Teas / dark / Anhua Fuzhuan (Golden Flowers Brick)

Anhua Fuzhuan (Golden Flowers Brick)
🇨🇳 China

Anhua Fuzhuan (Golden Flowers Brick)

Ān Huà Fú Zhuān · 安化茯砖 (安化茯磚)

fuzhuan · zhuan

Fuzhuan is a brick-form post-fermented dark tea (heicha) from Anhua County in southern Hunan. Its defining feature is the deliberate fermentation of Eurotium cristatum — the "Golden Flowers" — a yellow-orange fungus visible inside a freshly-cracked brick that is cultivated by humidity and temperature control during pressing. Anhua is recorded as one of the original birthplaces of Chinese dark tea, with records of cultivation going back to the Tang dynasty.

Quick facts

Region
Anhua
Harvest year
2017
Harvest season
spring
Shape
zhuan

Brewing

Leaf
5.0 g / 100 ml
Water
100°C
Rinse
yes
Gongfu steeps (s)
10, 15, 20, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120

Boiling water; for older bricks rinse twice. Whole-leaf chunks open slowly — give the first three infusions time. Famously gentle on a sensitive stomach when aged.

Calculate leaf weight for this tea

Tasting notes

Aroma
sweet wood, dried mushroom, faint medicinal
Flavor
smooth, mellow sweet, rounded
Mouthfeel
thick, oily
Finish
long, sweet

Aging potential

Properly stored Fuzhuan continues to mellow and sweeten for 20+ years; the "golden flowers" stay viable as part of the aging chemistry.

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