2018 Three Cranes Ripe Liubao Stems

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February 27th, 2021

These liu bao stems are from Three Cranes and have been traditionally stored. When i first tried these, I went light and used a large teapot, and it made a light and pleasant brew. Today I went with 90% dry fill in a 150ml porcelain teapot and was very surprised by the longevity of this material. Higher ratio brings out more complexity (as long as steeps are sufficiently long) and this material really surprised me today!

When brewed for 30-40 seconds at high ratio, this tea has pleasant bitterness and light and pleasant kuwei sweetness after the swallow. The storage taste is evident but not overpowering. Three Cranes’ Hong Kong-style traditional storage methods are very well dialed in. This would be a prime candidate for brewing in clay that reduces storage notes and I’ll definitely give that a try soon, but this tea is definitely clean enough for porcelain as well.

I got over nine steeps at high ratio, and in the latter steeps, the bitterness receded and the liquor got smoother, thicker and sweeter. These stems brew up to make a smooth liquor, but the liquor gets ever smoother as the session progresses. These would be great to throw in a mug for a worry-free session (due to the low price point) or they can be brewed hard and the results are really rather astonishing since it compares very favorably to actual liubao leaf from Three Cranes.