Tian Jian
Tian jian, the 'heaven tip,' is the top grade of the Anhua 'three tips' (san jian), the loose-leaf side of Hunan dark tea, sitting above gong jian and sheng jian. Unlike the famous Anhua bricks it is not compressed into a hard slab but traditionally packed loose into bamboo baskets, made from tenderer leaf than the bricks. That higher grade of material is the variable that matters most: tian jian is the smooth, sweet, approachable face of Anhua hei cha.
As the top of the three tips, tian jian should show relatively neat, tender dark strips rather than the coarse stem-heavy material of the bricks. Look for a clear, deep amber-brown liquor, a smooth body, and a sweet, woody, often gently pine-smoky character with no sourness or musty edge. Because it is loose rather than pressed, you can inspect the leaf directly, which makes grading easier. Excess broken dust or a sharp, harsh cup signals lower-grade material sold under the name.
Anhua County, Hunan. The three tips (tian jian, gong jian, sheng jian) are graded by leaf tenderness, with tian jian the finest. The leaf is pan-fired, rolled, pile-fermented, and traditionally dried over pine, then packed loosely into bamboo baskets rather than pressed. Historically the tips were the higher-status Anhua grades, favored by officials and well-off drinkers while the coarse bricks went to the border trade.
Gongfu: 6-8 g per 100 ml, 95-100°C, one rinse, then 10-20 second steeps extending gradually, good for many infusions. Western: 4-5 g per 250 ml, 95-100°C, 3-4 minutes. No brick to break here, which makes tian jian easy to dose. Later steeps still take well to a boil.
€8-35 (about $9-38) per 100 g, sitting above the commodity bricks thanks to its finer grade; aged examples climb higher.
Prices reviewed June 2026
Hei Zhuan (Black Brick)
Tian jian is the tender loose top grade; hei zhuan is the coarse pressed brick from the same Anhua family, the two ends of the quality range.
Anhua Dark Tea
Tian jian is the highest of the Anhua three tips, the loose-leaf counterpart to the region's pressed bricks.
Fu Zhuan
Fu zhuan is a flowered Anhua brick; tian jian is a loose, un-flowered grade, smoother and more delicate.
Liu Bao
Both are loose dark teas you can sip on their own, but Liu Bao is basket-aged Guangxi material with a betel-nut note while tian jian is pine-sweet Hunan leaf.
The three tips are named by rank rather than by any botanical tip: tian jian (heaven), gong jian (tribute), and sheng jian (raw), a hierarchy that reflects the old grading of Anhua leaf from finest to coarsest.