Chinese Tea Classifications and Pu-erh Tea

China produces various kinds of tea. According to incomplete statistics, China has over 1 ,000 varieties of famous teas. Tea is classified according to different standards, including processing technique, place of origin, production sea-son, quality grade, shape and sales.

In modern tea studies, tea is classified into basic tea and reprocessed tea. Basic tea includes green tea, black tea, cyan tea, yellow tea, white tea and dark tea. Reprocessed tea includes. jasmine tea, compressed tea, teabag, instant tea, tea drink, etc.

Pu-erh tea is a type of dark tea. People know very lttle about dark tea, and the popularity of Pu-erh tea has further obscured the concept“dark tea.”

Hunan Qianliang tea packed

Hunan Qianliang tea

Inside of the Fuzhuan tea with fungus spores

Packaged Fuzhuan tea

Dark Tea–Pu-erh Tea Besides Pu-erh tea, there are other types of dark tea which are wellknown. Dark tea is mainly produced in Y unnan, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, etc.

1. Dark tea from Hunan Hunan produces Xiangjian tea, Qianliang tea, Fu brick(Fuzhuan), Black brick (Heizhuan), Flowery brick (Huazhuan), etc. Fu brick is characterized by its growth of fiungus spores, which gives it a unique fragrance.

Dark tea from Sichuan

Jinjian tea

2. Dark tea from Sichuan Dark tea from Sichuan is classified into south-road brick tea and westroad brick tea. Samples include Kangzhuan, Jin-jian, etc.

3. Dark tea from Guangxi Originally produced in the Liubao township in Cangwu County, it is dark brown and glossy. The tea liquid is dark red and sweet with a betel nut fragrance and a sweet aftertaste. The tea is characterized by its red color, strength, mellowness and age. The best Liubao tea that is old is the one with goldenfungus spores. This once commanded the largest market shareof dark tea in Hong Kong and the Southeast Asian countries.Dark colored Liubao tea.

Liubao tea

4. Dark tea from Y unnan The representative Y unnan dark tea is Pu-erh tea. It is produced after a long period of artificial fermentation (in piles with controlled temperature and humidity) of loose Y unnan green tea (Y unnan sun-baked green crude tea). It is usuallymade into compressed tea, such as the Qizibing (Seven Cakes)tea, brick tea, bowl tea, etc.

Pu-erh tea, very popular in the tea market today, is a representative dark tea–one of the six basic types of tea. It is also the favorite among the types of dark tea. Growing in a pure environment, it is effective in improving digestion and controlling cholesterol and blood pressure. This has increased its function to meet the spiritual and physical need of the mod-ern generation. Its tough transportation route closely associates Pu-erh tea with the ancient tea route.

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