Tea: 2018 Anhua Heicha (安化黑茶）
Type: Tian Jian Anhua Heicha 天尖安化黑茶
Fermentation Level: Medium
Harvest: Spring 2018
Press Date: Autumn 2018
Press Size: 500g
Region: Jiulongchi Terroir Region, Anhua County.
Producer: Seven Bowls Tea House
Tasting Notes: Pine Smoke, Cured Meat, Kitchen Smoke, Pepper, Taffy
Steamed and packed into bamboo woven baskets, this is a Tianjian grade tea from Old Bushes on a 'wild mountain'. The compression is light, and the leaves are easy to pry out of the basket with relatively few broken bits. The leaves themselves are very dark with a lot of large stems, supposedly adding sweetness to the aging tea. Breaking up some of this tea, we saw little to no 'golden flowers' as is common in the more famous fuzhuan bricks and Qianliang tubes.
When brewed, the first few infusions are a thick cloudy amber almost opaque when held to the light. The smell off the warmed leaves is one of pine smoke and kitchen spices. When brewed the smoke gives way to camphor and the herbal fragrances of sage and marjoram intensify.
On the tongue this tea is thick and meaty with a very bold body. It cuts its way though any lingering flavors in the mouth and leaves behind a tingling sensation on the tongue. When drunk in quick succession, this powerful tea can deliver a fast and long-lasting huigan with very little bitterness on the tongue.
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