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Yesterday was the first time I took a bit more than just a glance at Hei Cha (other than Liu Bao, which I do drink), so I found myself perusing this TeaForum topic. I ended up ordering a few types of Hei Cha from YS, but was limited to those available on the the American site--I had a couple of orders lost from China and Japan last year with the shipping issues of late.
Today I'm continuing in the Hei Cha vein. What I'm learning today will be old news to many of you.
I see Chawang Shop has some Hei Cha, including the type @LeoFox mentioned with his impregnable brick. Apparently it's called Qingzhuan tea, traditionally produced for Asian Steppe peoples. This site https://www.toptealife.com/post/qingzhuan-tea mentions several types, and includes an interesting video ad. The brick with the locomotive, pictured here https://www.chawangshop.com/2011-hubei- ... -350g.html, is sold out at Chawang, and no tips on how to mount an assault on the brick.
Imen, at Tea Habitat, includes in a 2008 blog entry an account of her first encounter with such a brick http://tea-obsession.blogspot.com/2008/ ... asure.html. She ended up using an ice pick on it, but theorized about whether a grinder would be useful. @Balthazar's scissors seem to be as good a solution as any. Imen also discusses some interesting research she did on the subject.
In a 2012 thread on TeaChat, there's an interesting discussion (https://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=17710) with a member from Yunnan named "honza," as he/she tries to explain that these "decorative tea bricks" are not for decoration but for drinking, that they are all tea leaf and not pressed with any binding material, and that with some ageing they can be quite tasty.
Top Tea Life has another page https://www.toptealife.com/post/fuzhuan-tea that includes a couple of pleasant videos about Fuzhuan tea culture.
@Balthazar, you must know all about this stuff. There seems to be a real hit and miss element to shopping for some types of Hei Cha especially. How is that "indestructible brick" you mentioned above? Would you have any links to a couple of favorite Hei Cha that are in English (and not on Taobao)? Does anyone else have any suggestions about finding good Hei Cha? Thank you.