2014 Sanhe "0222 - Te Ji" (Special Grade - Liubao Tea) 250g Liu Pao Tea Brick, Dark Tea, Wuzhou, Guangxi Province

This is my first Liu Bao and having previously only had Ripe Puerh to compare it with I was very keen to try it out. It travelled well and is now developing nicely over the past couple of months in a humidity controlled storage box.

The tea brick is fairly loose and the leaves are quite small, so it does tend to make a mess when picking it apart. I like to push the first few brews on my dark teas as I love the chocolate and woody taste often associated with them. This Liu Bao is different than a ripe puerh (in a good way), perhaps with less initial astringency, but the deep flavours I look for are there. After the initial few steeps from a 200ml nixing teapot, the deepness gives way to more mellow flavours. These in turn give way to a wonderful sweetness, not unlike a quality ripe puerh. I would recommend this tea.