Dark tea refers to any tea type that undergoes a “post fermentation” process (like ripe puer tea). We are associating it here with the pile-fermented tea from Hunan province. Hunan dark tea has a long history going back to the trading routes of the ancient Tea Horse Road. These dark teas tend to have a mild, earthy-sweet, pine/hay-like character.
Though dark tea refers to any tea that undergoes a post-fermentation process (like Ripe (Shu) Puer), we are using the term here specifically for the pile-fermented teas of Hunan Province.
These teas tend to have a mild, earthy-sweet character with notes of pine, hay, and aged wood.
