In the 19th and early 20th Century, Liubao teas helped keep the porters, miners, rickshaw pullers, sailors, and plantation workers of the Chinese diaspora refreshed and energized. It fueled the docks of Indo-China and Malaya as much as whale oil, kerosene, or coal. The tea they drank was, however, very different from the modern ripe Liubao tea we drink today.
In this sampler, you can get a taste of four of the best raw Liubao teas avaiable on the market. All were sourced from farmers in Wuzhou's core growing region. These samplers will come in a custom box, and will also include a "ripe" 2023 factory-made tea from Guangxi Province's Land Reclamation Group so Liubao newbies can also get a sense of the difference between raw and ripe, traditional and modern production.
Learn more about Liubao teas here, and dark tea tasting here.
Below are more details on our chosen champions:
2010 Yao Aroma (Wei Family, Gongping Village)
This is a thick aged tea with smoky, pine, and tobacco notes that is the best that is representative of the "Yao Aroma" flavor profile we could find. Although not from the core "Yao" minority growing region, it is easy to see why a tea like this could be a life saver on a damp hot day, and a welcome accompaniment to rich, oily food.
2019 Yao Aroma (Liang Family, Shuangchong Village)
With barky, mossy, and some smokey notes, this tea is not as thick or mature as the 2010 variant, but it does come with ample yellow fungus. More tightly packed and slightly more stem heavy, this tea does not have any of the unpleasant bitterness than can be found in less aged teas.
2022 Roasted Liubao (Liang Family, Shuangchong Village)
This is the best fresh Liubao you can find. It brews up with notes of raspberry and dark chocolate. Charcoal roasted, this energizing tea has a slightly vegetal aftertaste and leaves behind dark green dregs. As this is a new tea, there is some sharpness, but it is such a robustly full flavor tea that the pleasure far outweighs the pain. This is a tea intended to be had with mild Cantonese dim-sum.
2013 Purple Bud (Wei Family, Gongping Village)
We now see why some of you specially requested this tea. With notes of malted chocholate, vanilla, powdered milk, and betel nut, it is not at all what we expected. This is a tea made from anthocyanin rich bushes that were selected out from the heirloom cultivar.
For $15 dollars, you can get a 7 gram sample of these four teas and the ripe freebie, for a total of 35 grams. Those wanting an extra session can choose to get two boxes for a discounted rate.
Independent products will be released in future months once we get get feedback on these teas.
