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Hilltown Jin Hua version left, in all photos |
I'm trying two more Liu Bao from a Malaysian vendor, Legend of Tea. The last experience with another Liu Bao version was great, one of the best versions I've tried. I would expect more of the same, that these will be really nice. They're this:
Jin Hua Liu Bao (2018, $16 for 100 grams)
Jinhua Liu Bao tea features small golden particles on the surface of the tea leaves, known as "Jinhua (golden flowers)." These golden flowers are a hallmark of high-quality Liu Bao tea. Their presence indicates beneficial microbial activity during the tea's aging process. The enzymes secreted by these microbes accelerate the transformation of substances in the tea, enhancing its flavour and enriching it with health-benefiting compounds. Jinhua has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, boosts immunity, and promotes cardiovascular health.
Jinhua Liu Bao tea has black-brown, tightly rolled leaves. The brewed tea is a rich, bright red colour, with a mellow, sweet taste and a pure aroma that combines floral and aged notes. The tea leaves are uniformly soft and moist, showing vitality and a deep, vibrant colour.
Aged Bing Lang Xiang 032 Liu Bao (from 2003; the page doesn't have a 100 gram option, so it's $63.40 for 250 grams, $25 for 100 grams when sold at that higher volume pricing)
Aged Bing Lang Xiang 032 is made using the traditional "double steamed, double pressed" method and aged for years in a clean cellar, resulting in its unique betel nut flavour. Its vibrant blackish brown colour tea leaves are plump, even and supple. The radiant dark red tea liquor envelopes a rich "chenyun" taste, along with a delightful interplay of thickness, strength, and sweetness that lingers long after each sip.
It is a harmonious blend, where the betelnut aroma is enticing, while the smooth, fresh sweetness fills your moth. The enchanting aftertaste, refreshingly enduring, will leave you yearning for another blissful moment with this extraordinary Liubao tea.
I can never do much with flagging a betel nut flavor / aroma (what Bing Lang translates to, with Xiang meaning flavor or aroma), because I'm not familiar with that. I also can't place the "double steamed, double pressed" processing method.
It's interesting hearing of those differences in relation to the aspect and character differences, described following, which I wrote out prior to reading these descriptions.
Review:
#1, 2018 Jin Hua version: this is a lot lighter in brewed liquid appearance, for what that's worth. For tasting these blind I don't know what that means. It could be a younger tea, or the other may be fermented more during processing (through a wet piling type of step).
This is heavy on mineral. I'm drinking the first infusion, with no rinse, or at least the review starts there. More people would rinse Liu Bao than wouldn't, I think, at least in "Western tea circles." The review would just start at infusion two, in such a case.
The mineral is that slate mineral that's common in Liu Bao. The other flavor range is also present, some pine, sweetness that could emerge as dried fruit later, and medicinal root sort of flavor, ginseng. It's pretty clean, but I think mineral range will probably drop back from here, and the rest will balance better. That's the equivalent of sheng pu'er being more approachable after the first round or two, just related to different aspects.
I may be picking up more preference for Liu Bao, from these tastings. It helps that lots of these have been exceptional versions (although I'm on the 4th and 5th from two different vendors, so it's not that much of them). I've been drinking Fu hei cha style teas as well.
#2, 2003 Bing Lang Xiang: so different! The flavor is much warmer and heavier, not a complete surprise given the color difference. So is this a much older tea version, or is it fermented more by processing? It could be both. It would be surprising if additional processing fermentation wasn't an input, but with 25 to 30 years of aging maybe Liu Bao could shift to heavier, warmer tones. Or maybe 20, in Malaysia, in a naturally hot and humid environment. Like here, in Bangkok; it's 30 C / 90 F in the rainy season now.
This tea is complex as well; I'll add more of a flavor list next round.
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still a lot of brewed tea color difference, even with both brewed quickly |
#1 (2018), second infusion: even more complex. Heavier slate mineral is still present, but the drier side of that softened and deepened, and the rest balances better. This is really nice. It balances the standard complex flavor range (mineral, pine, ginseng, some dried fruit). Warm, heavy tones are pleasant. It doesn't remind me of shou pu'er range, not that earthy and heavy, but it's a little towards that, along the line of fallen timber, which would smell like curing tree bark. [later edit: I missed betel nut. Maybe it tasted a lot like that, I wouldn't really know.]
Sweetness is good, feel is nice and thick, and aftertaste is pronounced. This might evolve a little for one more round, to balance even better, but it's already there now. Slate mineral might be a bit much for someone not on that page, but to me it's pretty much as it should be.
#2, (2003): that changed even more; the list from last round and this one might be slightly different. A little char emerges, like charcoal. That wasn't present last round, that I noticed. A heavy, inky mineral flavor range picked up as well, only partly related to that. Sweetness is good, balancing that. Pine is part of the flavor range, and maybe a little ginseng, it's just not as pronounced as in the other version. Rich feel is nice, and flavor depth.
#1, third infusion: an aspect towards smoke or char is picking up in this; that's interesting. I really would have expected that to be present earlier on, if it was going to show up. It's on even ground, the same intensity, as that other range that had been present. It links nicely with the slate mineral, and being supported or balanced by the ginseng / herb and limited fruit range is nice.
#2: not changing so much. These are actually much closer in character than they've been, related to the shift in the other version. This is smoother and deeper, not matching as much slate mineral as the other expresses. The rest kind of comes together.
#1, fourth infusion: this will probably be it for notes, since per usual I have other things to get to. That mineral note is all the stronger; interesting. It's moving off charcoal, onto being complex, again with plenty of slate. If someone was averse to this general range they might see this as tasting like a cigarette butt, but for me it's more slate mineral with some charcoal.
#2: a new catchy aspect entered in. Like root beer? It might also relate to fruit, but to me that new range is centered on root spice more instead. These both might have a couple of interesting infusions to go. But I really need to suspend this tasting for now, and I'm not great at picking it all back up in a later second session.
My wife will go back to Honolulu before too long and I need to go do some clothes shopping for the kids, to fulfill some orders they've placed (for extra pants, and at least one more bucket hat for Kalani).
Conclusions:
I did try more rounds of these, just without taking notes. They were more similar than they'd been for the first few rounds, maybe with a little more richness, depth, and complexity in the second version. But they were similar enough that I think people not really dialed in to specific preferences related to Liu Bao might see them as in the same general range.
Considering how I place them later, in reference to my own preferences, earlier on I would've strongly preferred the second version. It seemed richer, with more complexity and depth, and was going through some interesting transition in later rounds. But I've come to be able to appreciate what I take to be standard Liu Bao range more.
The first version is "only" 7 years old, with aging and transition perhaps speeded up a bit by contact with golden flowers (jinhua fungus, which sometimes goes by a scientific name in Western based tea descriptions, Eurotium Cristatum). Maybe I'm more open to this style related to recently trying versions of hei cha exposed to this from a different vendor source, Oriental Leaf, in the latest examples as two kind of unusual hybrid hei cha forms.
This first version did express a slightly more challenging form initially, with heavier slate mineral dominating the flavor profile, but it softened a few rounds in, gaining complexity and better balance. The second was rich and deep in warm mineral and other flavors from the start, just transitioning to other aspect scope after those few rounds instead.
I suppose I did like the second version more, but there wasn't that much difference. If value was a main factor buying a good bit of first would lead to a similar positive experience. But then again that extra depth was nice. I'm not sure about "will leave you yearning for another blissful moment with this extraordinary Liubao tea" but it did seem to highlight what is most pleasant about higher quality Liu Bao, in versions that are better than one might normally run across. It's probably also the case that if you buy 22 year old Liu Bao that's been stored in Kunming it would need another decade to fermentation transition to this level.
Not intending to "pick on" Yunnan Sourcing, probably the main Western vendor outlet for pu'er and hei cha, but let's check on the version in the top of their Liu Bao listings that is closest to this in age:
2002 Aged Wild Liu Bao Tea "803" from Guangxi ($69 for 250 grams)
Small artisan produced Wild Liu Bao grown in a remote part of Wuzhou County in Guangxi Province. Expertly processed and then stored for almost 15 years in Guangxi. This tea has been re-packed 500 grams per bamboo basket. The basket is numbered 803.
The tea itself has some camphor, vanilla, and betel notes. The large leaf with stems makes for an interesting and unique aged Liu Bao experience. Highly recommended for those who want to try something aged and unique.
That costs $5.60 cents more, is one year older, and probably hasn't fermentation transitioned as much (given the storage location difference), although spending 15 of those years in slightly more humid Guangxi would help keep it from being as "well preserved."
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it's hard to place the color differences, large leaves, and stem content in the YS version |
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these leaves are darker (probably good), and more chopped (maybe not as positive) |
It could be not nearly as good as these, or perhaps even better; you can't really tell from vendor descriptions, or even customer comments. Most Yunnan Sourcing comments were about people loving that version, with one guy saying "Good, I drank better but this is quality good." Per lots of hearsay input Yunnan Sourcing would almost certainly remove any negative comments or low ratings on that site, so it's hard to place what may have been commented but isn't there now.
I take all this to mean that 20+ year old, exceptional quality options are out there, and $60+ for 250 grams could be a standard market range. It would be interesting to see how they compare directly. This "Hilltown" version is among the best Liu Bao I've ever tried, a full quality level beyond what I've tried in the past, other than those two recent versions. But who knows what that means; maybe I've only tried ordinary versions before that. I've tried a few from Yunnan Sourcing in the past, probably reviewed 8 or so years ago now, but I probably bought more mid-range, value oriented versions, and of course I can't clearly compare across that kind of time-span.
Those teas more or less led to me not exploring Liu Bao much more (although I've drank a half a kilogram since, since a friend in Malaysia sent me a good bit of it), but I think for some tea types it takes a critical mass of exploration to really "get it." I drank sheng pu'er on and off for years before taking it up as a favorite type. Fu zhuan / Fu brick hei cha I liked more right away, but it can be pleasant and approachable while giving up some complexity, depth, and refinement to teas like these two. And it seems to help to sort through versions for that, to try a few to get to styles that work best for you. Once you do experience value in relation to cost can be really positive.
I plan to retry a couple of Fu hei cha style versions from Legend of Tea, essentially the same that I've tried before. It should be interesting placing them again after all of this recent--in the past 3 months--exposure to varying hei cha versions.
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