This is the second dark tea from Anhua I am writing about, and I am not counting what my guest blogger wrote about a Fu Zhuan Cha. Unlike the Fu Zhuan bricks that were featured in this challenge, this dark tea did not show any visible mould ‘Eurotium cristatum’. This mould is considered a probiotic fungus which is associated with reinforcing weight loss amongst other benefits. But possibly the golden flower may develop as this tea ages too.
This tea had a strong camphor aroma and taste, which surprised me. It had some sweetness which I also got from other dark teas and punch rich flavours. I could smell tobacco leaves on leaves (especially once they were infused). The taste-wise, it was satisfying enough. But the leaves were significantly stems. Indeed, before taking the photo above, I had to remove some stems. So, it was not the highest quality tea. Maybe this is because the golden flowers were missing.
Going back to the camphorwood taste, indeed I read that some pu-erh producers flavour their tea with camphorwood either by i) drying the tea over burning camphorwood; ii) planting camphor trees next to tea bushes where they share the same ecosystem and camphor fragrance is absorbed by the tea plants over time. I have no clue if the Hunanese tea farmers used any of these methods to flavour this tea. It might well be the case.
Tea Profile:
Type: Dark Origin: Anhua, Hunan
Harvest time: 2016
Leaf colour: Tones of dark brown with many stems
Liquor colour: Mahagony Tea Aroma: Tobacco and camphor notes Tea taste: Full bodied with slight sweetness and earthy and camphor notes Steeping: Place 5 g of tea leaves in a gaiwan/teapot. Add 100 ml water at about 90°C. Steep for 5 seconds and rinse the liquid out. Steep for 15 seconds. To each consecutive infusion add 5 seconds. You can infuse up to 9 times or until the taste is lost.
Shelf life: Can be aged.