2013 Traditional Raw Liubao Heishi Village

derk sent me some liu baos originally from White Antlers, and so I thank you both for the pay-forward and pick-me-up kick in the pants to plug back in here. I started with this one from Hei Shi village as one of the two youngest samples, and I’ll work my way older over the next couple days…

I dutifully took my little set of notes, then found derk’s notes, and had that magical feeling that someone had been right here before me. I love that.

I did not realize before I sessioned that this is unprocessed material — so to liu bao what maocha is to puerh. What a revelation and a treat to experience these flavors that transform into that classic betel-medicine profile. Though if this is 10 years old… I suppose it’s some kind of aged, hehe. I don’t know enough to understand what steps stand between this and Liu Bao writ large.

Dry leaf was old books and old fruit leather; steaming gave up baby powder, muscatel, juicy peach?, strawberry. I’ve been tending toward longer steeps lately, and a 30 second wake-up made my first pour the most beautiful. Heady fennel, vanilla, and allllmost cocoa — but not quite — I settled on malt. Gorgeous and ethereal.

Wet leaf quickly went deep to tobacco and medicinal (herbs, iodine… funny how we all recognize so simply what is such a complex olfactory hit), though the lid kept on with baby powder and vanilla. Second steep brought me to the meadow — wildflowers (derk said heather, and that is JUST the thing I was wracking my brain for — yasss!) and the gauzy bitterness of breezy grasses. The third steep brought more grass, but I found the malt again along her backbone. Guh. This wasn’t long-lived, but it didn’t need to be.

The 2013 from Buyi village is loaded into my pot now. I’m excited.

And the final Chawangshop Liubao from White Antlers’ Swedish Death Purge.

Very fine leaf pick clearly shows how small the sinensis varietal leaf used for Liubao teas is. The leaves are tiny curls reminiscent of biluochun green tea. Really a sight in comparison to rougher grade liubao. The fragrance of the leaf is this ethereal mix of baby powder, very softly smoked dried jujube, and the tanginess of a deep and dark TCM broth. Warmed is the same though more intense with the TCM character.

Aroma is soft and sweet, sometimes with hints of chocolate. The wet leaf presents quite green despite being 10 years old and that is evident in the mouth. Taste is perfumey almost, heathery and of cool-bittersweet purple flowers such as lavender followed later by an airy – not fruity – jasmine. These flow through the main taste which is warm and light with tones of hay, dried moss, pumpkin seed and TCM broth. The upfront bitterness spreads and penetrates, it feels like stippling on the tongue. Not like the bitterness of assamica pu’er at all. Like a sheer curtain. A juicy swallow is soon followed by faint campfire smokiness on the backend before an apricot aftertaste presents and lingers with the florals throughout the infusions. If the liquor is left to cool, I can taste vanilla in the finish. Something about this reminds of a heathery whisky. Energy and character leans a little more toward cooling than warming.

This is an elegant and refined liubao! It takes long, hot steeps with grace. Despite still being green, the profile and structure is mature without having any muddled or overt masculine character. Really special stuff. Chawangshop offers some spectacular liubao and I’d highly suggest checking them out if you’re wanting to explore liubao. Too bad these teas from White Antlers are no longer in stock; without question, I’d spring for 3 of the 4 that I had the pleasure of sampling.