Liu Bao

This aged Liu Bao offers a deep, comforting embrace with its distinct earthy and woody character, reminiscent of damp forest floors and ancient caves. Underlying notes of sweet dates and a hint of cam. It leans earthy, woody and sweet.

Water around 95–100 °C (203–212 °F). In a mug, steep 3–5 min. For gongfu, use 5–7 g per 100 ml, 10–20 s steeps (10–20+ rounds). You'll get to see how the flavor changes across multiple rounds. Rinse the leaves once with boiling water before your first real steep. It cleans off storage dust and gets the flavor going.

Grown in Guangxi, China. This batch is from the 2008 harvest.

Starts at $22.42 from Purple Cloud Tea House, or about $0.22/g. A 100g package gets you around 17 gongfu sessions at ~6 g each, which works out to about $1.32 per session. Explore more dark teas on Teadar.