Coffee is made from which plant, and how is Anji Black tea made?
Anji Black is a black tea made from the fresh leaves of the Baiye No. 1 tea plant, the same variety used for Anji White Tea green tea, but processed with black tea fermentation. Oxidation turns the leaves into a rose-amber liquor with malt, honey, and molasses aromas, keeping the sweetness that comes from the variety's high amino acid content.
Anji County in Huzhou, Zhejiang supplies the leaf, picked in early April at one bud and two leaves. The two teas share a plant but diverge at processing, green tea versus black tea. In the same way that coffee is made from which plant determines its flavor, the variety and the processing path decide what ends up in the cup.
Anji Black is a new high-end black tea made from the fresh leaves of the Baiye No. 1 tea plant, processed using black tea fermentation techniques. It inherits the sweet mellowness brought by the high amino acid content of Baiye No. 1, while developing rich aromas of malt, honey, and molasses through oxidation. Compared with Anji White Tea green tea made from the same plant, Anji Black presents a completely different character in taste and color. This article will outline the origin, picking standards, varietal characteristics, and historical background of Anji Black, and analyze its essential differences from Anji White Tea green tea, introducing you to this new Chinese black tea that combines delicacy and depth.
This is a black tea of novel and unique style, exuding aromas of malt and grain, with rich fruity notes and a honey-like sweetness. The raw material used for Anji Black comes from the same amino-acid-rich tea variety as Anji White Tea green tea.
The 2021 vintage of Anji Black continues the style of the sweet and mellow black tea from last year. Due to very strong market demand, we have officially added it to our regular product catalog.
Origin of the Tea Anji County, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province
Tea Plant Variety
Baiye No. 1
Picking Season Early April
Picking Standard One bud and two leaves
For many years, the pale jade-colored leaves of Anji White Tea green tea have been our core product, prized for their clear floral fragrance, light mouthfeel, and rich amino acid content. Now you can observe how the same leaves transform in flavor when made into the stunning Anji Black black tea. Through oxidation, the unique qualities of the Baiye No. 1 tea plant evolve into a rose-amber liquor with aromas of malt, honey, and molasses. The longer it steeps, the deeper the flavor, the darker the liquor, and the more prominent the fruity notes—yet as a black tea, Anji Black still maintains a distinctive delicacy.
The picking time for Anji Black is similar to its sister product, Yuqian Anji White Tea, also picking one bud and two tender leaves. Both teas are made from the same "Baiye No. 1" tea plant. The difference lies entirely in the technical path of processing the fresh leaves into green tea or black tea. As a non-traditional high-end black tea, Anji Black is closer to rare high-end black teas such as Yunnan old-tree Dianhong and Qimen Caixia in sweetness and complexity, yet possesses a unique softness.
Unique Characteristics of the Anji Black Tea Plant Variety
Pale Anji White Tea leaves growing on the tea plant.
The slightly later leaves of the second spring harvest make a more full-bodied black tea. The pale jade leaves of Baiye No. 1 are unique in their high amino acid content, which contributes to the sweetness and calming effect of the brewed tea. Some studies estimate that the amino acid content of Baiye No. 1 is about three to five times that of other varieties. Before early spring temperatures rise to 25 degrees Celsius, the leaves are at their palest and richest in amino acids. Once temperatures rise above this, the leaves turn noticeably greener and the flavor changes. Therefore, only the spring harvest of Baiye No. 1 is used. Regardless of how it is processed, the tea leaves of Baiye No. 1 tend to brew delicately. For Anji Black, we selected slightly more mature leaves from late spring, grown to one bud and two leaves. Leaves at this growth stage have a firmer body suited to black tea, while still expressing the unique characteristics of the variety.
Recent Changes in Chinese Black Tea Production Although Chinese black tea was historically produced as an export commodity, in recent years high-end black tea made to the strict specifications of China's finest green teas has become increasingly popular domestically. As a result, many producers have begun making black tea from their own green tea. Anji Black is one of the products of this trend, first appearing on the tea market in 2010. "Anji" refers to its place of origin in Anji, Zhejiang.
Anji White Tea Green Tea Has a Long History
The mother bush of Anji White Tea green tea grows on a hillside, with a stone tablet in front of it.
The mother bush of Anji White Tea green tea, estimated to be over 300 years old. The history of this tea can be traced back at least to the famous Song Dynasty emperor Song Huizong (1082-1135). As an artist and avid tea lover, he wrote a book about tea, devoting an entire chapter to describing the pale tea of "white tea." In addition, Lu Yu (733-804), the famous Tang Dynasty tea sage and author of the world's first book on tea, described Anji, its birthplace, as a treasure of tea. However, he did not mention the specific tea or its source. It took tea scholars and tea masters 900 years to connect the two teas, to realize they were talking about the same tea, and to discover the white tea bushes still surviving in Anji. Since 1980, these tea plants have been propagated enough to become a commercial crop. Since then, Anji White Tea has become today's most sought-after green tea in the tea world due to its limited production and extensive history. All of today's white tea plants evolved from two mother trees, only one of which is still alive. The surviving mother tea tree is estimated to be over 300 years old, and its location on the mountainside has now become a destination for devoted Chinese tea drinkers.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
