Zang Cha
Zang Cha (藏茶)
Also known as Tibetan Tea and 藏茶.
Zang Cha is Dark Tea that is produced primarily for the Tibetan market, where it is often used as the base ingredient for Suyou Cha, a delicious mixture of tea, salt, and butter.
It is sold in two grades:
- Kang Zhuan
- Jin Jian
Name
- 藏 (pronounced Zang in Mandarin): refers to Tibet. We can also see the character in compound words relating to the Tibetan region (西藏), people (藏人), and language (藏语).
- 茶 (pronounced Cha in Mandarin): means tea.
Terroir
Zang Cha is not actually grown in Tibet. Rather, it is mostly produced in Western Sichuan for the Tibetan (and local) markets. Most samples seem to come from Yaan City, which is home to the Yaan Tea Factory and serves as a central hub for distribution of Tibetan tea.Flavor
The dual processes of fermentation and aging give Zang Cha a unique flavor profile of wood, spice, mushrooms, and nuts. There is a distinctly medicinal experience to the drink that invokes shops filled with traditional Chinese herbs.
Production
Similar to Shu Puer and other Hei Cha, Zang Cha undergoes the Wo Dui (wet piling) fermentation process, which helps impart rich, robust flavors.
The leaf pluck quality ranges widely — from the refined one-bud-one-leaf, to the more crude one-bud-five-leaves — so experiences may vary.
At the end of the process, the leaves are often pressed into bricks, a process that assists with storage and aging.