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2018 "younger" version left, but it looks older |
That one friend in KL that I've mentioned sent more Liu Bao. Not just to try either; he sent a lot, tea to just drink, with extra to share. Everyone should have friends like that.
The idea here is to comparison taste it along with one he sent well over a year ago. I'm not certain what years these versions are but they may well be 2018 produced tea (the newest one), and the other could be going back to 2016 (reviewed in Oct. 2017; it depends on how old it was then). Liu Bao requires processing time (post fermentation), and isn't necessarily a Spring tea (not that I confirmed that by looking it up), and it's hard for me to work back to when a certain year's version would be available, which wouldn't have to relate to when one is typically sold.
The idea of exploring age-transition in relatively younger Liu Bao through this really doesn't work since I can't address the similarity or difference in starting point, how identical they were at the outset, before aging transition. I could refer back to that post, the better part of two years old now, and check differences in my take from that, and I will scan through it before the final edit of this [I did; my reviews were less specific then, which probably actually made them more readable]. For reference I think both versions are from here, Kong Wooi Fong Tea Merchants, with a website link here.
For now it will be interesting just to see what differences there are, regardless of the causes.
Review
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2019 left; going a little heavy early on to rush character transition |
2019 version (which may be older than a 2018 production, but that seems likely): the mineral is pronounced; it tastes exactly like an old slate chalkboard smells. I guess people would split on whether that's a good thing or not. It's not as musty as that might sound, although the flavor will clean up a little over the first two rounds or so. A bit of peat comes across along with the mineral now. A touch of char is present as well, the same smell (and also taste) of charcoal. I suppose I like all of that more than it sounds like someone would; to me it's nice. It'll be nicer once the flavors mellow a little over a couple of rounds of transition.
Upon reflection that "peat" part is really geosmin, that characteristic taste in red beets, which really does sort of taste like dirt. Raw potato skins have a similar flavor, if those more familiar.
2017 version (as related to the first I don't know the production year): this version overlaps in character but it's quite different. Every flavor aspect I mentioned in the other is also present, just in much lighter form, and it's offset by more sweetness, and a warm tone closer to spice, or at least aged tree bark.
Regular readers would be familiar with where that odd flavor reference is coming from; I grew up in Pennsylvania and split a lot of wood as a child, using wood not just for a fireplace but also for home heating. And for heating an indoor swimming pool; we didn't exactly live in a log cabin, although the exterior style did draw on that aesthetic.
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dressed for -40 F when it was -15 during a polar vortex |
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same view showing that house exterior, on a warmer day and year |
If this really was exactly like the other version when both were first made then it would seem like a few more years might really soften it, add sweetness, complexity, and depth. A lot of people tend to only drink 10+ year old Liu Bao, not because it completely changes character over that time-frame as sheng pu'er does, but because it does soften into a relatively different range related to effect, and to some extent for experienced aspects too.
Second infusion
2018 (I'll just guess production years): the flavors are cleaning up a little but the slate is only giving way to the geosmin, the potato skin / red beet / dirt flavor. When I say "cleaning up" I tend to mean tasting less musty, less muddled, not necessarily literally less like dirt. It probably will move back to tasting more like char in the next round or two, with that mineral and the geosmin pulling back to supporting range.
Some teas are an acquired taste (someone new to tea wouldn't start with this version), and some work better with food. This would pair well with dim sum, with a broad range of oily, savory, complex-flavored and sweet foods, cutting across all that complexity to reset your palate. Some teas work much better brewed Gong Fu style (what I'm doing here, using a higher proportion and short steep times) but this one may come across better brewed using an approach closer to Western style, one longer infusion at much lower proportion, or a variation on that theme.
2016 / 17 (probably produced in 2016 though): the aromatic wood / spice / fermented tree bark range picks up in this; it's interesting, quite complex. It's cleaner in the sense of tasting less like dirt (or potato skin, however one puts that), but really neither is musty or murky in effect. It's sweeter; a lot of times natural sweetness helps different ranges of aspects that could be challenging balance. With sheng pu'er that might relate instead to balancing out bitterness, which can be very pleasant when the rest of the range in a tea makes sense along with it. A lot of black teas aren't challenging in any way (although CTC / ground-up commercial versions tend to be), so the sweetness just works well with other rich and complex flavors, along with aspects like cinnamon, cocoa, roasted sweet potato, cherry, or mild and "darker" mineral tones.
It wouldn't seem wrong for someone to interpret this version as tasting a little like fruit, towards a dried fruit aspect. Really the earthier range comes across a lot stronger, what I interpret as tree bark, or which might get called a wet version of "forest floor," the complex, sweet, earthy scent from a forest environment.
Third infusion
I'm brewing these about 15 seconds; shorter would also work at this proportion, since that relates to drinking them on the strong side. That will help push both through a transition cycle, and although this won't go long for rounds descriptions I can try a shorter brewed round to see how that works instead too.
2018: this is turning a corner for style, "cleaning up" further. The same flavor list as last round still applies but it's lighter, milder, and better balanced. At even faster infusions from here on out it would be quite pleasant and drinkable, only lengthening those once it starts losing intensity, which would probably take awhile.
2016: the same applies to this version; it's not different in terms of how a description would go, but a shift in how the aspects balance changes things. I don't remember this tea being this sweet and complex, or this far off that mineral / geosmin / char range; it may be transitioning nicely. My friend in KL doesn't necessarily try to age these teas (to store them to get them to change), or value them for being different than they originally are, when young. That's because he likes them that way; simple enough.
I see it as similar to how acquired tastes across a broad range of other foods changes what one likes when new to the theme versus later. Initially beer tastes bad, in general, and then later seeking out bitter versions of pale ale or pilsner might seem preferable, beer versions that would taste even worse to someone new to the subject than Budweiser. Or Leo, here in Thailand; Chang and Singh are the two main domestic brands but Leo is even more simple, light, and sweet, or watery, if someone sees all that as a bad thing. The same could apply to people liking oak-chip adulterated sweet Merlot early on and then later preferring structured Cabernet versions that taste a little like there was a nail stored in the bottle. The "preference curves" or patterns of variation probably follow some standard patterns, but it also might be as well to not overthink it, and keep sticking with what you like as it changes.
Fourth infusion
I'll let this go after this round, trying a fast infusion to write out how that goes (around 10 seconds instead; not a flash infusion), but then skip the last half or more of the infusion cycle. The teas will be at their best in the next 3 to 4 rounds, and a new trace aspect or two could turn up in description, but the general character will probably just soften and deepen a little.
2018: a warm wood tone picks up, closer to the forest floor I was describing in relation to the other than anything that has been present. It seems quite clean in effect, with that geosmin / beet / potato skin down to a supporting trace of aspect, along with slate mineral. Char is present but hardly noticeable; that never did really stand out in this. Feel is complex, the way it stands out in adding a dryness or tension across your entire mouth, trailing into a pronounced aftertaste. An aged sheng drinker (or shu drinker; those who prefer the pre-fermented pu'er type) may not love that for the form being so different but it does add complexity to the tasting experience.
2016: the sweetness moves a little more towards a root spice from earlier balance, nicely sweet, quite a bit more approachable than the other profile in a conventional sense. A little of an "old furniture" effect stands out beyond that, a trace of mineral oil or aged exotic hardwood (not "old couch;" that would be something else altogether). If what I'm getting at seems completely unfamiliar think of how an old collection of leather bound books would smell in a dark-wood paneled den or study; it's like that. To me it's quite pleasant but all tea experience is a matter of taste.
I looked back to see how it had changed in nearly two years, this version, and ran across a general type description of Liu Bao character passed on by that Malaysian friend (which he calls "Luk Bok," the Cantonese term for the type):
In many aspects, almost indistinguishable with Pou Lei [pu'er], but distinct and different at so many levels... The tea tasted like decaying dry wood or tree branches as its elementary characteristic, with layers. At certain times, it is like the smell of tree bark. On numerous occasions, it tasted like the oh-so familiar of biting the '叉燒' or 'Char Siu', thus the similarity with Pou Lei. However, this tea, it is the additional smell almost associated with the smoke emanating from the burning of the dry leaves and old tree.
Luk Bou also evoked the feeling of one surrounded by furniture made of '酸枝木' or 'Shuin Ji Muk'. Sometimes, it is like walking into a room with old books lining the shelves, not exactly moldy but dry with warmth and inviting, not the secondhand bookstores with a mixture of acerbic feel and unforgiving.
There is this intrinsic 'old-time' quality, an almost antiquated attribute about Luk Bou, not found in Pou Lei. These are the layers of characters, making Luk Bou lavish in its character, but a constant not 'in-your-face' taste that neither scream for one's attention nor being intrusive, when drinking this tea, of which I believe the uniqueness of Luk Bou. Also, the fact that I am partial to Luk Bou.
In a different discussion he described one savory taste aspect as similar to that in crispy barbecued pork; that also works. Not only is it nice to have a friend who generously shares tea his writing is great, as if speaking from an earlier time period. The style and tone seem to predate English language use becoming simpler and less detailed, when people took making ideas clear more seriously, and valued form as an aspect of language. I loved all that, at one point, before settling on just rambling on as a personal communication style.
The rest of my own description in that earlier review (in Oct. 2017) isn't clear enough to piece together a change vector. In those notes I mention the same types of aspects (char, mineral, old furniture) but it's the balance and overall effect that describes the experience, not such a list. I mention that tea (this 2016 version, maybe it was) softens to become more like a mild form of coffee in later rounds, and that works; it still does. Not this younger version, so much; maybe it did start out a little edgier than the other, even within a year or so of the production time of both.
In conclusion, both teas are nice. It seems I'm seeing a lot of value in age-transitioning these teas a little, letting the flavors soften and deepen, and become slightly more complex. Some of the mineral intensity is swapped out through such a process; it wouldn't be positive for everyone. In two more years I can do a re-tasting and get a clearer picture of to what extent it was age-transition causing the difference in character, versus the two just starting out as different.
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a cheerful tasting session visitor |
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that "just the basics" reviewing set-up |
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