FERMENTED TEA SERIES #1: INTRODUCTION, EXAMPLES... AND CRAFTING DARK TEA IN CANADA
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This article is the first of a series that will explore different aspects of fermented (dark) tea. It is not necessary to the essays in chronological order; they simply record topics that are currently top of find at our tea bar and that we want to share with our readers.
Let's start with the basics:
- Name: Dark Tea is a loose translation of 黑茶. This is 'heicha' (roughly pronounced ‘hey cha’) in Chinese and 'kuro cha' in Japanese.
- Definition: tea leaves (sometimes with other parts of the plant) that have undergone a microbial fermentation.
Important clarification: this style of tea should not be confused with the Western definition of ‘black tea’, which applies to ‘oxidized’ (not fermented) tea, and is called ‘red tea’ in the East.
As pretty much anything that involves fermentation, the Dark Tea category encompasses and incredible diversity of flavours, aromas and textures. These are just a few examples:
Awa Bancha Anaerobically Fermented Tea,Tokushima (Japan)
Workhorse, Hunan Brick Tea (organic), Anhua (China)
Oak Ash Fermented Bhutanese Tea, Trongsa (Bhutan)
Bata Bata Cha, 'Whisked' Dark Tea, Toyama (Japan)
How do you ferment tea? This topic is very wide and our knowledge is just a tip of the iceberg. We'll tackle bits of it in upcoming articles, aiming to share a few snippets that we find particularly fascinating.
Aiming to pique your interest, her go a couple of facts:
1) Awa Bancha is fermented in very old cedar barrels, drowning the leaves in water inoculated with a bunch of friendly micro-organisms.
2) Bhutanese Dark Tea is fermented with oak ash, creating a higher pH environment for your leaves. You can read our good friend Migma's recipe here; the process that she describes can be used both for tea (C. Sinensis) and mountain herbs.
3) Crafting Dark Tea in Canada (Trailer #1). Inspired by Migma, we're crafting some dark tea in Canada, in the summer of 2024. The following is trailer that summarizes day 1. We'll publish the rest soon.
Thank you for reading! Please leave any questions or ideas in the comment section, or give us a shout at the tea bar.
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