Six Major Types of Chinese tea (Part Six): Dark Tea

The Mellow Aroma of Post-Fermentation

Dark Tea, as a post-fermented tea, is one of the six major tea categories, and is unique to China. It has a profound historical and cultural heritage and has played a crucial role in the trade during the Ancient Tea-Horse Road time. With unique manufacturing process and flavor setting, dark tea, apart among Chinese teas, is especially renowned for its characteristic of “getting mellower with age”.

The dried leaves are robust and blackish-brown or oily in appearance, hence the name "dark tea." The liquor color is deep red or orange-red, and aged tea liquor color resembles amber. The aroma carries notes of aged fragrance, woodiness, or jujube, with a rich, smooth taste, some having a sweet aftertaste.

The basic processing steps of dark tea include fixation, rolling, piling, and drying, among which piling is a unique process essential for forming the quality of dark tea. Historically, dark tea was transported along the Ancient Tea Horse-Road to the border areas in exchange for horses, serving as an important bond for ethnic exchanges. The tea traded in the tea-horse market began with Green Tea. Due to the long journey and lack of tools for shielding from sun and rain at that time, the tea leaves often got wet on rainy days and dried out when it was sunny. The alternating wet and dry process led to deep fermentation of the green tea under the action of microorganisms. By the time it reached the final trading destination, the dark tea formed with this naturally complex transformation. Later, people added a piling process during the initial or refined processing of the tea leaves to get the dark tea. Specifically, piling involves stacking the rolled leaves, where, under the combined effects of heat, humidity, and microorganisms, a series of oxidation and decomposition reactions occur, leading to deep fermentation of the tea leaves that form the unique color, aroma, and taste of dark tea.

Dark tea is suitable for long-term storage, and under appropriate conditions including dry, ventilated, and light-protected, etc. Its flavor becomes more mellow with age, and its value may also increase.

The main production areas of dark tea are concentrated in China’s Hunan, Yunnan, Hubei, Guangxi, Shanxi, and Sichuan provinces. Due to the varying characteristics of raw materials and long-established processing habits in different regions, each place has developed its unique product forms and quality characteristics. Some well-known dark teas in China include:

• Yunnan Pu-erh Ripe Tea: Made from Yunnan large-leaf sun-dried raw tea, the fermented version is called ripe Pu-erh. Ripe Pu-erh has a reddish-brown liquor and a rich flavor, known for its "aged charm."

• Hunan Anhua Dark Tea: Pls check Hunan Anhua Dark Tea.

• Guangxi Liupao Tea: Originating from Liupao Town in Cangwu County, Wuzhou City, Guangxi, it is famous for being "red, rich, aged, and mellow," and the traditional process involves cellar aging, possessing a betel-nut aroma.

• Hubei Qing Brick Tea: Primarily produced in Chibi, Hubei, pressed into brick shapes, it has a strong and thick flavor and has historically been an important drink for border herders.

• Sichuan Tibetan Tea (The Border Tea): Supplied to Tibet and surrounding areas, it is a primary ingredient in the butter tea.