Highest grade Dark tea from wild 70-year-old trees growing in Hunan. A mouthful of unabashed boozy soaked fruits and spices, rock sugar and woods with a sweet pine resin smoke intrigue.
Hunan has been making Hei Cha (Ripe or Dark tea) for well over 500 years – long before the advent of ripe PuErh just over 50 years ago.
Hunan Hei Cha is famed for being affordable and good quality wth a rich fruit and caramel character. But, we have never selected any for Mei Leaf because I felt that they generally lacked nuance, refinement and that touch of class. They are often made with rougher leaf material and can have a bit too much aggression in the finish.
Anhua Tian Jian tea is considered to be the higher grade of Hei Cha made in Hunan because it uses finer pickings (bud and two leaves) and usually goes through a more careful processing than the rougher tea and Fu Bricks.
The overall process to make Tian Jian tea is to pick, wither and fire the tea (similar to a green tea). Once the enzymes have been mostly deactivated by firing, the leaves are rolled and piled for a couple of days to ferment and transform.
This piling fermentation is much shorter than ripe PuErh (which is usually piled for a month or so), which gives Tian Jian a lighter colour liquor and a bright ernegtic kick (similar to raw PuErh).
After the piling fermentation the leaves are then rolled again and baked dry. This baking process is fundamental to the final tea.
Modern techniques use electric heaters which produce a simpler tea. The traditional method of baking is over pine wood burning seven star stove which imparts a smoky layer to the tea. This smokiness is not as strong as a smoked tea like Lapsang Souchong but adds a wonderfully sweet and resinous complexity to the taste.
After baking, the leaves are then sorted so that the Tian Jian only contains buds and young leaves. They are usually stored for a year or so before being packed into baskets for further ageing.
Woozy Fruitcake is a stellar Anhua Tian Jian. It is made from semi-wild 70 year old trees growing around Feng Jing Si village. The processing follows the traditional method including pine wood fired baking.
This tea is brimming with dried cherries, raisins, hawthorn and prunes soaked in sherry – an adult fruitcake. Combined with a treacle and rock sugar sweetness and a sprinkling of baking spices (cinnamon, clove, vanilla), this tea is pure sticky indulgence.
But then we have the charred casks, the resinous smoke and the herbal liniments (camphor and wintergreen) which bring a whole other level of structure and intrigue to the experience.
The mouthfeel is zingy and mineral with a sweep of dry and citrus bitters releasing to a flooding date sweet juiciness.
As if all of this was not enough, this Tian Jian has a heating, rising and raucous body sensation – not for the feint hearted.
Please do not be under any illusion, this is a Hunan Dark tea and has the trademark aggression in taste and mouth feel that is associated with this province. If you are looking for a softer drinking experience then head towards Ripe PuErh or Liu Bao instead.
The tea will continue to age and change. It is remarkably balanced and compete for a 2019 tea but it will soften and smoothen over the years. A basket would be the best way to go if you are looking to age this beauty in your collection.
EYES – DRY LEAF
Chestnut brown buds and leaves
NOSE – DRY LEAF
Dried cherries, lightly peated whisky, smoked charcuterie, bitter chocolate and incense.
NOSE – WET LEAF
Raisins soaked in sherry, aged balsamic, smoky dark chocolate and rolling tobacco.
EYES – LIQUOR
Sunset orange.
MOUTH – TEXTURE
Medium with strong mineral physicality.
MOUTH – TASTE
Fruitcake made with sherry soaked prunes, raisins and cherries, charred casks, rock sugar, mastic and pine resin.
NOSE – EMPTY CUP
Dark toffee and dried cherries.
MOUTH – FINISH
Tingly and dry to cooling and flooding sweet date juiciness.
EYES – WET LEAF
Khaki green buds and leaves.
BODY SENSATION
Very buzzy high with heating and digestif quality.
SEASON
18th April 2019
CULTIVAR
Da Ye Zhong
ORIGIN
Feng Jing Si, Tao Jiang, Hunan, China
PICKING & PROCESSING
Bud and up to two leaves
ELEVATION
300-800m
Woozy Fruitcake hits that perfect balance of a deliciously rich sweet brew with that impactful Hunan character (reminiscent of some high-quality factory raw PuErh). Refined yet unabashed, nuanced yet impactful, indulgent yet provocative – yeah I love it.
