Fu Zhuan vs Qingzhuan

Fu Zhuan

Fu Zhuan, or Fu Brick, is a pressed dark tea from Anhua in Hunan, famous for the golden flowers — Eurotium cristatum fungus — that bloom inside the brick during processing. The cup is smooth and lightly sweet: hay, dried grass, and a clean earthy depth with a distinctive herbaceous note from the flowers. Bricks are often brewed or even simmered, and the tea is a staple of northwest China's border regions.

Qingzhuan

Qingzhuan, 'green brick', is Hubei's pressed dark tea from the historic Yangloudong trading post — despite the name, the tea itself is dark. Compressed into dense bricks for the northern border trade, it steeps thick and warming with earthy depth, woody notes, and a hint of medicinal character that softens with age. Mongolian and Tibetan butter-tea traditions were built on bricks like this one.

Fu Zhuan

Water temperature

95–100°C

Leaf to water

5g / 250ml

Steep time

0.5–1 min

Re-steep

5–8 times

Qingzhuan

Water temperature

95–100°C

Leaf to water

5g / 250ml

Steep time

1–2 min

Re-steep

4–6 times

Fu Zhuan

Medium caffeine — roughly 25–50 mg per brewed serving

A moderate, steady lift without an intense spike.

Qingzhuan

Medium caffeine — roughly 25–45 mg per brewed serving

A moderate, steady lift without an intense spike.

Fu Zhuan

China · Hunan (Anhua)

Fu Zhuan is produced in Anhua county, Hunan, and its golden flowers are a protected hallmark of the style.

Qingzhuan

China · Hubei (Chibi / Yangloudong)

Qingzhuan brick has been produced around Chibi's Yangloudong since the Qing dynasty for trade toward Mongolia and Russia.