DETAILED TASTING NOTES

Warm Leaf Smell: roasted almonds, clay, buckwheat bread
Wet Leaf Smell: dry soil, bread, almonds
Texture Feel: medium, chalky but coating
Taste: chestnuts, malty kvass, black sugar, tiny bit of cassia, sunflower seeds, jujube
Finish Feel: mellow and round, dry to juicy
Empty Cup Smell: toast with honey
Aftertaste: sunflower seeds gozinaki
Body Feel: warm, grounded

Category: Dark Tea
Native Name: 金花泾阳茯茶
Harvest: 2018 Spring
Origin: Yiyang City, Anhua County, Hunan Province; processed into Fu Brick in Jingyang county, Shaanxi Province, China
Cultivar: Hunan Dayezhong (Big leaf)
Altitude: 600–1000m

Most Fu teas available on the market lean earthy, humid, ferment-forward — Anhua (Hunan province) teas mostly. Jingyang Fu (Shaanxi province) teas are different: fruitier, nuttier, and notably cleaner, which I'd put down to Shaanxi's drier climate shaping the storage and ageing conditions. The jinhua (golden flowers) here are present but not too loud, which is rarer than you'd think. They complement the tea without taking over. The hand-pressing also means no stems in the brick, and it breaks apart effortlessly. Honest quality at a price that makes no sense for how good it is.
 
If you like Fu teas and want to try something new, check out our Forest Saint-Germain - a unique white tea processed into fuzhuan (Fu brick) by the same producer as Golden Loaf.

Gongfu brewing:
100°C
7g /100ml
1st infusion: 10sec, next: +5sec/infusion
15 infusions
 
Boiled:
A great candidate for boiling - instead or after Gongfu brewing. Use 5-10g per 500ml, and consider adding 1-2 crystals of good mineral salt. Simmer on a low flame and top up with water as needed. The longer it boils, the thicker, darker and smoother it gets. Leave at least a third of the soup in the pot and refill with hot water as many times as you like.
 
On the go:
Throw 5-10g into a litre flask, fill with boiling water (100°C), and drink throughout the day.

The fuzhuan (Fu brick) is a type of tea that undergoes a unique fermentation in which a fungus called eurotium cristatum grows inside the brick as characteristic golden dots, known as jinhua (golden flowers). Jingyang, in Shaanxi province, where Fu tea is said to have originated, has been perfecting this craft for around six centuries, under the specific temperature and oxygen conditions that favour golden flower development.
 
Jingyang Fu teas often use heimaocha (raw material) from other regions, unlike Anhua which almost always uses local tea. The raw material for this brick was harvested in Anhua, Hunan, to a first-grade standard (one bud and two leaves), then went through shaqing (kill-green) and initial drying. It was then transported to Jingyang, where it was steamed, wodui (pile-fermented) for two days, inoculated with the brand's own golden flower culture, and hand-pressed into bricks before 45 days of aging in dedicated chambers. Entirely handmade.
 
The story of this tea with Tea Drunk Monkeys starts in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province, where Efim happened to meet a Jingyang native who produces and sells his teas locally. He opened his shop just for us during the holidays, answered every question directly, and showed us what he and a close friend are quietly experimenting with. Their teas are nearly impossible to find elsewhere in China, let alone abroad.

The golden dots you see throughout the brick are not mold in any harmful sense. They are eurotium cristatum, a fungal culture that has been cultivated intentionally in Fu tea production for hundreds of years, prized for the depth it adds to the flavour and for its reputed digestive and metabolic benefits.
 
We've come across anecdotal reports online of people sensitive to gluten reacting to golden flower, though we've found no concrete evidence explaining this. No gluten was used at any stage in the processing of this tea. If you have known sensitivities, we'd suggest starting with a small amount.