Fu Brick Tea Explained: What the Golden Flower Is and How to Brew It
11/9/2026 · 2 min read · Beginner
A fu brick looks unlike most tea: a dense, dark, rectangular block, and when you break it open you find tiny golden-yellow speckles scattered through the leaves. Those speckles are the whole point. This is fu zhuan (茯磚), a dark tea (hei cha) from Anhua county in Hunan, and the speckles are called the "golden flower", jin hua in Chinese.
What is the golden flower
During production the tea is pressed into bricks and then left to rest in a warm, humid room for a period called "fu" (to flourish). A natural culture settles on the leaves and forms the golden speckles. It is a deliberate, controlled step that tea makers have used for generations, and a good brick is judged partly by how evenly the golden flower has developed. No speckles at all is not a feature: it is a reason to ask questions.
How it tastes
Fu brick is a smooth, mellow tea with very little bitterness. Expect:
- A sweetness that people describe as dates, dried fruit or caramel.
- A woody, slightly herbal background.
- A deep reddish-brown liquor that stays friendly even if you brew it strongly.
Because it is so forgiving, it is a good "long-pot" tea for the table or a thermos. It also takes milk well if you drink tea that way.
How it differs from pu-erh
Both are post-fermented dark teas, but they come from different places and methods. Pu-erh is from Yunnan; fu brick is from Hunan. Our guide to hei cha versus pu-erh explains the family tree and where each fits.
How to break and brew a brick
Bricks are hard, so do not try to pull leaves with your fingers.
1. Use a tea knife or a sturdy pin and work from the edge, prying off a piece rather than cutting down. 2. For a standard gaiwan or pot, use about 5 g and rinse once with hot water, boiling is fine. 3. Brew with water at 95 to 100 °C. The first infusions can be around 20 to 30 seconds, then lengthen. 4. For a larger pot, simmer a chunk of 8 to 10 g in water for a few minutes, which is the traditional way to make a big, comforting pot.
Keep the rest of the brick dry and wrapped, away from strong smells. How to store tea covers the habits that matter.
Where to start
We cut our Anhua Jin Ni Hua fu brick to order, from 100 g up to a whole kilo brick, so you can try a small piece first and decide whether a full brick makes sense.