Catching Candy Clouds is a 2021 Fu Brick made from the heirloom cultivar growing in Hunan and fermented naturally (with no wheat incoculation). Candied brazil nuts, chocolate, fruits, flowers and hard candies.
Our follow-up to the nutty delights of 'Hunting for Pralines' is here!
Catching Candy Clouds is made from 2021 pickings of old-bush (50-100 year old) heirloom, seed-grown cultivars growing around Yi Yang.
While it has the depth of nuts, woods and, leather and vanilla typical of Fu Zhuan tea, this batch exhibits a fabulous light sweetness of floral and fruit candy.
For those who need a catch-up, Fu Zhuan is a ripened tea (Hei Cha) just like Ripe PuErh from Yunnan, Liu Bao from Guangxi, and many other variations. The key process for Hei Cha is the accelerated microbial fermentation of the leaves.
Fu Zhuan is a Ming Dynasty historic tea originally from Shaanxi province, but since the 1950's the production of this tea type has been embraced by Hunan.
The methods to make Fu Zhuan vary considerably between producers and many of the processing details are kept quite secretive.
In general, the picked leaves are fired in woks and then undergo immediate Wo Dui (pile fermentation) before being sun-dried. These semi-fermented leaves are then pressed into bricks and stored in temperature and humidity controlled fermentation rooms for many months. This develops flavour and ecourages the famed Jin Hua or Golden Flower mold (eruotium cristatum).
Golden spore Jin Hua mold has a very particular taste - honeyed and yeasty. It is quite delicious and is a hallmark of Fuzhuan tea.
But I find that this taste overly dominates many Fu Bricks as producers promote the idea that the amount of Golden Flowers is a direct representation of quality. There is this marketing spin that more Golden Flower Mold = better tea.
So producers can get quite fanatical about boosting their Jin Hua content and will sometimes innoculate the tea with spores blended with wheat flour (making the tea unsuitable for those with wheat allergies).
I don't like this approach.
Firstly, I don't think that wheat should be added to the tea leaves.
Secondly I don't agree with this direct association between the amount of Golden Flower mold and quality.
The Golden Flower mold adds a necessary flavour profile to Fu Zhuan but the tea has to shine out as the star of the show.
Catching Candy Clouds has been fermented naturally without any innoculation and hits the perfect balance. The golden spore taste is there with all of its glorious vanillin comfort but the heirloom and wild tea is also showing its calibre.
The aroma and taste of this tea is uniquely bright for a Fu Brick.
Don't get me wrong, the trademark delights of vanilla, antique woods, chocolate, clay and leather are all there. Add candied brazil nuts, dark brown sugar and rum to give the tea a caramelled sweetness and warmth.
But then a playful ightness leaps from the cup - the vanilla moves to cheesecake and the light fudge. The sugars turn to cotton candy and the rum evaporates to a sweet lilac, pear and berry candy!
This combination of aged richness moving to an airy and youthful sweetness makes this tea very special in the world of Fu - enjoyable as a late night indulgence or an early morning sipper.
The body sensation si similarly two-tone. On the one hand it is a settling and cleansing digestif while on the other it leaves you feeling light and perky.
This multi-layered character is all testament to excellent pickings and considered, natural and lighter fermentation to craft a full spectrum tea that showcases the quality of the leaves and terroir rather than just creating a dark Fu.
Grab a brick and Catch your Candy Clouds.
