Description
 
1996 Homemade Liu Bao Hei Cha - Sword & Shield
 
This Hei Cha Loose Leaf is homemade by a local farmer Mr. Chan with leaves harvested from his backyard in rurual village in Quang Xi in 1996 and stored at his home since then. Well, he got a pretty well untouched and well preserved mountain as his backyard.
 
This Hei Cha consists of half leaf and half stem as if a shield & a sword. The reason he included the stem is to increase the complexity of the tea. Adding more the woody and mineral note which gives the tea a more herbal and mature taste. This tea is perfect for people who enjoy ripe puerh but this one is richer in taste,
 
Here come with a brief history of Liu Bao (六堡), like Puerh is a fermented tea traditionally from Guangxi. It is fermented and dried in a long delicate process in preparation for further aging. Part of the process involves wet piling for several weeks to allow fermentation to take place. The degree of fermentation depends on the amount of time the tea is wet piled and can differ depending on the intended outcome.Guangxi province is located south of Yunnan, neighbouring Guangdong so features average daytime temperatures between 12 -22 degrees and humidity between 70 -85%. Perhaps perfect, with its short, mild winters, and long, very hot and humid summers for fermented tea production.
 
Liu Bao is definitely calmer on the stomach than any of the ripe or raw Puerh I’ve experienced. It is well known to warm the stomach which in Traditional Chinese Medicine is a yang organ and therefore prone to yang deficiency where there isn’t enough heat to process and absorb the qi from the food or yin deficiency where there is insufficient fluid to hold, descend and transform the qi from food. Hence Liu Bao tea that does both in giving heat and fluid is perfect for more delicate stomach constitutions. These virtues are expressed in the Qing dynasty poem attributed to Cheng Yuandao
 
This tea is very intense (strong cha chi), a very short steeping is recommended. Phenolic compounds are very flavorful, as most tea connoisseurs will already know. The unique phenols in this Liu Bao perhaps gives it the well appreciated and unique taste profile that many people describe as sour cereal or woody herbal taste, classically though it is described as having a “betel nut” aroma/flavour. This unique flavour profile is like a black sheep among other teas. It is not everyone's cup of tea but if you fall into it , you will appreciate the unique experience it offers.