- Production year: 2013
- Storage: Hunan
- Month cut: July 2025
- Brick weight: 2 kg
- Bag weight: ~200g / bag (+/- 10%)
- Price: USD 15 / bag
- Availability: In stock
Zhongcha (中茶)… does the company need an introduction? A subsidiary of COFCO, they’re big, encompassing factories and areas that covers pretty much all there is to cover of Chinese tea. The kind of “too big to fail” operation that doesn’t have people hold their breath for output that is outstanding in any one dimension.
That said, they produce plenty of very decent Anhua Heicha – I think their standard Dark Tea Garden (黑茶园) productions is a good place to start out for people who just want to dip their feet in the genre with something fairly representative and cheap – and sometimes even downright good stuff.
The Xuefeng Jindian (雪峰金典) series was launched in 2013 to quite some fanfare. The standout quality of the line is the processing technique, which Zhongcha allegedly used three years to get right. In particular the qixing stove step where local pinewood was used. (Side note: If you believe that is the case for all big factory, or even “artisan”, Anhua Heicha productions, then I have a bridge to sell you.) For some reason the Xuefeng Jindian series seems to be praticularly common in Taiwan, perhaps the front cover spot on issue 48 of the “普洱·壶艺” magazine (an issue which focused on Anhua Heicha) and the extensive coverage of the factory there had a role to play.
On offer here is the huazhuan from the first year of production, the 2kg version. (In 2013 the huazhuans came in 2kg and 1kg sizes, in 2014 they switched to 880 and 1800 grams). The brick has been cut into cubes which are available in bags of around 200 grams each.
Note: This tea may contain golden flowers (Jinhua/金花), a perfectly natural occurrence in certain heicha teas. Their development depends on factors like microbial activity, storage conditions, and time. However, individuals with Celiac Disease or severe gluten allergies should exercise caution, as we cannot guarantee that no wheat-based materials were involved at any stage of production.
For those interested in blurbs, here’s one from 2013.
