Liubao Dirt Tea
So I ordered 100g of 2008 YeSheng Raw Liubao tea from Chawangshop. I’ve ordered other teas from them that have been great, but this one I can only describe with one word: dirt. Dry leaf smells of dirt. Wet leaf smells of dirt. Brew tastes primarily of tea-flavored dirt; even after six rinses, it doesn’t change. If this is a total loss I’m not going to cry about it, the whole 100g was all of $6.50. I’m just wondering if anyone has any advice or experience with this tea and how one might go about making it drinkable, if that’s possible.
I ordered a different Liubao from them and it was pretty good. Haven’t tried the one you mention. It was a 400g cake of raw Liubao. Not fermented like most Liubao.
If it were ripe I’d say, normal. However, this is a raw which means dirt shouldn’t be associated with the taste.
Liu Bao is not puerh leaf usually, you have to check the origin. It is sometimes called “border” tea, and consists of lower quality leaves and sticks. It is oxidized slightly like black/red tea, then pile fermented like shou and very often packed into bamboo baskets.
How long did you air the tea? Transport and/or storage on Liu Bao tends to be rougher, and a dusty/dirty taste is not uncommon. Airing the tea for a time should dissipate the dusty. I have one that was likely transported in untanned yak skin and tasted like it for several months until aired.
Actually, I probably didn’t air it enough. I opened the bag for a minute to smell it, then I sealed it back up and tried it about a week later. Would just opening the bag and shoving it in the back of my pu cabinet for a few weeks suffice for airing? I read about people “airing out” teas all the time, but I have to confess I probably don’t do that enough and I’m not really sure how. I’m still learning how to store pu, and I worry a lot about ruining it (though I’d be hard pressed to make this stuff any worse than it is).
I was given a sample of this one. One word to describe the storage, ‘Humid’. I guess that is what you are tasting as well.
I’m a big liubao fan, but for me most of the ‘raw’ ones are rather underwhelming, to be honest.
I personally stick to the cooked ones. I’m sure there’s good raws out there too, but I’m not seeking them out anymore. I think I tried this one as well, but not entirely sure anymore.
Don’t give up on Liu Bao – in the same way that I’d advise you not to give up on puerh after drinking some cheap cake from a no-name factory. (I haven’t tried the chawangshop tea & mean no disrespect to them, or the tea, which might be quite good)
Liu bao is very complex and nuanced. There’s many types and processing styles. Maybe just this particular one isn’t for you.
I’d also say that Liu Bao isn’t really ready to drink for about 20 years or more in my opinion. The ‘heat’ from the pine smoking is still very pronounced and it can often be a bit rough in the throat.
Try some examples from the 90’s or before – preferably from Wuzhou tea factory or Wuzhou Zhongcha. These should give you a better understanding of two major styles of Liu Bao.
Thanks for the advice! I figured I probably got one that isn’t so great. I am looking forward to trying some others though.
I would say the Liubaos I have tried are a fifth fifty mix of ones I have liked and ones I couldn’t stand. One I tried from Fang Gourmet Tea was incredible. So far I have liked the ones I have tried from Chawangshop but I have only tried two from there.
haha, you’re doing well if you’ve at least had a 50% success rate. Like any category of tea, there’s lots of bad ones out there!!
Liu Bao tea takes time to age. Especially once these yellow dots appear, the flavour becomes pretty good. Another advice would be to try let it air a bit first and steep it in an Yixing teapot. Here’s a guide: https://www.teasenz.com/chinese-tea/how-to-make-liu-bao-tea.html
I reviewed a version of Liu Bao not long ago that tasted as much like dirt as any tea I’ve ever tried, maybe how a tea stored in a root cellar for a few years might taste. It wasn’t all that bad, though, and given a half a year or so to air out it might come around. I just tried two versions from a local Bangkok Chinatown shop and one was actually decent, the other drinkable, and interesting. I’ll spare you the links; just mentioning.
Based on these experiences and how close those were to shou it would seem to make sense to just stick to shou, if someone is on that general page.
I like all different hei cha, some of it is really tasty. Interesting, as you said.
Liu an, hua Juan, an hua, tian Juan, Ben se ju, I’ve all had good ones.
Also – Gongjian, Shengjian, Yajian are types I’ve heard of, but not sure if tried.
I’ve got a tian jian being aired out right now, it will be ready in a month or two :)
Dank stuff, nice when the time is right
I’ve been lucky to only ever get good liubao! Liubao is very different from shu pu and the flavor profile is very different. If it tastes humid, try giving it a year or two to air out and then revisit it! ;)
That’s odd that we would have the opposite take on that. I’ve tried four versions of Liu Bao this year and I wouldn’t expect them to be the best of the type but I would expect the typical character to start to come across. Also shou pu’er processing is based mostly on Liu Bao processing, per my understanding, and if that’s not wrong they would seem to have to have some character in common. Maybe the difference is in interpreting commonality versus difference, placing how they relate, since there were differences in what I’ve tried of both, just character overlap too. The one version that is musty is on time – out for awhile.
Actually shou processing is based on liu’an processing. Liu bao and pu erh were both basement aged from raw up until shou production started in the 70s. Now both pu erh and liu bao are sometimes pile fermented a la shou, but each tea has distinctive flavor characteristics. I can tell them apart just by smelling the dry leaves!
Interesting! I’ve seen references to raw or cooked Liu Bao and it didn’t make sense to me, since it seemed like all of it had been pre-fermented. Depending on the time-line both ideas could be true about the processing origins, couldn’t they, that Liu Bao was “later” (earlier now) fermented by processing steps similar to Liu’an, and shou was processed in a way similar to that? None of the Liu Bao I’ve tried (only four so far) taste exactly like shou but they do taste a lot like it, with a lot of aspect overlap. That gets to be a matter of degree; Anxi Tie Kuan Yin tastes like Taiwanese oolongs, to a degree, but of course there are plenty of differences. It would take time to sort through good and bad, typical and atypical versions to map it all out.
that “dirt” as u describe, can be experienced as wet dust in your mouth. I know that taste since we have a Liu Bao from Wuzhou which has a similar taste notes. It has a wet storage taste , but apart of that ( not comfortable taste for u ) there are sweet notes at tha “back” taste. I was drinking Honza’s ( chawangshop ) Liu Bao in his shop and he has a good selection. The one I particularly like is the tea of " coal miners " which has distinctive “dirt” as u call , front taste. But when u drink it u can experience smooth sweet background which is the real value of the tea. Its like with young sheng pu, bitter at the front, but lots of sweets after – “hui gan” , “sheng jing” ..sorry don’t know Eng. names for this. Chat with Liu Bao lovers and ask for sample recommendations to get the right picture of Liu Bao.
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