Caravan Trade Staple · Dark Tea
Anhua (安化) Dark Tea
Photo: Kasuga / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Compressed into bricks, it was once used as currency and rations along caravan routes into northwest China and Mongolia.
Anhua dark tea is a fermented, earthy tea pressed into bricks and cakes in Hunan's Anhua county, brewed strong and often boiled rather than steeped. It's sold in tea shops and roadside stalls throughout Hunan, especially prized in winter for its warming, digestive qualities.
Why it's made this way: Its role as a portable, long-shelf-life trade good along historic caravan routes made it central to Hunan's tea economy for centuries.
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