STiR coffee and tea magazine

40 STiR coffee and tea | 2025 Issue 1 Spring (Mar/Apr/May) C By Seth Griffin hinese hei cha or 'dark tea,' as the term is often translated into English, is one of the six major categories of tea produced in China, along with green, yellow, white, wulong, and red (black) teas. Unlike many other tea categories, which are meant to be consumed soon after production, dark teas undergo lengthy aging periods to develop deeper and more mellow flavors. Recent studies highlighting the health benefits of dark tea and its unique characteristics have propelled it onto the world stage. Now, consumers outside of China are finally discovering the bright side of dark tea. Processing Methods China is home to a wide variety of dark teas, many of which have been produced for centuries and are recognized as forms of national intangible cultural heritage. Its main distinguishing feature is an additional series of processing steps called 'post-fermentation' that utilize beneficial micro- organisms to transform the flavors and aromas of the tea, causing it to darken. Tea industry experts remain hotly divided as to which climatic conditions of storage yield the best results, with some preferring the slow- er aging of a cool and dry environment while others swear by accelerated aging in a warmer, more humid storage. Each tea has a unique recipe, but the general steps follow a similar course. Producers begin by rapidly heating the tea leaves to temperatures above 80° C to interrupt the enzymatic activity and reduce moisture con- tent through a process called 'fixing' or 'kill green.' Dark teas are typically fixed at lower temperatures than green teas, keeping some of the tea's natural enzymes active during later processing. Next, the leaves are shaped through rolling, further breaking down cell structures and coaxing internal compounds to the surface. After that, the processing veers in a unique direction. The leaves are heaped into piles Dark tea's ability to cut through rich, heavy food makes it a popular beverage in dim sum restaurants across China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Photo courtesy Seth Griffin A Bright Future for Dark Tea and darken through further oxidation as microorgan- isms consume their contents and secrete aromatic compounds. These chemical changes generate heat, and the layers of the tea piles must be rotated so that the tea develops uniformly. The piles are kept within a temperature range of 40-65° C so that overheating does not damage the tea leaves. After piling, the tea leaves are rolled a second time and then dried. The final steps for dark tea involve more meticulous processes like sifting, blending, pil- ing for lengthier periods of time, steaming and pressing into round or rectangular molds, and aging. Different dark tea recipes adjust the height and duration of piling, and sometimes use multiple stages of piling, re-rolling, drying, and rehydrating of the leaves before continu- ing with the finishing touches. The result typically yields deep-bodied, smooth, and earthy teas, with infusion colors ranging from vibrant gold to deep amber. The History and Different Types of Dark Tea Dark teas were among the historic 'frontier trading teas' (bian xiao cha 边销茶), which played a crucial role in commerce along China's western and northern re- gions, popular in Tibet, Russia, and Mongolia. Their compact form made dark teas convenient to transport across vast distances. While the ripe Puer tea of Yunnan province and Liu Bao tea of Guangxi province are the most widely known internationally, tea makers in China also pro- duce several other types of dark tea that are famous do- mestically: Ya'an tea of Sichuan province, Anhua tea of Hunan province, and Xianyang tea of Shaanxi province, among others. These teas are crafted using different tea materials and techniques, creating unique characteristics that reflect each region. Quality grading standards and packaging methods also vary for each tea. Ripe Puer First emerging in Yunnan in 1973, Ripe Puer, also known as Puer shou cha, is the most recent addition to the dark tea lineup. This tea is crafted using sun-dried Pressing teas into cakes or bricks made transportation and storage much easier and helped spread the popularity of dark teas across overland trade routes. Photo courtesy Petr Sidorov

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