This tea was produced in 2004 by a small factory in Wuzhou. It has medium-heavy fermentation level and is a 1 leaf + 1 bud picking with some occasional tender stems. This is a blend of material from several farmers and contains two local Guizhou cultivars Gui Qing (桂青) and Zhong Ye (中叶).
Aged in large baskets that compressed the tea over time, some of the larger chunks show the presence of golden flower fungus (金花), Aspergillus cristatus (formerly Eurotium cristatum), better known to appear in Hunan Fu brick teas but also known to grow in the right conditions on pu’er and liu bao.
Tasting notes
Liu bao tea is generally grouped into three flavor/aroma profiles: betel nut, wine, and osmanthus. This aged liu bao tea belongs to the wine flavor profile.
This tea has complex flavors of wine, wood, camphor, chinese medicine, and mineral water. It’s also an impressive sensory experience beyond taste: the brewed tea has a creamy texture and good hui gan and kou shui. If you’re not familiar with the terms, hui gan roughly translates to a sweetness that lingers in the back of the throat after swallowing. Kou shui means “mouthwatering” and refers to some teas’ tendencies to make one salivate.
Storage history
Storage is clean, with no moldy flavor or aroma. It was aged naturally in Wuzhou until 2020, then in Seattle, Washington. Wuzhou has a humid subtropical climate with an average relative humidity of 60-80%. It was not “wood warehoused” before being packaged for sale.