Dark Tea

Dark Tea also known as Fermented Tea or Post-Fermented Tea, is one of the six tea categories in China.

Don’t be confused with black tea and dark tea. The key process for black tea is oxidization, while it’s microbial fermentation for dark tea. Microbial fermentation produces metabolites with health benefits.

Appearance for other teas are loose in general, but dark tea’s appearance is normally in brick or cylindrical after being pressed in moulds.

Because dark tea’s shelf life is considered as long term without time limit, and its health benefits are effective to improve human’s digestion, it became the most popular tea type in traditional tea trade inside China and with neighbouring countries since hundreds of years ago. Even nowadays, dark tea is the most popular tea type consumed in Xizhang(Tibet), Xinjiang, Gansu，Qinghai, Neimenggu, Mongolia and border cities in Russia.

Molding loose teas into tea bricks or tea cylinders is very necessary to save space in past transportation.

Modern transportation is convenient and fast, saving space becomes not so necessary. How to brew dark tea easily and conveniently has become a new task. Nowadays, loose dark tea, dark tea in cube and chocolate appearance become more and more popular. Cooking kettle specialized for dark tea was invented.

Yunnan, Hunan, Hubei, Guangxi, Shanxi, Anhui and Sichuan are famous for dark tea’s production

Nowadays, dark tea is popular for losing weight in whole China, Alsinia’s opinion for losing weight-more exercise, healthy food with balanced nutrition and natural drink with less sugar.