1980s Thai Liu Bao

 

Bruce, a friend in Chiang Mai, passed on some tea samples, which I've already reviewed one of, a Rou Gui from Wuyi Origin.  This is 1980's Thai Liu Bao, something different.  I don't know that I've ever had, or even heard of, Thai origin Liu Bao.  

There is a long tradition of Chinese people visiting other South East Asian countries to make tea from tea plants already growing there, surely related to an earlier tradition of Chinese influence.  For sure people from China made this tea, either visiting to do so or local immigrants.

The color doesn't look exactly like in that first photo.  It was an odd shade of light brown, leaning a little towards grey, but not exactly like the picture, which is a little washed out from bright sun conditions (I've been into outdoor tasting lately).  You can imagine how it really looked; a little browner.

Review:

First infusion:  this is unique at least.  Liu Bao tends to very often have a rough edge of some sort, a harsh dry mineral aspect, or an off storage related flavor input, something different.  This is much closer to pretty good shu pu'er than any version I've tried.  So I guess that means this is the pre-fermented variation?  I would place this as shu based on just trying it.  There's a light, dry mineral edge that's typical of Liu Bao, but the rest is a complete match.  [Later edit:]  Bruce said that he thinks it was pre-fermented, so the "ripe" version of Liu Bao.

Then it's on to how I feel about shu; as I've repeated here 100 times it seems a lot like all the same thing to me, varying less than most other tea types.  Some green or white tea versions can be a little like that too, depending, or lighter Tie Guan Yin.  Flavor range is decent for this, complex, warm and earthy, with some sweetness, and a touch of cacao.  Feel and minimal aftertaste are ok; it's good.  I'll let it brew a little longer again next time, out towards 30 seconds again, to see if it really opens up.  If it just develops a little this will be pretty good but if it can add depth and go through some transition maybe unusually interesting.

Second infusion:  creaminess ramped up and a touch of marshmallow entered in.  This is really different.  Then it's odd that this is so close to shu range, more like that than any Liu Bao I've ever tried.  They are closely related tea types, per my understanding, with shu wet-pile fermentation processing based on Liu Bao processing, but usually results aren't this similar.  I would guess this has some age on it too, that it's this smooth and clean because it has settled for awhile.  Bruce mentioned something about the age but I don't remember it; I can look that up.  It's a Thai version from the 1980's; that's some age alright, maybe around 35 years.

So this is probably the most interesting Liu Bao I've yet to try in terms of aspect character and background story.  Then it's still just ok, pretty good, interesting and pleasant, related to interpretation in light of my preferences.  It's sort of similar to that 2006 (7?) gushu shu version that John Lim shared with me, towards light, sweet, clean, and fruity, with some cacao range, and even marshmallow in common.

I tried a shu from the 80s in a rare shop visit outing last night, oddly, which tasted a lot more like either old books, old furniture, or dirt than this.  Some of that is the specific storage input; if a tea spent 35 years in an attic it would pick up flavor from that.  I don't know where this tea could've been to be this clean in effect.  Everything in Thailand tends to go a bit musty because of the really high humidity half the year, and high heat 90% of the time.  

It's cool out now, oddly, maybe 25 or so, mid 70s F.  I'll finish these notes and go for a run; it'll be the first cool weather outing since getting back here in June.  It's too bad I'm not a morning person; it had been down to 22, which is towards 70 instead.  [Later edit:]  I ran 10 km in about 61 minutes, the fastest I've covered that normal route.  Cool weather helped a lot.  I would probably be pushing km times down under 5 1/2 minutes based on the last three months of training if I wasn't always running in low 30s C / over 90 F temperatures.

Third infusion:  evolving a little, but still similar.  Slate mineral depth picks up, and cacao with a light coffee note are pleasant, and complex in a limited sense.  It's odd how clean this is.  Rough edges from a fermentation process settling out over a decade or two is normal, never mind 35 years, but this storage related input is so clean.

This tea is a bit wasted on me; plenty of people would really appreciate this.  It's clearly quite good, and the story is interesting, but to me this is pretty close to drinking well above average quality shu, 20 or 25 cent a gram tea.  This would make a nice Teas We Like product listing, something short and succinct, about it being representative of some classic type, with a few favorable aspects and general character.  

It's good, but I'd just as soon drink a medium quality and inexpensive Jing Mai sheng, and would rather have more novel young Thai sheng.  White teas tend to have that effect on me; I think well above average versions are pleasant, and then that's it.  Something like a complex and more dynamic Nepal white is a different story, with layers of light base mineral and intense fruit.  This experience is more like pretty good aged shou mei; you get it that there's something to it, but it still lacks impact.  

Feel is pretty smooth and rich for this, and aftertaste carry-over is fine, but range this mellow isn't much to stand out as an aftertaste expression.

Fourth infusion:  more of the same; this is probably a good place to take a round off notes.

Fifth infusion:  a light coffee note picks up a little, otherwise this is about the same.  It's holding up ok, maybe just fading ever so slightly, so that if it makes 3 or 4 more rounds they'll probably just be thinner and thinner, maybe with one more slight transition in aspect range.  I guess that's ok; it is what it is.  It's quite good.  People more into story value, who add more through imagination to their tea experience, would probably get a lot more out of this.  Or I guess if someone loves shu range, but really likes it to be cleaner in effect than it essentially ever is, this would be perfect for them.

I suppose alternate interpretations could work, that someone could pick up tisane / spice range in this, or could see the age as making more difference, adding an old book flavor base or the like.  To me this is pretty close to gong ting shu character, a version 5 or 10 years old, that had time to air out.  It trades out some lighter edge for depth but basic flavor is about the same.

Conclusions:

Bruce mentioned that it works well to brew a late round really long, for minutes, and after one or two more I tried that.  It was exceptional.  Tisane or spice range flavor really came out in that, heavier and warmer, again still very sweet and clean.  I tried a second very long infusion and it was similar, just not as intense, but still quite pleasant, unusually so.

This tea is really something, very novel and pleasant.  A shu pu'er drinker would almost certainly absolutely love this, unless they were somehow really into challenging range in shu, the heavier peat, tar, petroleum, or petrichor (dirt) flavors.  I get it, people use that last obscure term more related to a scent in the air after it rains, and so on, but per my understanding it also works as a description of the smell of dirt.

Maybe Liu Bao is supposed to be like this, and I've just been trying heavier and earthier flavored versions, with lots more rough edges that seem to relate to storage conditions input?  One older version that I tried from Yunnan Sourcing was only drinkable after I gave it an extra six months to air out, sitting in a cardboard bag on an open shelf, clearing a strong attic smell.  If I loved shu this would be amazing, but as it was it still very nice.