China Hunan Anhua Fu Brick Tea
Earthy, honeyed and smooth: Anhua's fu brick, a tea made to be carried, boiled and shared across the northwest.
Anhua fu brick tea comes from Anhua County in Hunan, the best-known home of Chinese dark tea: a brick pressed from piled leaf and grown through with golden flower.
Sensory profile
You should taste
How it unfolds
Where it sits
That is 40 mg in one serving (8 oz cup (240 ml)), a concentration of 16.7 mg per 100 ml. The scale above ranks whole servings, and servings differ in size, so a larger drink can sit further right while being weaker cup for cup.
Editorial estimate, not a laboratory measurement
Related gear
| Brewing method | Gaiwan or Mug |
|---|---|
| Brew ratio | 1:20 |
| Leaf & water per infusion | 5g → 100g |
| Grind size | Pressed Brick, Broken into Chunks |
| Water temperature | 212°F / 100°C |
| Target brew time | 15 seconds for the first infusions, plus about 8 seconds each round |
| Serving used for caffeine | 8 oz cup (240 ml) — see the mug or teapot version below |
What you need
- 5 g compressed or loose dark tea
- 100 g filtered water at 100°C
Required gear
Step-by-step protocol
- 0:00Warm the gaiwan or pot with hot water and discard it. Add 5 g of leaf and smell the warmed leaf before brewing.
- 0:20Rinse: cover with water at 100°C and pour off immediately. This wakes the leaf; do not drink it.
- 0:40First infusion — pour off after 15 seconds, decanting completely.
- 1:20Second infusion, 15 seconds.
- 2:00Third infusion, 20 seconds. From here add about 8 seconds each round.
- 2:45Keep going until the liquor pales — good leaf gives eight to fifteen infusions.
Brewing it in a mug or teapot
The gongfu method above packs a lot of leaf into a small vessel. This version is for a 240 ml cup — the serving the caffeine figure describes.
- Leaf
- 3 g
- Water
- 240 ml
- Temperature
- 212°F / 100°C
- Steep
- about 3 minutes
- 0:00Warm the mug or teapot with hot water and pour it away, so the brewing water does not lose heat to cold ceramic.
- 0:15Add 3 g of leaf.
- 0:30Rinse: cover the leaf with water at 100°C and pour it off after a few seconds. Do not drink it.
- 0:50Pour 240 g of water at 100°C over the leaf, cover, and start the timer.
- 3:50Lift the leaf out or pour the tea off the leaf completely. Leaf left in the cup keeps extracting and turns the last mouthful bitter.
For a bigger pot, simmer 5 to 10 g of broken brick in 500 ml of water for three to five minutes and strain.
What it may be good for
How strong is it?
We list about 40 mg for an 8 oz cup.
Brick tea likes a boil
Fu brick is built for boiling water. Gongfu brewers use it at 100°C, and for a bigger pot you can simmer 5 to 10 g of broken brick in 500 ml of water for three to five minutes and strain.
What to watch out for
- Caffeine affects everyone differently. If you are pregnant or nursing, sensitive to caffeine, or have been told to limit it, check with your doctor about how much tea is right for you.
- Some sellers advise people with a gluten allergy or celiac disease to avoid fu brick tea, which is grown through with the golden flower fungus. If that applies to you, check with your doctor first.
Anhua fu brick tea comes from Anhua County in Hunan, the best-known home of Chinese dark tea: a brick pressed from piled leaf and grown through with golden flower. The liquor is orange-red, mellow and earthy, with honey, dried fruit and a soft woody depth. Brewed in boiling water, gongfu style or simmered.
Origin & Story
Anhua County lies on the Zijiang River in Yiyang, in northern Hunan, and its tea has gone upriver and north for centuries. In 1595 the Ming government made Anhua dark tea an official tea, a regulated form of currency in the trade with the borderlands, and tea from here is still sold across the northwest.
For the people of the plateaus and steppes, brick tea was food as much as drink. Tibetans and Central Asians traditionally boil dark tea with yak butter, sugar and salt, a drink that is also a source of calories. In Xinjiang, the Uyghur, Xibe and Tatar are among the peoples who favor fuzhuan brick tea, which they boil into a salted milk tea, and the saying goes that a day without food is easier than a day without tea.
Anhua fu brick is made from piled leaf that is steamed, pressed into a brick and then held warm and humid so that golden flower, a yellow fungus, can grow through it. The result steeps to an orange-yellow or orange-red and tastes mellow, with a pure fragrance or a note of pine smoke, and aged bricks turn redder and sweeter.
China sets national standards for dark tea, including a separate one for Fuzhuan brick tea, and Anhua dark tea is protected as a geographical indication product under Hunan's local standard.
Break 5 g from the brick and brew it in a 100 ml gaiwan with boiling water after a quick rinse, 15 seconds for the first infusion and a few more each round, or do as the northwest does and simmer 5 to 10 g in 500 ml of water for three to five minutes.
Reading the Flavor Profile
| Axis | Score |
|---|---|
| Sweetness | 60/100 |
| Acidity | 30/100 |
| Bitterness | 30/100 |
| Body | 85/100 |
| Aroma | 70/100 |
These values are comparative editorial positions within our own catalog, calibrated so entries can be ranked against each other. They are not laboratory measurements.
How much caffeine is in China Hunan Anhua Fu Brick Tea?
One serving, 8 oz cup (240 ml), contains approximately 40 mg of caffeine.
What temperature should I use for China Hunan Anhua Fu Brick Tea?
Target 100°C (212°F).
How long should China Hunan Anhua Fu Brick Tea be extracted?
Timing: 15 seconds for the first infusions, plus about 8 seconds each round. Method: Gaiwan or Mug. Ratio: 5g per 100ml water (gaiwan). Grind or leaf format: Pressed Brick, Broken into Chunks.
Why does my China Hunan Anhua Fu Brick Tea taste bitter?
In gongfu, bitterness comes from pours that run too long or from too little leaf for the vessel. Keep the early infusions short, pour the tea off the leaf completely every time, and fill the gaiwan or pot generously; an under-filled vessel tastes thin and tannic rather than gentle.
Where is Anhua?
Anhua is a county in Yiyang, in northern Hunan Province, China, along the Zijiang River. It is one of the best-known homes of Chinese dark tea, including fu brick, black brick and flower brick.
How is brick tea drunk in northwest China?
It is boiled, not steeped. In Xinjiang a broken piece of fuzhuan brick is simmered in water and then combined with milk and salt, and sometimes butter or spices, for a salted milk tea.
Is Anhua fu brick the same as other fu brick?
It is the same kind of tea. Fu brick began in Jingyang in Shaanxi, but production moved to Anhua in the 1950s, and today Anhua is where most fu brick is made.
Who should avoid China Hunan Anhua Fu Brick Tea?
Caffeine affects everyone differently. If you are pregnant or nursing, sensitive to caffeine, or have been told to limit it, check with your doctor about how much tea is right for you. Some sellers advise people with a gluten allergy or celiac disease to avoid fu brick tea, which is grown through with the golden flower fungus. If that applies to you, check with your doctor first. This information is educational and is not medical advice. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, managing a cardiac or gastrointestinal condition, or taking prescription medication, discuss caffeine and botanical intake with a qualified healthcare professional before making changes.
What people say
Plain Porcelain Gaiwan, 110 ml
In this recipe: Gaiwan or small clay pot, 100–150 ml
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