Hei Cha: A Beginner's Guide to Chinese Dark Tea (Liu Bao, Fu Brick and More)
China's post-fermented dark teas: Liu Bao, Fu brick, Qianliang and more, and how to brew them.
Hei cha (黑茶, "dark tea") is the Chinese category of post-fermented teas: teas that go through a piling stage, where damp leaf is heaped and slowly transformed by heat and microbes. The best known are Liu Bao from Guangxi, Anhua dark teas from Hunan such as Fu brick and Qianliang, Sichuan's Tibetan brick tea and ripe (shou) pu-erh. They taste smooth, earthy, woody and sweet, with very little bitterness, and they improve with age. Brew them with boiling water, a quick rinse and short steeps. Note: in China, "black tea" means this category, while what the West calls black tea is Chinese red tea.
I'll be honest: for years hei cha was the category I skipped. I had pu-erh, and I assumed everything else dark and pressed was a poorer relative. Then a friend poured me an aged Liu Bao, and it was nothing like the shou I knew (the whole story is in my Liu Bao guide). I went home and ordered five samples the same week.
Hei cha is still a small corner of my shelf compared with sheng pu-erh, but it's my winter corner. When it's dark by five and the valley is full of fog, a pot of Liu Bao or Fu brick is exactly what I want. It's also the category where most Western tea drinkers have the most to discover, because so little of it is written about in English.
What makes a tea "dark"#
China sorts its teas into six categories, and hei cha is the one defined by post-fermentation. After the leaf is fixed and rolled, it's piled while damp. Heat builds inside the pile, microbes get to work, and over days or weeks the leaf darkens and its flavour changes from green and sharp to smooth and earthy. After that, most dark teas are dried, often pressed, and left to age further.
This is also how ripe pu-erh is made, and shou pu-erh is usually classed as a hei cha. Raw (sheng) pu-erh is a special case: it isn't piled, and whether it belongs among the dark teas is still debated. I cover that difference in sheng vs shou. For the six categories, see types of Chinese tea.
The main types of hei cha#
| Tea | Region | Form | What it's like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liu Bao (六堡茶) | Guangxi | Loose in bamboo baskets, or pressed | Smooth, woody, betel nut, pine, sometimes a cool camphor note; aged in layers of storage |
| Fu brick (Fu Zhuan, 茯砖) | Anhua, Hunan | Brick | Sweet, earthy, dried fruit; yellow "golden flowers" inside |
| Tian Jian, Gong Jian, Sheng Jian (the "three pointed" teas) | Anhua, Hunan | Loose, in baskets | Gentle, sweet, clean; Tian Jian is the finest leaf |
| Qianliang (千两茶, "thousand tael tea") | Anhua, Hunan | A tall column wrapped in bamboo, about 37 kg | Deep, woody, sweet; made to age for decades |
| Tibetan brick tea (Zang Cha, 藏茶) | Ya'an, Sichuan | Brick | Robust and plain; traditionally boiled and drunk with butter and salt |
| Lao Qing (老青茶) | Hubei | Brick | Mellow and earthy; historically part of the Russian tea trade |
| Ripe pu-erh (shou) | Yunnan | Cakes, bricks, tuos, loose | Earthy, cocoa, dates, dark wood |
Liu Bao: my favourite hei cha#
Liu Bao comes from Guangxi in southern China and has a long history as a tea shipped to Southeast Asia, where it was popular with miners and dock workers. After piling, it's traditionally stored in bamboo baskets and moved through different storage rooms in turn: cool, ventilated and dry. It's commonly aged for several years before sale, and older Liu Bao is much prized.
Good Liu Bao is smooth, sweet and woody, with a note Chinese drinkers call "betel nut aroma" (binglang xiang), and sometimes a cool, piney edge. It's soft and mellow in the cup, and very forgiving to brew. If you like shou pu-erh, Liu Bao is the easiest next step.
Anhua dark tea and the "golden flowers"#
Anhua county in Hunan is the other great hei cha region. Its teas come in many forms: loose leaf in baskets (the three "Jian" grades), bricks, and the spectacular Qianliang column, a length of tea pressed into a woven bamboo tube and left to age for years.
The most famous Anhua tea is Fu brick. During a special stage of production called "flowering", the bricks are kept warm and humid so that a mould called Eurotium cristatum can grow inside. It forms small golden-yellow specks, known as golden flowers (jin hua, 金花). This isn't spoilage; it's the whole point, and well-made Fu brick is judged partly by how evenly and generously its golden flowers have developed. They give the tea a distinctive sweet, fungal, dried-fruit aroma.
What golden flowers are not: grey, white or green fuzzy mould, or a musty smell. That's spoilage, in any tea.
The tea that crossed mountains#
Much of hei cha's history is the history of trade. Pressed dark teas were compact, tough and kept for years, which made them ideal for long journeys. Sichuan's brick tea travelled on the Tea Horse Road to Tibet, where tea was exchanged for horses; historical records describe fixed exchange rates between tea and horses from the Song dynasty onward, and porters who carried enormous loads of tea on their backs for weeks over the mountains. Hubei's Lao Qing bricks travelled north with Russian merchants toward Kyakhta, and Liu Bao sailed to Malaysia and beyond.
That heritage is part of why these teas taste the way they do: they were made to survive, and to get better on the way.
My side-by-side: Liu Bao vs Fu brick#
How to brew hei cha#
Gongfu#
| Leaf / 100 ml | Water | Rinse | 1st steep | Then | Steeps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6–7 g | Boiling | 1 quick rinse | 10 s | +5 s | 8–12 |
A thick clay pot that holds heat suits dark teas well; a porcelain gaiwan works too. For bricks and columns, use a pu-erh knife and pry off layers rather than crumbling the tea: see how to break a pu-erh cake. All teas are in the gongfu brewing chart.
In a mug or teapot#
About 3–4 g per 300 ml, boiling water, 2–3 minutes. Hei cha is very forgiving and rarely turns bitter.
Simmered#
Dark teas, especially Fu brick and older bricks, are traditionally also simmered: a small amount of leaf in a kettle of water, brought gently to the boil for a few minutes. It's a Tang-style way of making tea, and it gives a thick, sweet, warming brew. I do this with the last leaves of a gongfu session: tip them into a small pot, add water and simmer briefly. It's a lovely end to a winter evening. Simmering pulls more out of the leaf than any other method, including more of whatever the leaf carries, so keep it for clean, well-sourced tea, rinse the leaf first and don't make it a daily habit.
Storing hei cha#
Store dark teas the way you'd store pu-erh: in paper, card or a basket, in a stable room, away from strong smells, with some air and moderate humidity. Avoid sealed plastic and vacuum packs. Most hei cha keeps improving for years. My full setup is in how to store pu-erh.
Myths about hei cha#
"Dark tea is the same as black tea." Not in China. Chinese black tea (hei cha) is post-fermented dark tea; what the West calls black tea is Chinese red tea.
"The yellow specks in Fu brick mean it's gone mouldy." No. Golden flowers are grown on purpose and are a mark of quality. Grey, white or green fuzz and a musty smell are a different story.
"Hei cha is just cheap pu-erh." Hei cha is a whole family with its own regions, crafts and history. Ripe pu-erh is one member of it.
"Dark tea has no caffeine." It does, though many people find a light brew of a mellow dark tea gentle in the evening.
My honest take#
If you drink shou pu-erh and enjoy it, you're one step away from hei cha, and it's a step worth taking. Start with a Liu Bao for its smoothness, then a Fu brick to see what golden flowers bring. Neither will ask much of your brewing skill, and both are at their best on a cold evening.
The bottom line#
Hei cha is China's family of post-fermented dark teas: smooth, earthy, sweet and made to last. Liu Bao and Fu brick are the best places to start, boiling water and short steeps are all they need, and time only makes them better.
FAQ#
What is hei cha?#
Chinese dark tea: a category of post-fermented teas made with a piling stage. Liu Bao, Fu brick, Qianliang, Tibetan brick tea and ripe pu-erh all belong to it.
Is hei cha the same as black tea?#
In Chinese, yes: hei cha literally means black tea. But it's not what the West calls black tea, which is Chinese red tea (hong cha).
Is pu-erh a hei cha?#
Ripe (shou) pu-erh is usually classed as a dark tea. Raw (sheng) pu-erh isn't piled, and its place among the dark teas is debated.
What are the golden flowers in Fu brick?#
A mould, Eurotium cristatum, grown deliberately during production. It forms golden-yellow specks and gives the tea a sweet, fruity, slightly fungal aroma.
How do you brew Liu Bao?#
About 6–7 g per 100 ml, boiling water, one quick rinse, then start at about 10 seconds and add 5 seconds each steep.
Does hei cha get better with age?#
Most dark teas do. Stored like pu-erh, with some air and away from smells, they become smoother and sweeter over years.
All dark tea guides
Guide
Anhua Dark Tea: Qianliang Logs, Fu Bricks and the San Jian Teas of Hunan
Anhua county in Hunan is one of the best-known homes of Chinese dark tea (hei cha): giant Qianliang logs pressed in bamboo, Fu bricks with deliberately grown "golden flowers", and the loose San Jian teas. They're smooth, woody and sweet; brew them with boiling water and short steeps, or simmer them.
Guide
Liu Bao: The Dark Tea from Guangxi
Liu Bao (六堡茶) is a Chinese dark tea (hei cha) from Wuzhou in Guangxi, southern China. Like ripe pu-erh, it goes through a piling stage that transforms the leaf, and it's then aged, traditionally in bamboo baskets, often for several years before sale.
Guide
Fu Brick Tea: The Dark Tea with "Golden Flowers"
Fu brick (茯砖, Fu Zhuan) is a pressed dark tea (hei cha) from Anhua in Hunan province. Its signature is the "golden flowers" (jin hua, 金花): small golden-yellow specks inside the brick, which are a mould, Eurotium cristatum, grown on purpose during a special "flowering" stage.