Thursday, July 23, 2020

Tea Review: Gold Dust 2000 Fuzhuan Anhua Heicha (Bitterleaf Teas)

Gold Dust 2000 Fuzhuan Anhua Heicha
Bitterleaf Teas
Type: Heicha
Origin: China, Hunan Province, Anhua County
Product Description: 
With almost two decades of age on it, this Anhua fuzhuan heicha is well populated with golden flowers. The flavour is smooth and medicinal, with a pleasant and mellow camphor scent, slightly nutty character and lingering sweetness.
Temperature: 208° F
Amount: 3 grams
Steeping Time: 3-7 minutes

The dry leaves have an aroma of aromatic wood with a hint of sweet cinnamon.

The red-brown infusion has an aroma of aromatic wood, with light notes of cinnamon and ferns.  The taste is smooth with wood notes and hints of cinnamon and something that reminded me of mint.  

This is a very forgiving tea that invites experimentation, so I prepared it using 3 grams of leaf and again using 6 grams of leaf.  The flavor and aroma using 3 grams of leaf mellowed significantly after the initial infusion, though I found that it improved by increasing steeping times to 5-7 minutes.  Some intriguing maple notes developed in the aroma by the second infusion.  Steeping 6 grams of leaf for 5 minutes resulted in a much darker liquor with more pronounced aroma and flavor, including pleasant cocoa and maple-like notes.  I enjoyed the results from both weights of leaf, though using more leaf resulted in several more flavorful infusions for a more enjoyable tea tasting session.

Please note that fuzhuan cha is not celiac-safe.  The light speckling of jin hua (golden flower) that makes this style of dark tea unique is Eurotium cristatum, a potentially beneficial probiotic fungus which is sometimes encouraged to develop with a light dusting of flour.  

This tea was purchased by me.


[3 grams of leaf]

[6 grams of leaf]


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