14 Years Cave-Aged Liubao

This is a very refined example of Liu Bao tea, made from the youngest first harvest leaves from Liu Bao, Wuzhou, Guangxi. The tea was crafted in the spring of 2010, and then aged underground in a cave for 10 years. We purchased it when it was released from the cave in 2020, and have been aging it ourselves since.

Brewing it now, we are quite astounded by its quality. Its luminous, ruby red liquor darkens throughout infusions, becoming increasingly dense with colour and weight on the palate, but no less clear in taste or appearance.

As we would expect from a tea that spent so many years in a cave, we taste wet rocks and mineral pitch. It has a ferment flavour similar to pu'erh ripe, but feels less viscous and more airy. The taste of this cave aged Liu Bao is almost a perfect opposite of sweetness: its uplifting mineral notes and wet-earth flavour leaves us feeling clarified, and with re-calibrated senses.

Liu Bao has potent medicinal properties, and a noticeable effect on the spirit. It aids digestion, dispels dampness, and soothes the stomach.