Tea: 2013 Purple Bud Liubao (2013年紫芽六堡茶)
Style: Raw / Farmer Tea.
Producer: Wei Family
Region: Gongping Village, Wuzhou, Guangxi.
Season: Late Spring 2013
Notes: Leather, Malted Chocolate, Powdered Milk, Betel Nut.
This was a specially requested tea and one of the two most favorably reviewed entries in our raw Liubao sampler. Like most of the "farmer tea" variants of Liubao, it is a rustic treat best enjoyed with care in an extended Gongfu brewing session.
Master Wei and his mother picked the tea that went into this tea more than a decade ago. One specific plot of their land has a section of heirloom bushes that grow with a distinctly red or purple tinge. While not as rich in anthocyanin as Zijuan red teas or puer teas, these bushes offer up tea that is first punchy and astringent when fresh, but then ages into something uniquely sweet and creamy. This tea has had plenty of time to transform into a mellow and yummy thickness you can get nowhere else in Liubao. It sat for more than ten years in a wicker basket up in the Wei Family's attic.
The musty condition of traditional liubao storage demands one do two quick rinses prior to enjoying this tea. While a danker dimension of it is never absent, over multiple infusions one is also rewarded with a viscious thickness on the tongue and lingering sweetness that is most prized in this sub-genre of Liubao tea.
For an independent take on this tea, see PathLessTaken's blog review here.
