Liu Bao (六堡茶)
archetype: Keeper of the cellar
The keeper of a dark cellar: a betel aroma, wet stones, a soft woody force, a calm warming qi.
History
Liu Bao Cha is a post-fermented 'black' tea (hei cha) from Liu Bao county in Guangxi. It is made by a particular technology: the leaf is fixed, kneaded, fermented while damp, pressed into woven baskets and put into caves or cellars for years. The characteristic 'betel' aroma ('beng lan xiang') comes only with long ageing in a properly humid room. In the 19th and 20th centuries Liu Bao was sent in great quantities to Chinese workers at the tin mines of Malaysia — it saved them from tropical heat and heavy water.
In the Guangxi mountains, in the keeper's cave there lived an old spirit — he did not show himself to people, but he touched every brick that came down into his cellar. If a brick had been made with love, the spirit breathed on it, and after a year the brick smelled of betel and warm stones. If made without love — the brick stayed mute. Liu Bao is 'the breath of the keeper': drunk when one needs to feel that someone is keeping watch over you too.
Terroir
200–800 m. weathered slate and red clay. subtropics, warm humid summer, mild winter. The canonical Liu Bao is aged in caves of the village of Liu Bao; modern factory versions follow the same technology but in a controlled environment.
Leaf
dry leaf: large dark-chestnut twisted leaves in a woven basket; in the hand they smell of betel and damp stone
warmed: the warmed leaf — betel, damp stone, dark wood, a light mushroom
after pour: after the rinse — betel, stone, wood, a soft earth
taste: betel nut, damp stone, dark wood, a light sweetness, a soft earth
finish: long, warming; the aftertaste — 'a warm stone in the belly'
Properties
TCM: warm; warms the middle, descends qi, disperses damp heat, helps the stomach
Modern: rich in products of long fermentation; traditionally used in tropical heat, for the digestion of heavy food, for immunity
Cha qi: warm, descending, even; felt as 'a support beneath the chest'
Caffeine: low to moderate (20–35 mg)
Brewing ritual
a 110 ml clay kettle; 100 °C; 6 g / 110 ml. 10s — the first betel aroma: stone, nut; 12s — the peak: dark wood, soft earth; 15s — a deep warming note; 22s — a long sweet trail; 35s — a late note: cellar, incense; 55s — the finale — a warm echo of the storehouse.
When to drink
day and early evening. summer and autumn — especially in damp heat. after a heavy meal, when heavy in the stomach, in tropical heat, in fatigue. meat dishes, dark dried fruit, mushrooms, aged cheese, whisky. solitary heavy work; a conversation after supper
Tea meditation
- The keeper does not give up the keys quickly.
- Wait until he is used to you.
- Then the cellar will open of itself.
Questions and answers
How do you brew Liu Bao?
a 110 ml clay kettle; 100 °C; 6 g / 110 ml. 10s — the first betel aroma: stone, nut; 12s — the peak: dark wood, soft earth; 15s — a deep warming note; 22s — a long sweet trail; 35s — a late note: cellar, incense; 55s — the finale — a warm echo of the storehouse.
What does Liu Bao taste like?
betel nut, damp stone, dark wood, a light sweetness, a soft earth
How much caffeine is in Liu Bao?
low to moderate (20–35 mg)
What are the effects of Liu Bao?
rich in products of long fermentation; traditionally used in tropical heat, for the digestion of heavy food, for immunity
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