Dark tea is one of the six major types of Chinese tea that involves microbial fermentation in the formation of its quality and flavor. In 2021, China's total production of dark tea reached 396,900 tons, ranking third among the six major types of tea. In 2022, China's dark tea industry entered a new phase of high-quality development. Since the late 1980s, the team of tea experts from Hunan Agricultural University has successively conducted basic research, technological innovation, and product innovation on dark tea, scientifically interpreting the drinking attributes and health benefits of Anhua dark tea. As the health benefits of dark tea have been continuously confirmed by research, it has gradually become an ideal beverage for people to prevent sub-health.
I. Tea-Horse Trade and the Origin of Dark Tea
The exact time of origin of dark tea remains uncertain. The term “dark tea” was already in use during the mid-Ming dynasty. The emergence of dark tea is inseparable from the long-lasting tea-horse trade between central China and the border regions. It may have been the long-distance transportation between inland and border areas, between producing and consuming areas, that gave rise to the durable and transportable dark tea category. Therefore, it is commonly believed that dark tea was formed under “ship cabins and horsebacks.”
Dark tea formed on horseback
The “Tea-Horse Exchange Market,” which originated in the Tang Dynasty, refers to the historical trade between Han and Tibetan ethnic groups in Northwest China, where tea was exchanged for horses or vice versa. This was the primary form of commerce between ancient central China and the minority regions of Northwest China. Long-term tea-horse exchange activities led to the formation of the Tea Horse Road, a folk international trade route in Southwest China, primarily using packhorse as the main mode of transportation. It served as a corridor for economic and cultural exchanges between the southwestern ethnic groups of China. The Tea Horse Road connected Sichuan, Yunnan, and Tibet, extending into Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal, and India, reaching as far as West Asia and the Red Sea coast of Western Africa.
The Anhua Tea Horse Road
In 2013, the Tea Horse Road was listed as a national key cultural relic protection unit by the State Council. The tea produced in Hubei, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan had to be transported along the Tea Horse Road, by boat and carriage, to the consumption areas at the border. During the Tang and Song dynasties, steamed green tea was prevalent. At that time, basket-packed tea traveled north along the Han River and then along the Silk Road, transported over long distances by camels and horses to the northwest. Due to the humid climate during water transportation, the waterproof performance of the baskets was extremely poor. After absorbing moisture, the tea underwent oxidation, polymerization, hydrolysis, and transformation of its internal chemical components under conditions of high moisture content. Simultaneously, with prolonged transportation in damp conditions, microorganisms began to thrive. Under the synergistic action of these microorganisms, the transformation of tea quality accelerated, gradually forming a completely different aroma profile compared to green tea.
Over time, people's consumption habits gradually formed, and the demand for this unique color, aroma, and taste became increasingly fixed. Although the production history of border tea in China exceeds a thousand years, the term “dark tea” only appeared about 400 years ago. In the third year of Jiajing (1524) during the Ming Dynasty, Imperial Censor Chen Jiang submitted a memorial stating, “Commercial tea is low-grade and fake, all collected as dark tea.”
II. Border-Sale Tea and the Development of Dark Tea
When people mention border-sale tea, they often think of dark tea. However, border-sale tea is not equivalent to dark tea.
Dark tea is defined based on processing technology, while border-sale tea is a concept defined by the consumption area. Generally speaking, most categories of border-sale tea belong to the compressed dark tea category. For ease of transportation, border-sale tea is usually made into compressed forms. After fermentation and steaming, the raw tea is pressed into molds to be processed into brick shapes and other forms, making it compact, easy to store, and transport.
In addition to dark rough tea and old green tea, red tea fannings are also used as raw materials for compressing border-sale tea; rice brick tea is made from red tea. Border-sale tea is a necessity for the lives of ethnic minorities in border regions. Due to differences in production and sales history, the main consumption areas of different categories of border-sale tea vary. Fu brick, black brick, Flower brick, and rice brick are mainly supplied to Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, and Ningxia; Kang brick and gold tip are mainly supplied to Tibet and Qinghai; green brick tea is mainly supplied to Inner Mongolia; Yunnan's Compressed tea is mainly supplied within Yunnan province, with some sold in Tibet and Sichuan.
III. A Brief History of Hunan Dark Tea Development
In the third year of Jiajing (1524) during the Ming Dynasty, the “History of Ming: Food and Goods Annals” records, “Commercial tea is low-grade and fake, all collected as dark tea.” Here, dark tea refers to Anhua dark tea from Hunan. It further states, “In the thirteenth year of Wanli (1595)… the tea-horse trade was limited to Hanzhong and Baoning, while Hunan produced tea, which was cheap, leading merchants to cross borders illegally to purchase and sell it.” That is to say, since 1595, Anhua dark tea from Hunan gradually gained market favor, and tea merchants began to purchase and sell it illegally across traditional production areas.
Anhua dark tea was first produced in Baoziyuan, later developing upstream along the Zi River and eventually spreading throughout the entire county. The “Six Caves Tea” of Anhua is the most famous, specifically, Huoshao Cave on Enxian Creek south of the Zi River, Tiaoyu Cave on Zhulin Creek, Piaoshui Cave and Tanxiang Cave on Dayou Creek, Shenshui Cave on Huangsha Creek, and Xiangan Cave on Zhuping Creek. Among them, Tiaoyu Cave and Huoshao Cave are more famous. In terms of quality alone, the best is produced in Gaojiayi and Majiayi, commonly known as “Gaoma Two Creeks Tea.” Anhua is well-known for its dark tea and is located in the middle reaches of the Zi River, making waterway transportation convenient. Shanxi merchants set up businesses in Anhua to produce tea, transporting it to Hankou or through Henan and Shanxi to be resold in the northwest, or via Xikou (Baotou) and Dongkou (Zhangjiakou) to Chiakto, and then by Russian merchants to St. Petersburg and other parts of Europe.