Tea Review: Liubao Laochapo - Unroasted (White2Tea)

Liubao Laochapo (Unroasted)

White2Tea
Type: Heicha
Origin: China, Guangxi Province
Product Description:

Liubao heicha, also known as dark tea, a post fermented tea from Guangxi province in China.

This laochapo was a commisioned production of the late autumn, early winter coarse leaf style popular in Liubao.

This tea can be brewed gongfu style with long steeps or even simmered to release the flavors from the older leaves and stems. A very rustic style of tea, some of the bricks may have naturally occurring jinhua(eurotium cristatum), as well as all manner of odd bits one can expect in a rural, lower grade heicha.

Not the typical mass produced and pile fermented dark liubao. Raw may be a misnomer, but calling it green doesn’t quite seem right either, and some folk have even suggested this tea qualify as a yellow tea or some hybrid unfermented heicha. In China people often call it nongjia or farmer style, though it is rarely sold on the open market due to small production sizes and lack of proper accreditation. You will find similarities in this tea that spans genres – green tea, yellow tea, heicha, raw Puer – there is a reason you can’t pin it down easily. 

Temperature: 208° F

Amount: 3 grams
Steeping Time: 3 minutes

The dry leaves have a light aroma of bark and moss.

The pale yellow-green infusion has an aroma of vegetables, fresh sawdust, and sun-warmed wood.  The taste is light and woody with light notes of pickles and pumpkin seeds in the finish.

The aroma of this heicha reminded me of garden sheds and woodworking projects.  The flavor remained at full-strength throughout three infusions.

This tea review was written in 2021. This tea was included in a monthly paid subscription box.