brick form, so I guess these aren't that, but it still helps identify the material type, for people accustomed to only seeing them pressed as bricks.  

I've recently tried what seemed likely to be the best example of Fu zhuan hei cha I've yet to try from them, reviewed here.  The comparison theme serves a few purposes.  One is to get through versions and samples of teas faster, so that I can review 10 or so teas a month, instead of 5.  

Then it also plays a role in highlighting minor differences between similar versions, which is why I'm using it for this review.  It would be hard to spot differences in feel, sweetness level, aftertaste expression, and so on when reviewing similar versions days apart.  Even isolating flavor aspect differences could be tricky, if a basic flavor range is similar.  It works best for very similar character versions; trying two completely different tea types just adds work, and probably limits what you can notice.

These will be exceptional, it's just a matter of how.  All of the Fu versions I've tried from them have been great, and that's not going to change for these.  That last version was surprising for eclipsing earlier examples, and just being on par with that would be good.  

I'll add the vendor descriptions here first, which I always add back in to the post review notes after trying the teas.  I should also add that these were sent by the vendor for review (many thanks!).  The days of bloggers connecting with producers and vendors to review teas are winding down, or just blog writing is, but it's nice carrying on that form, especially to communicate about interesting and unique teas.  

I had others try those earlier Fu versions in a number of gathering based tastings, and essentially every person saw the version we tried as a highlight.  Work out visiting me in Honolulu and Bangkok and you can place that for yourself.

On Taoism Jingyang Golden Flower Fu Brick Tea - 350g Cake (2020)  ($65.50)

A 2025 World Tea Champion winner where five years of patient aging and Yunnan's finest spring buds unite with Jingyang's legendary flowering craft to deliver a Fu Brick Tea of extraordinary golden flower density and silken, honeyed complexity.

Jingyang Golden Flower Fu Brick Tea — Naturally Flourishing Golden Flowers, Mellow Sweetness, Silken Body

Abundant Natural Golden Flowers (Jin Hua)

Masterful Jingyang Flowering Craft (Fahua)

Smooth, Sweet, Zero Bitterness

Ideal for Daily Wellness and Long-Term Aging

What Makes It Unique

2025 World Tea Champion — Superior Leaf Award: Internationally recognized for best leaf profile and cup character, validated by blind tasting from global experts.

Extraordinarily Dense Golden Flowers: This tea has everything we look for: excellent base material, perfect "Golden Flower" growth, and great aging potential.

Premium Yunnan Spring Bud Material: Unlike conventional Fu Brick made with coarse autumn leaves, this tea uses 2020 spring harvest with exceptional bud density from Lincang and Fengqing.

plenty of golden flowers (the Fengqing version)

the Lincang version

nice looking leaf material, not chopped, as hei cha in general would often be

The black wrapper version is from Lincang, the red from Fengqing (from good Yunnan Assamica plant tea material, where a lot of hei cha source material would come from elsewhere).  I could see why this stood out in an expo event competition; these are pretty good.  Again, as related to trying two other smaller cake versions earlier, one matches my personal preferences better, but both are nice, distinctive, complex, and lacking flaws.

Related to that pricing, $65 for 350 grams, these are much better than any pu'er versions you would buy for that cost range.  The type costs less in general, since demand isn't as high, but for tea of this quality in general under 20 cents a gram pricing is pretty low.

This review doesn't mention golden flowers (which are there).  They add a distinctive yeasty, fruity sort of flavor input, which at best comes across as fresh bread and honey or dried fruit.  Those flavors get mentioned, I just don't elaborate on guesses about the fungus causing them, versus the original material.

Review:

Fengqing:  very nice!  It includes the range one might expect, if anything a little more distinctive and pronounced than expected.  Sweetness stands out, along a toffee or light caramel range.  Flavors are relatively light and bright; a main flavor is similar to fruit cake, a mix of bright range dried fruits, particularly something like dried apricot.  There is spice, and warmer tones, but those are secondary, and the warmth is limited.  There is warm mineral range, but that will evolve more as the tea is fully wetted.  I'll do a longer flavor list next round.

Lincang:  spice is heavier in this, and the tone is slightly warmer.  It's also exceptional.  That spice range is going to be hard to describe; I think it's more than one thing.  One part might be clove, and another cinnamon.  

Of course there is a yeast-like aspect to both, so some description to fresh bread or cinnamon rolls would make sense.  I'll try to sort all that out next round.

Fengqing #2:  it's pleasant the way this set of flavors integrates.  It may or may not sound like that; it is atypical range, related to a lot of other tea types' character.  

Dried fruit stands out, a little stronger, maybe heavier toned this round (for being brewed lighter, or relating to more leaf input than fungus related flavor).  Yeast flavor has already dropped back, but another part of this does relate to a fresh bread flavor.  The type isn't easy to specify; maybe closest to fresh cinnamon rolls or sticky buns (which are kind of the same thing, just presented differently).  

Light and warm mineral supports the rest, giving it a depth.  Pronounced sweetness seems to help tie it all together, now more clearly in a toffee range.  It's very clean in effect.  Feel is full and rich, and it provides some aftertaste experience, with some of the warmer tones and sweetness carrying on after.  

Lincang #2:  spice develops further.  This is really more than one kind of spice.  A warm incense spice stands out, something like sandalwood.  There is no astringency bite or sharp edge to this, but it includes spice range like a cooked form of ginger, a different kind of medium toned note.  That's closer to cooked lotus root, if that's familiar.  It doesn't come across as sweet as the other, but it includes sweetness.

Mostly related to personal preference for sweeter teas and fruit range I like the first better, so far.  But this balances well; the flavors are complementary.  Slightly stronger dark bread tones works well with the rest.  I've been brewing these a little strong because they work well that way.  The flavor intensity would support lighter infusions still being pleasant.

Related to comparison with the other earlier versions these might be a little better.  It's been awhile, so it's hard comparing across months of time since earlier exposure.  And when I drink tea just to enjoy it, or even in informal tastings, I tend to break them down as descriptions less, which sort of could help with analysis and ranking.

Fengqing #3:  it evolves; warmer tones keep ramping up, and lighter sweeter range is replaced by heavier sweeter range.  The earlier fresh cinnamon roll is closer to a fresh darker bread now, not a heavy version of one, but not light either.  The earlier dried apricot has changed to a heavier dried fruit, or mix of dried fruits.  Feel is still thick and rich; maybe even a little heavier.

As a sheng drinker one might consider if teas that lack the intensity and punch are somehow less appealing.  Flavor intensity is fine in this, but young sheng, or sheng with limited aging, is typically aggressive, in terms of feel and flavor, and this isn't that.  I never completely stop drinking black tea, versions along the line of Dian Hong, or related SE Asian forms, so I stay in contact with preference for a different range.

Some of this character isn't different than flavorful and intense black tea, that expresses a lot of depth.  The flavor profile isn't a close match, but it does overlap.  The warm mineral base and fullness can be comparable, again only related to black tea versions that emphasize depth.  The bread-like range is different.

In giving it one last taste before the next round something like dried blueberry might make for a good interpretation of part of it.

Lincang:  this evolves to include more spice range, again along the line of incense spice, perhaps close to sandalwood (although my incense spice range memory awareness is now limited).  It comes across as a little dryer.  Really it is sweet and full, with good depth, but small differences across a similar range stand out in comparison tasting like this.  A touch of fruit edge might relate to a warm citrus peel, not like chen pi (aged tangerine), but still not so far from that.  

There's almost a savory effect.  It's not similar in flavor that it links to related to sun-dried tomato, the other form of savory / umami flavor that tends to be expressed, beyond seaweed that's more common in green tea forms.  This might resemble dried seaweed a little, the roasted sheets version.  But it lacks the vegetal range; it's just the savory edge.  And that is secondary to the warm spice and dark bread context, along with warm mineral base.

Fengqing #4:  this shifts a good bit.  That dried blueberry I had mentioned is closer to dried cranberry now.  It's not exactly tart, but the fruit flavor has changed.  Maybe dried dark cherry works better.  The warm tones have shifted from a bread-like yeast note closer to cacao.  This is much closer to one set of flavor aspects that can come up in black teas, that dark cherry and cacao pairing.  The base feel and deeper flavor range context is different.  It doesn't include any of that sharpness in black teas, present in a very limited form in soft and full black teas.

Feel is a little creamy.  You tend to only associate that with milk oolong, or at least light rolled oolong, but it works as a description for this.  It's reasonably close to a milk chocolate and dried fruit experience, layered on top of warmer mineral and earth tones.  It's harder to isolate the earthy range in this, since the rest stands out a lot more, but I think it plays a role in this seeming so full and complex, and balanced.  It would be natural to just interpret it as warm mineral, but I think it's both, also including mild and sweet earthiness.  

Something along the line of a touch of sweet leather gives an idea of what I mean, but this doesn't taste that much like leather, it would at most relate to a base flavor tone.  Of course that vertical layering is something I'm adding in interpretation; I really do "see" the flavors in that way, but it's probably more in how I frame them than a naturally occurring positioning that everyone else would also experience.

Lincang:  that one spice note dominates this, and then there is a lot of depth and complexity beyond that.  I guess how much one likes this tea might relate to how they experience that one flavor aspect input, as much as the rest.  To me it's squarely within the range of incense spice experience, but I guess someone else might see it as tying to medicinal root spice, or something else.  If you think "bay leaf" when you taste it then it seems to resemble that conventional cooking spice.  

Since other spice range supports that aspect experience it's really complex, even if it's natural to see it as simple, with one note supported by others.  The rest sort of resembles that complex mix of spice inputs in pumpkin pie spicing, which of course overlaps quite a bit with masala chai spices.  I suppose preconceptions about flavors, what one expects, or associates with different complex ranges, would affect interpretation.

Fengqing #5:  this will probably be enough for note-taking, even though these won't be finished.  

Somehow yeast range seems to pick back up.  Interesting; that had seemed to fade.  That relates to a complex flavor set the golden flowers contributes, which seems to extend well beyond yeast, into some of this fruit range I've been describing.  The feel of this is interesting, and pleasant, really well balanced and full.  There is still that pleasant set of dark cherry and cacao flavors present.  This would work well as a Christmas tea with nothing added to it.

Aftertaste intensity is unique.  It's not one main flavor carrying over, or a set, but the rich feel and depth of flavors, and sweetness, all linger on.  Compared to sheng intensity or oolong creaminess and floral range it's limited, but it has a lot of depth, so it doesn't come across as limited.

Lincang:  the main spice note falls into a more even balance with the rest, letting this integrate the best it has.  Those other complex flavors worked well as supporting range before, but now it's all of a similar intensity.  It comes across as softer and fuller, and maybe even sweeter.  A yeast-like depth resembles a light rye in this, a fresh bread note.  Apparently this will brew a few more infusions that are even more pleasant, complex, and balanced, instead of narrowing in scope.

Again related to my own preference the first version stands out more.  I can appreciate spice range flavors, layered with fresh bread notes, but an even sweeter dried fruit and cacao set of flavors works better for me.  This probably relates to a difference between people who are attracted to lots of sweet flavors and deserts, like dried fruit based deserts, or even chocolate and ice cream, and others who like a savory and spice oriented range more.  

Why not both, as differing experiences at different times?  I do crave plenty of intense, bitter, aggressive young sheng, but my main preference within that range is lighter, fruity, strong but approachable versions.  Then sometimes I'll have Xiaguan that's not all that close to ready, and the variety of experience is nice.  A Da Xue Shan origin (I think it was that) "cannonball" form version works well to cover both ranges, and to balance, even related to being transitioned but far from fully transitioned, from 2017 or so.  I just looked it up; it was 2018.  The point is that some of my favorite teas aren't sweet and fruity.

Conclusions

A lot is concluded in this already.  The teas are good, from good plant material, sold at a good value.  I liked one more than the other (the Fengqing material version), related to it being sweeter, a bit fruity, and for tasting like cacao, while the other included more incense spice range, that transitioned to being more balanced by other inputs in later rounds.  

Both kept brewing; I tried another pleasant round that day, and two more the next day.  They needed more time for those 5th through 7th infusions, but you could stretch timing and keep going, or even simmer that type of tea, if you wanted to get the last of it.  Plenty of tea types you drink until the character is unpleasant, but these don't drift into tasting like some version of wood in late rounds (per my interpretation; maybe that simmered round would be off in some way).

To me a next question is how these would compare to the last exceptional Fu zhuan I just reviewed from Oriental Leaf (a 2010 Jinyang version).  I don't know, but I can guess, and might write about comparing them.  These are quite good but I think that tea was great.

You tend to miss things in trying a tea just once, as I do in these reviews, but I have to accept that limitation or else I would need to write and compare two sets of notes for each post.  There might be a difference in body / feel, flavor complexity, or depth between versions.  You can easily miss an important input that's kind of "in the background," like a touch of sourness, or a minor flavor.  I noticed mint on a second tasting of one recently; it was secondary, in terms of intensity, but it adjusted how the rest came across.  I would probably just compare the version that I liked better; three way tastings get to be a bit much.

Those earlier two On Taoism versions (identical tea, listed here, and reviewed earlier here, but sold as 190 gram cakes) were essentially an equivalent option, just sold at less volume, and a slightly higher cost (but still around 20 cents a gram).  I had reviewed them brewing them Western style.  That works, but for teas this good it's interesting to me to see the development of them across Gongfu rounds.  

If I'm in a hurry in the morning I'll still sometimes brew exceptional tea Western style, to keep things moving, and it's nice that these work both ways, as better black teas do.  For good oolong you kind of lose too much from transitions, but for inexpensive and medium quality rolled oolong, as most Thai versions are, Western style is still fine.  If an oolong version is limited in quality or flawed enough Western brewing is better.  Initially I kind of expected more limitations from these teas, an extra rough edge or feel gap, but they're solid, complex and well-balanced.

an orange kitten helped with this tasting

Golden flower Fu-style fermented white tea

This tasting experience was unique because I didn't even know the tea type when trying the tea.  I'd initially guessed that it must be a hei cha variation, but then it wasn't clear if that was right when trying it.  

This is from Oriental Leaf, a vendor source based in China that I've tried teas from before.  It was sent for review; many thanks to them!  Their other teas have been pretty solid, some a very good value, so it will be interesting to see how this works out.

It turns out it's white tea, a Fuding Shou Mei made with a secondary processing step, with a reference to golden flowers (the hei cha-specific type of fungus, that is usually intentionally inoculated).

Oriental Leaf's product description adds some detail:

Golden Flower White Tea Single Serve Packs (ten 3 gram individual squares, for $15.50, so around 50 cents a gram)

This exceptional tea redefines the Fu brick category by using premium Fuding Shoumei white tea from Fujian province as its base, creating a truly unique sensory experience.

Key Features:

Innovative Base: Crafted with high-quality Fuding Shoumei white tea, known for its delicate flavor and numerous health benefits.

Extended Aging Process: Meticulously aged for 1095 days (3 years), using 2018 Fuding Shoumei, packaged in 2024 for optimal flavor development.

Dual Fermentation: Undergoes both golden flower fermentation and traditional Fu tea fermentation, resulting in a complex flavor profile.

There's more description, that's just the main points.  It's interesting that this is both an aged tea, now 7 years old, with an atypical secondary processing used.  One main thing is always how it comes across, here reviewed without knowing any of that background.

this looks like pressed black tea, to me, Dian Hong

Review:

1:  malty!  This is nice.  It's probably some kind of hei cha, I'm just trying it completely blind, so I don't know the details.  Versions that get sold as Fu brick are often similar.  It's been awhile, but I think Fu brick might translate to "brick brick."  

This has so much flavor that there's lots more that I could add.  It's creamy as well, and very clean in effect, with good sweetness.  On the flavor list side warm malt notes are present on a base that's not so far off cocoa (or cacao; cocoa is the hot chocolate drink made from cacao).  Other warm tones are towards woody, but not quite wood, more like the warm base scent from well-dried wicker or palm leaves.  There's just a touch of a sour edge, but it wouldn't be natural to interpret this as sour, in terms of primary aspects.  It's quite pleasant.

I'm pretty sure that I'm brewing two 3 gram small square tablets, so 6 grams.  It's a good match for my typical Gong Fu brewing approach.  I'm in a hotel room, a Hop Inn, so the lighting is a bit directional from the window, not exactly ideal.  On the third round I'll try moving it right under the window, instead of beside it, since I've just taken a picture for round 2.  I brewed this a little longer than it really needed, in order to get the two tablets to open up.

that hotel, with an unusual light streaking effect

#2:  much lighter, because I used a long minute-plus steep for round one to get it started.  It's pleasant like this but a typical 10 to 15 second infusion time seemingly isn't ideal for this, since there are no negative aspects or high intensity to "brew around."  20 or 25 seconds is probably better, and it would be fine to drink brewed 45 seconds, quite strong.  Shou / shu pu'er is like that, that stronger is kind of better, but this flavor range is quite different.

Malt still stands out.  Not the harsh edged, mineral intensive malt in Assam, I mean like a malted milk ball, or chocolate malt milkshake.  There's some mineral base to this, but that warm sort of in between woody and spice range note is secondary to the malt, and limited cacao.  It's not completely different than the flavor of cooked bamboo, to switch it back to food flavor range, just one that lots of people may not encounter so often.  It's a normal food item here, in Thailand.  This is actually pretty close to that.

#3:  malt and cacao drop back a little and the bamboo / wicker / dried palm effect picks up.  This is still nice.  A slight sour edge some might find objectionable, but I don't.  This reminds me a little of how some Dian Hong comes across.  This could even be that; it's closer to it in style than to just about any hei cha / Fu brick I've tried.  It's too sweet, complex, and clean to resemble the other range.  My guess is that it's an atypical hei cha, unusual for being a bit better, and closer to how ordinary oxidation changes tea.  

That Dian Hong range can come across as slightly sour too, but it's easy to miss that interpretation, because it's so minor in intensity, and it integrates with the rest of the flavors, which are what you'd expect more.  If I tried this thinking it was black tea I'd probably be mentioning dried fruit; funny how that works out.  It's not exactly like dried tamarind, but along that line.

#4:  this is probably going to "brew out" relatively quickly since I extracted so much of it in a long first round, as much as two early rounds might have using shorter timing.  To me this tea would work well for brewing a smaller number of good and strong rounds, setting aside an expectation to drink 8 to 10 rounds, which applies to other types, and just get 4 or 5 good and strong versions out of it.

The flavors more connected to astringency (which is limited in this) extract more now, in part from using a 45 second or so round instead of around 15.  It's a little towards rust.  I mean that in a positive way; framed more positively it tastes a bit like some forms of bark spice, just forms that people wouldn't tend to be familiar with, not cinnamon.   Or maybe it overlaps some with cinnamon, but lots of the range is beyond that.  The feel changes, and the part like sourness picks up (or it is just sourness, but a moderate and well-integrated expression of it).

#5:  even for stretching this a bit, using those towards a minute brewing times, this is still pleasant.  It's thinning a little already, the character range.  Feel is still nice, and some sweetness still stands out.  It's pleasant.  For a sheng drinker maybe the limited intensity could be an issue, but there's a lot going on, and complexity is good.  A Dian Hong drinker, someone preferring that black tea type, might relate to this especially well.  It would be funny if it is just that.  Malt is heavier than is typical for that type range, but then that's not exactly a typical Fu brick / hei cha marker, that I'm familiar with.  Flavor falls in that general range, for sure, but I'm not sure if it's often exactly that. 

I'll leave off notes here and probably stretch an extra round or two out of this.  It should keep thinning, and that one edge should stand out more.

Conclusions:

Really nice, interesting and pleasant.  Apparently it's a sort of one-off for tea style, a hybrid form, so there was no way I was going to place it trying it blind.

I'm a bit skeptical of vendor site reviews, since those could be made up, or at the least they could filter everything negative off there (some vendors do), but I suppose those people's takes might fill in how others experience it.  They liked it.  The first one is an example of that, and maybe the most detailed input:

The dual fermentation process creates a complex flavor profile that is truly unique.

Was it though?  I guess; the review description had trouble placing it.  And it was very pleasant.  It's a little pricey in relation to standard Fu brick hei cha, but I suppose evaluating it within the range of Shou Mei might make more sense, or really it's not exactly that, given the extra processing input.  It's something novel.  There is no type-typical pricing point for a tea that doesn't exist elsewhere.  

I guess most people would know if they favor repeating experiences with their favorite type and style range of tea, or if they want to explore further in that same direction, if they're still exploring basic ranges, or if very novel experiences are appealing.  This didn't remind me of only white tea or Fu hei cha experience, and sort of combined in some typical black tea aspect range, so it was very unique.

That covers that part; I'll share some more of that limited travel experience, going out to Chonburi, a smaller community an hour's drive outside of Bangkok.

sticky rice as something like a rice pudding, at a local market

dried squid and mortar and pestles; lots of options

looking for stone goods at a local outlet

you don't normally wai to Ronald McDonald; she was a good sport about the photo op

four people ate all of this, a lot of food

back in Bangkok, on Ban That Tong road

the picture version that she told me to delete

Shan Ye Wild Dark Tea; tasting tea during a fast

 

ITea World sent more samples to try.  With tea blogging so far out of fashion I've been trying more teas that people send for review lately, I suppose because there aren't many other established blogs.

It's perfect timing, because I'm on a day 4 of a 5 day fast, and can't really have sheng pu'er or black tea, the two main types that I drink.  Or green, but I drink less of that anyway, even though I've been messing with iced jasmine green tea lately.  Shou pu'er and aged white tea are most gentle on your stomach, and I've only drank water, salt water, and some diet soda in the past 4 days (counting today), so my stomach is a little touchy.  Hunger isn't as bad as you'd expect but when I'm around food it becomes an issue again.  

To clarify that one point to fast you only need to supplement sodium, potassium, and magnesium (electrolytes), and then it's fairly safe to stop eating for up to a week, if you can dial in appropriate amounts of those.  That's not medical advice; definitely try out a day first and see how that goes to assess impact in your own case.  Getting electrolyte input right is actually tricky; online recommendations are rare, and what does turn up tends to be expressed as a range, with the high side seemingly impractically high.  You definitely need to supplement around a gram a day of both sodium and potassium, which is a lot, and then a recommended daily intake is on the order of double that, or more, which is an awful lot.

I'll fill in what this is in more detail after writing notes, the usual process.

Chinese Shan Ye wild dark tea (listing for 936 baht for 40 grams, $25)

Enjoy our Wild Dark Tea and indulge in a pure and enduring pine smoke aroma. A sip reveals a rich, smooth, and sweet flavor with a complex mouthfeel. The sweetness lingers long after drinking, leaving a memorable and enduringly sweet aftertaste.

There's not much there about what this is.  Shan means village, and ye sheng wild tea; there's a good chance this is just presented as rural village hei cha, which doesn't mean much.  

It definitely tastes like pine smoke.  The quality is pretty good, quite decent, and I do mention aftertaste experience in these notes, and some degree of complexity, but all this is still pretty vague.  What is it, what hei cha style?  Maybe an interpretation or modified style; maybe it doesn't match the standard origin-oriented categories.

For value for this selling for 50-some cents a gram it would have to be amazing hei cha for that to make sense; more often that range sells for less than most other types, often in more like a 15 cent per gram range.  I didn't add much value assessment to the conclusions, not having seen that when writing that, but it's seemingly a negative factor.  But for this not comparing to any other standard types it's hard to pin down value; maybe there isn't much other tea out there like it.  If someone loves it then relative value changes.  I do place it in relation to Liu Bao forms, and describe how I think preference issues would work out.  

For good versions of other wild origin tea types the type of outlet you buy it through makes a difference, and of course quality level, and rarity.  If you can connect with local producers those can be kind of inexpensive too, but that's not usually easy to sort out.  Curator vendors selling more rare versions tend to charge at least around 50 cents a gram for everything, and move up towards $1 / gram quickly.

There's some justification for that rare tea, exceptional quality level range in this capture from the wild tea sample set website info.  I'll indirectly cover how I think this stands up to that in the review.

I'd recommend trying it as part of a sampler instead of ordering it individually.  Somehow they're selling it as part of a sample set of 5 teas, 5 grams each, for $5.  How does that work, that this tea is 60 cents a gram at volume and 20 cents a gram as a sample, in a set?  I guess that they're encouraging people to try them, to make additional sales later on.  

That set includes oolong (looks like Wuyi Yancha, with that producer info referencing that range), black, green, and white teas, and the last three are most common for wild origin material tea range.  Wild origin oolong is interesting; that's not how that usually works.

Review:

#1:   I used a rinse, and will use a long first infusion to get this to open up.  I tasted the rinse; this is a smoked tea version.  I tend to like those, I just don't know what it means in relation to this being a pressed hei cha disk.  The first actual infusion still tastes like a rinse; there's no way to describe aspects based on that.  After a 30 second infusion the second round will work, even though the disk is still opening up.

#2:  this is a bit unusual.  Smoke comes across most, along the line of pine smoke, so that part is pleasant.  Beyond that this seems like relatively unfermented hei cha, probably wet-pile or age process transitioned some, but not all that much.  This should be familiar ground for hei cha drinkers, then for everyone else what that means and how character would end up wouldn't be familiar.  I'll try to do justice to describing it, even though it will be fully infused next round.

Warm tones mix with greener tones in an unusual way.  Maybe it's in-between related to fermentation?  I doubt that it's a mix of material types, but I suppose that is possible.  On the green side this tips towards vegetal range, a little like kale, or between that and pine needle.  It includes warm mineral as a base.  Warm flavor range, the part seeming related to some fermentation, takes on an almost malty flavor, but that's not exactly it.  

This contradiction in flavors, or complementary set, depending on interpretation, could be familiar ground for Liu Bao drinkers.  One type of that is pre-fermented, like shou pu'er, and another not, like sheng, and at different stages of aging the latter can take on unusual complex character.  This should make more sense once it's at least fully wetted, which may be the infusion after next.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out for my unique stomach condition demands.  I'm depending on a relatively high degree of fermentation for this to have limited stomach impact; "greener" hei cha would be rough.  

If you just eat a bit of food prior to drinking any tea most of that concern drops out, and I always do, even though that offsets ability to feel what people call qi effect in sheng.  I suspect that's because compounds enter your system much slower, the ones causing feel effects, and that without that rush from them the gradual transition is much harder to identify.  Just a guess, of course.  I have no idea how people could tolerate drinking sheng on a relatively empty stomach, even without fasting.  I can't.

#3:  this is brewed plenty strong; I was writing that last paragraph while I let this brew, so it soaked for something like 45 seconds.  Too long, really, far beyond optimum, but at least it will get the tea wetted.  One might wonder what I could do if this did start bothering my stomach, on a fast, since eating a bowl of breakfast cereal or a little chocolate is out of the question.  Not much.  I could try a health care product but those are designed more for other problems.  It's better to avoid the problem.

Heavy smoke is interesting with the rest.  Brewed so strong the smoke takes on a different heavier character, like creosote.  Pine range is a main flavor, now not so vegetal, and more just straight pine.  Warmer tones are interesting, including mineral, and then other range that's harder to isolate, given the heavy smoke, pine, and mineral contributions.  I suspect that brewing this for a more reasonable 15 seconds will help.  I'm brewing it in a 100 ml gaiwan, using water a good bit off boiling point, since it's from a water-purification system heating output, and stored in a thermos, losing a little temp off full boiling at both stages.

#4:  much better, brewed lighter, while fully opened up.  I probably shouldn't be drinking this on an empty stomach; that's not a complete surprise.

It all balances much better brewed lightly, or at a more reasonable infusion level, really.  Smoke didn't drop out but it dropped way back.  Pine is a limited range input now too, integrating with the rest.  This still tastes a bit like Liu Bao, but without the typical harsh edge for versions that haven't been aged much.  I've not mentioned cement block mineral range, or astringency at all, and for younger sheng-style Liu Bao those stand out quite a bit.  It's not that such a style variation of Liu Bao needs a decade or two of age transition, since that's a matter of preference, but for many people it might be the case.  

I suspect that within tea traditions on that page it's all viewed quite differently, than through Western enthusiast expectations.  Many online discussions of tea experience with an older Chinese Malaysian friend covered that, but it all doesn't summarize well.  

From a Western perspective I really should be able to extract at least two more flavor descriptions from this, or else it could be interpreted as lacking complexity, which really isn't the case.  Let's say that it tastes a bit medicinal, like unfamiliar herbs one smells in a Traditional Chinese Medicine shop.  That's not very specific or descriptive but I think it's about right.  Per a lot of Western tea preference this wouldn't be very good, especially if someone was looking for the sort of standard dried fruit flavors some hei cha expresses.  For Liu Bao drinkers this might really click.  I'm in the middle; it's pleasant, and interesting, but I've always been challenged by edgier Liu Bao, even though I can appreciate a lot of tea range.

Related to the wild material origin theme I have no comment; that's familiar ground for sheng, black tea, and white, but not hei cha.  It's probably contributing to flavor complexity, and helps offset a tendency towards astringency (this could be a lot harsher; it's digesting fairly well, under worst-case tasting conditions).  As far as where flavors end up that's something else.

  

I should probably try one more round and stop drinking this.  After a nice tall glass of salt water and a few more hours I could get back to it.  That salt water experience is as off-putting as it sounds, but symptoms from sodium and potassium levels crashing is even worse.  I ice-skated for over two hours yesterday, on day 3, and felt fine, even though earlier in the day final transition to ketosis was a bit harsh.  

If anyone wants to try fasting don't start with a 5 day version, as I tried to more than a year and a half ago; build up to it.  24 hours is brutal at first, but your body has that capacity "designed" into it (it's adapted for it), so that even most hunger will drop out with exposure (not all; it's both physical and psychological).  Main health benefits probably come from internal changes that happen after two days, autophagy, decreased insulin resistance, and so on.

#5:  that medicinal herb input is even more pronounced and pleasant.  I would guess that the most positive range of this tea is starting only now, and that the next 4 or 5 infusions will keep getting better.  I'll try it later and will know, but I may not get back to writing notes.  Sweetness picks up a little; that gives it a more pleasant balance.  Even though this is brewed quite lightly aftertaste experience is more pronounced.  Warm mineral range seems more distinct, even though it's really not stronger.  It tastes like rocks, I guess, or like an artesian well water source, when absorbed minerals are at their heaviest.  Spring water can express an unusual mineral sweetness and complexity, water filtering through a hill or a mountain, but water settled through a rock base can really be more intense.

The main vegetal aspect is still pine.  Medicinal herb is much stronger, then the pine, then mineral base.  It would be possible to interpret other flavors in different ways, to see that warm sweetness as relating to a dried fruit, but to me it's more like dried herb.  I would guess that my Chinese Malaysian friend would be able to place it better; his descriptions of his experiences and older Chinese culture input, at a flavor level, are very colorful and developed.  Probably few younger people in Malaysia, where he lives, can relate to his perspective now, a bit integrated into developed Western culture, as Thais definitely now are.

Conclusions:

This leaves out one type of judgement:  how good is it?  That style would either ring a bell for people or it wouldn't, and I'd expect that tea enthusiasts with relatively little exposure to a lot of hei cha range wouldn't get it.  For someone who already likes that style it's quite pleasant.  I'm not sure it would work as well as a bridge to experiencing it.

This kind of theme comes up a lot in sheng reviews.  It's almost impossible to not just assume that readers are familiar with and ok with bitterness as an input.  I barely mention it in some young / unaged sheng reviews, and that means that the relative level is low, but it's generally still a main experienced aspect.  This isn't bitter, at all, or even all that astringent.  But the medicinal / herbal flavor range tones I can't really place isn't something everyone would be familiar with.  Smoke and pine are; maybe Lapsang Souchong lovers could bridge over to like the rest of the range, even with the sweetness and the typical flavor set from black tea missing.  Or maybe that wouldn't work.

To me this is quite suitable as a testing set inclusion, as a way to be introduced to new tea range, even though it's so novel.  Few people would probably crave owning more than a sample of it, but people into younger Liu Bao experience might often buy a kilogram of such tea to experience it over and over, as a primary preference.  

That Malaysian friend loves Liu Bao, and the edge in some versions is part of the appeal.  He would drink it paired with food; it would make a lot more sense fulfilling that role.  This could be so nice with barbecue pork steamed buns, which Thais call manapau, which must have different Chinese names.  That sweetness and savory flavor depth would be wonderful, paired with this, with the contrast making it so pleasant.  Of course I'd have an even sweeter custard filled steamed bun with those, further stretching the experience into what some would see as desert range, or at least typical breakfast food.

Maybe the conventional Western tea enthusiast emphasis on judging and experiencing tea completely alone misses something.  It's a great way to fully immerse in tea experience, to really explore it in depth, even venturing into feel range, but not all teas work well that way.

How is the cha qi, since I'm finally in a very sensitive state, related to such an input?  A little trippy; colors are especially vivid around me, and I suppose that I feel a little high.  I'd probably be laid out if this was wild origin young sheng, if my stomach could handle it, which it can't.  I feel fine, related to stomach impact from this.  We need to balance all levels of all of the experiences we explore, especially when extreme conditions come up, like fasting.

As far as that relative degree of stomach impact this had, I'd still recommend going with shou pu'er as a main type, and aged white tea as backup.  This was ok, and a lot of Fu brick variations would also be, but it's as well to stick with those, since they seem to work out best.

ice skating with the kids

playing with that changed things a little, even though she can skate well

ITea World Hubei hei cha (dark tea)

 

the color didn't look light like that in real life

I'm reviewing the Hubei hei cha / dark tea sample from ITea World, a set they sent free for review (many thanks!).  

Their Liu Bao was pretty good; a bit approachable and mellow as those sometimes go, but that trade-off seemed fine, giving up some intensity along with not including typical edginess, rougher feel and slate mineral base.  

This website information includes limited description of the Hubei version:

It occurred to me during the tasting to look up what this might be in more detail, beyond "dark tea from Hubei," so I'll include a couple of other references about potentially related types after the review section.

Review:

#1:  this is what I really like about hei cha; it's warm, sweet, rich, and mild, with good depth.  It's not distinctive and refined related to a set of subtle aspects standing out and balancing as occurs with good Wuyi Yancha, and not as intense and complex as sheng pu'er, but it's pleasant.  

The flavor comes across as one distinct range, but it is complex in its own way.  That might include woody tone, towards cedar, and mild and deep spice, along the line of incense spice.  And it's just opening up; that list should run longer next round.

#2:  Intensity, complexity, and depth did pick up a lot.  I don't think I'm going to do description justice; a lot of this range is unusual, not all that familiar to me.  It might taste a bit like leather, but in an unusual form, not like a shoe smells, or baseball glove, more how old books smell.  

The tannins related range is interesting, how this isn't all that close to black tea range, or even shou pu'er, but kind of in between the two.  One part tastes like an aspect in black teas, like that tannin edge, but the rest is rich, complex, and earthy, like incense spice, or Chinese medicinal spices.  One part is probably like root spice, yet another range I can't pin down well.  

It's interesting how this tastes like a range of different things that I can't clearly describe.  Sometimes when you read other reviews a flavor you've missed identifying seems clear, something odd like pine smoke, but in this case I might not be able to relate to even a long list.  It might be interesting to cite the vendor's take and a couple of other related product listings, to see what else turns up in those.

The effect is quite clean; this could easily be a bit musty, or contain an off range aspect, but it doesn't.

#3:  the flavors and overall balance shifts.  Intensity is pretty good, and in this drinkable range it could be brewed quite strong and still work.  I'm brewing the 5 gram sample in a 90/100 ml gaiwan, using 10 to 15 second infusion times, and it's still extracting plenty of flavor.  Feel is interesting, the way it really settles on the center and rear of your tongue.  There's a pine-sap like aspect that's picking up, that was present earlier, but was harder to identify when it was less dominant.  

Someone really looking for fruit tones (or that and floral range, two main review description scopes) might cite this as including dried fruit, dried mango or tamarind, and that's part of it, but definitely not the main range.  

A mineral base stands out, linking with the medicinal herb flavor aspect, grounding it in a flavor similar to what I tasted as a child in my grandparent's artesian well.  I suppose that only related to the rock content in that area, that the natural pumping process from underground pressure doesn't add any one particular flavor.

#4:  more of the same, I suppose.  There's a more subtle shift of what had already been there, the balance, but it's not unlike the last round.  Feel and aftertaste ramp up a bit as I brew this slightly longer, but it's not really fading yet.  Intensity is good for this tea version; for a tea this ground up it could extract really fast and then fade, but intensity was quite good to begin with.

#5:  heavier woody tones are picking up, what one would expect from later rounds.  This is moving through a transition cycle fast for being so ground up, and for using 15 second infusion times instead of really short brewing.  For 5 grams per 90 ml gaiwan it works out to brew a bit longer, often longer than this, and then for higher proportion, 8 or so, more standard for me, using quite short infusion times works better, under 10 seconds.

A dried fruit aspect also picks up, but I still can't really identify it.  It would be possible to interpret that as a warm and rich floral tone instead, but I think it's closer to a dried fruit.  It might be closest to dried longan.  I don't suppose that would be familiar to most, but it might be my overall favorite dried fruit.  Once I start on a bag of those I can't stop, and if I ever see that I buy it.  Fresh longan is nice too, and we buy that, but drying it warms the flavor range quite a bit, and the sweetness ramps up, and those are already sweet to begin with.  I might have been mentioning sweetness more in this review; it doesn't stand out as much as in some tea versions but that is what's tying all the rest together, making it seem pleasant.

I think I'll stop notes here because this runs long, and gets repetitive.  I really liked this tea.  For lots of the other ITea World samples they're just pretty good versions of basic types, which is nice, but not all that novel or interesting to me, having been through all that for many years, but this is a little different.  To me hei cha is usually either pretty good or else it kind of clicks, and is that much better, and this works well for me.

What is Hubei hei cha?

Hubei hei cha is probably not all one thing, but a couple of references from other vendors about hei cha versions from that area might be interesting.

2009 Chuan "Qing Zhuan Cha" (Green Brick Tea) 1700g Dark Tea, ZhaoLiQiao Tea Factory, Hubei Province (listing from King Tea Mall); this sells for $5.99 for 100 grams, not much)

"Qing Zhuan Cha" (Green Brick Tea) is a type of dark tea, distinct from green tea, originating from Hubei province. The name "Lao Qing Cha" (Old Green Tea) is used to describe this tea, where "Lao" signifies a traditional naming convention rather than the age of the tea, similar to the term "Lao Shi" meaning teacher, not specifically an old teacher.

As is common with dark teas, the material used for Qing Zhuan Cha is of a rougher texture. This tea is known for its dark appearance, elegant fragrance, and its ability to age gracefully over time.

The tea liquor is a rich red, nearing brown, with a notable brightness that speaks to its quality.

In terms of taste, Qing Zhuan Cha is thick, mellow, and smooth, making it a delightful choice for tea enthusiasts.

This tea is particularly popular among people living in regions like Mongolia and Tibet. It is valued not only for its flavor but also for its digestive benefits and cost-effectiveness, making it a practical and enjoyable choice in these areas.

Sounds nice.

2021 Hubei Dong Zhuang Brand Qing Zhuan Cha 50g, Chawang Shop listing, selling for $3.50 for 50 grams.

Traditional old style dark tea brick from Hubei province made by traditional technique (selection, fermentation, high temperature steaming, compression, drying). This style brick is made for Iner Mongolia - you can see old Mongolian script in wrapper, which is still used in Inner Mongolia. Clean deep orange brewed tea is sweet and herbal flavor in mouth with light floral aftertaste. This tea can be brewed in gaiwan or cook for a long time without astrigency or bitter or also can make nomad milk tea:

Living in Inner Mongolia and some areas adjoining to the province, the Mongolians mainly live on beef and mutton, complemented with rice and vegetables. The brick tea is an indispensable beverage to herdsmen and drinking salty tea with milk is a Mongolian tradition. The salty tea with milk uses green or black brick tea as its main material and an iron pot as the cooker. Fill the iron pot with 2-3 liters of water, and then put 50-80 grams of brick tea pieces into the pot once the water boils. After another 5 minutes, pour milk into the pot with a ratio of 1/5 to water and stir it, and then add certain amount of salt. Once the whole pot of the mixture boils, the salty tea with milk is ready to be served.

"Dong Zhuang" is the abbreviation of Yang Lou Dong tea house. Yang Lou Dong Chibi city is the origin of Qing Zhuan, the invention began in the Tang Dynasty, but the prosperity actually was during the Ming and Qing Dynasties time.

I don't think I'd experiment with making salted milk tea, boiling it together, but that does sound familiar.  It would seem to be at least vaguely related to the yak butter variations made with different types of brick teas.

Looking back it's odd that this tea is a year and a half old, even if it was pre-fermented more than these other product summaries seem to describe.  It wasn't green in character, not bitter, and didn't seem that young.  I'd expect that if it was pre-fermented that it would have more rough edges when so young.  Then again these aren't really clear processing steps summaries, and it's not clear that the three versions are identical in style.  

It's still interesting hearing about other potentially related types, and the main thing is still how the reviewed version comes across, how pleasant it is.  If it's a type of tea that sells for $5 or 6 for 100 grams, and it is similar to these, then the experienced character and quality seem amazing for that low pricing level.  It's common for different quality level versions to sell at different pricing levels; if this is a relatively identical style but a better quality version it may sell at a higher market value.