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.
Terroir
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
betel nut, damp stone, dark wood, a light sweetness, a soft earth long, warming; the aftertaste — 'a warm stone in the belly'
Properties
rich in products of long fermentation; traditionally used in tropical heat, for the digestion of heavy food, for immunity warm, descending, even; felt as 'a support beneath the chest' 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