All About Heicha, Pu-erh's Darker, Moodier Sibling
The rich, earthy flavors of pu-erh tea are a style that has intrigued tea drinkers for centuries. But some may not know that pu-erh is just one of the many kinds of heicha, a broader category of microbially fermented teas that are aged for months or years before drinking. Varieties of heicha produced across and beyond China include liu bao, lu'an, and fu cha. Each of these teas has a long history, and overall they yield dark, soothing brews with notes of roasted mushrooms, red dates and autumn leaves. Heicha are sometimes used in traditional medicinal remedies because of their purported stomach-settling properties. They're also excellent teas to enjoy in cold weather.
In the annals of Chinese tea, heicha is translated as "dark" or "black tea." What Westerners dubbed black tea is labeled as hong cha, or "red tea," owing to the reddish color of the brewed liquid. Similar to black tea, heicha undergo some oxidation during processing and aging, but what really distinguishes them is fermentation by natural bacteria and fungi that live on the leaves. These teas ripen over time much like cheese, undergoing chemical changes that transform green leaves into something much darker.
What is heicha?
Many heicha begin much like green tea: Fresh leaves are plucked by hand, briefly withered to drive off some moisture, then cooked in a hot wok or oven to halt enzymatic activity. After rolling and drying, the resulting leaves are, more or less, green tea. For heicha, however, the story has just begun.
After drying, leaves destined for heicha may be baked, left outdoors to soak up the morning dew, or piled into heaps to encourage fermentation, much like composting—the exact process depends on the type of heicha. Liu bao and lu'an leaves are then steamed until soft so they can be packed into woven bamboo baskets. Fu cha and other varieties are compressed into dense bricks.
Packing heicha into baskets or bricks is a traditional method to make the tea easier to transport and age. Bricks of heicha were once used as currency in parts of China, and often traded for goods and livestock like horses. There are long trading relationships between tea regions like Sichuan and arid places like Tibet, where the nutrients from heicha became an essential component of the local diet.
As you might suspect from all this processing, heicha is labor intensive to produce, requiring a small army of workers not just to make the tea, but to process bamboo leaves for storage and bricks for aging. Most heicha are rustic productions that are specific to certain regions. Their popularity has waxed and waned through history, with some methods having gone nearly extinct at times. Today, heicha represents a fragile link to the past—a drinkable heirloom that is dependent on a whole ecosystem of tea makers.
How to brew heicha
When well made and aged, heicha is easy and forgiving to brew. The dark liquor has a silky body and sweet, soothing finish with minimal bitterness or astringency. The flavor is more savory than most teas: think earthy diner coffee, roasted pumpkin seeds or sourdough bread. We especially love their heady richness after a heavy meal.
For the most vivid flavor, brew heicha using gong fu methods: a small pot or gaiwan, lots of leaf and short, repeated steepings. Heicha can be re-steeped several times to deliver a kaleidoscope of earthy flavors; subsequent brews only get sweeter. Fully boiling water is ideal for most heicha. Pre-heating your pot and cup will ensure that you taste the tea at its fullest. Be sure to quickly rinse the tea (in the brewing vessel) before your first steep to start to open up the leaves.
You can also infuse a smaller amount of heicha in a large pot or thermos for an easygoing brew. It's difficult for heicha to oversteep, so you can let the leaves linger for a while.
Is pu-erh tea a kind of heicha?
These days, pu-erh is probably the most famous kind of heicha, though whether it technically counts as heicha depends on who you ask. To be considered pu-erh, the tea must come from large-leaf Camellia sinensis var. assamica plants grown in Yunnan, and the leaves must be dried in the sun. Other heicha varieties can be made from all kinds of tea plants grown in other provinces and are usually dried in ovens or bamboo frames over charcoal. Pu-erh tea can undergo microbial fermentation with aging, but if drunk fresh, a sheng ("raw") pu-erh has more in common with a green tea than a typical heicha.
Shu ("ripe") pu-erh is made in a manner similar to some heicha. After drying, the leaves are sprinkled with water and piled up until their combined biomass kickstarts fermentation. This process, called wo dui, was developed in the 1970s and was inspired by similar piling techniques used for making heicha. Ripe pu-erh teas like our Shu Pu-erh Truffles, Horse-Shu Bamboo Stick Pu-erh, and Green Tangerine Pu-erh taste similar to some heicha varieties.
Lu'an, a regal heicha
Before pu-erh was the big heicha in town, lu'an was one of the most prestigious kinds of heicha. This specialty from Anhui Province is made from the same young buds and leaves used to make Lu'an Guapian, a delicate green tea. As heicha, lu'an is inky in color, mellow in flavor, and suffused with a cooling sweetness that makes it a favorite of old timer dim sum goers in Hong Kong. Older batches of lu'an may sell for thousands of dollars for a 500 gram basket.
Lu'an is one of the most labor intensive of all heicha to produce, and it almost disappeared during the tumultuous period of China's communist uprising in the mid 20th century. Several stages of baking, piling and ripening the leaves are required to coax out its flavor. A little too long on the fire and the brew tastes flat; too short a time in the pile and the microbes won't ferment the leaves the right way. Like cheese and sauerkraut, this kind of tea is, in a sense, alive. Tea makers must work with it and adjust their methods according to the weather and time of year.
To brew lu'an, use a knife or metal pick to pry a portion of leaves from the top of the basket. Traditionally, a piece of the bamboo leaf wrapping is brewed with the leaves, which adds a subtle herbal quality to the cup.
Our lu'an was made in 2004 and has spent most of the last two decades in the hands of a private collector specializing in aged teas and heicha. Its sweet, tangy fragrance leads to notes of tobacco and earth—just the thing to cozy up with on a chilly day. We hope you enjoy the flavor and history of this proud tea tradition!