Guangxi Liu Bao Cha Dark Tea

Liu Bao, translating literally to Six Forts, is a type of dark tea named after Liu Bao Xiang of Guangxi. This type of tea can be divided into seven grades, superfine at the highest quality, and grade one to six. TeaVivre’s Liu Bao Tea belongs to grade one with dark brown color. Much like pu-erh tea, the more aged a liu bao becomes, generally the better it tastes.

The tea liquor is a beautiful bright red in color, and the taste is soft and mellow from the start, full and thick almost like a rice soup. Liu bao is also quite suitable for being boiled, helping to release its embedded substances as well as bringing out the full definition of the liquor.

About Hei Cha (Dark Tea)

Hei Cha or Dark Tea, one of the six major types of Chinese tea, is renowned for its unique fermentation process and health benefits. Unlike green tea, black tea, and other types of tea, dark tea undergoes a post-fermentation process, which imparts its distinctive flavor and color. There are many varieties of dark tea, including Pu-erh tea, Liubao tea, and Anhua dark tea, each with its unique flavor and production technique.

The fermentation of dark tea is carried out by the action of microorganisms, during which the color of the tea leaves changes from green to dark brown, and the taste evolves from initially astringent to mellow.

You may be curious about the differences between Ripe Pu-erh and Liubao tea, first of all, they are both belong to the category of dark tea. Ripe Pu-erh is primarily produced in Yunnan Province, China, with the main raw material being the Yunnan big-leaf variety. Pu-erh tea is divided into raw Pu-erh and ripe Pu-erh, with the latter being made through an artificial fermentation process known as "wet piling fermentation". This process usually takes place under certain humidity and temperature conditions, with the degree of fermentation controlled manually, allowing the tea leaves to ferment in a relatively short period.

On the other hand, Liubao tea comes from Liubao Town and its surrounding areas in Wuzhou City, Guangxi, China. The main raw material is the local medium-leaf variety of tea tree, and Liubao tea typically undergoes natural fermentation, which takes a longer time and even over years.

	Cup Method		Chinese Gongfu Method
	Teacup: 12oz / 355ml		Zisha teapot: 4.4oz / 130ml
	212℉ / 100℃		212℉ / 100℃
	2.5 Teaspoons / 5g Tea		8g Tea
	Brewing time: 8 - 10 mins		8 steeps: rinse 2 times, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 80s, 120s, 150s, 200s

The Yaming Bai Hao tea garden covers a total area of around 1,000 mu of mountainous terrain between 500 and 1200m above sea level. This garden is fully surrounded by woods, and clouds and mist often shroud it throughout dawn and night, helping to prevent the harmful effects of UV rays on the tea plants growing here. To further ensure quality, chemical pesticides and fertilizers are strictly forbidden; the tea garden earned its organic authorization in 2015.

While China is the hometown of tea production in general, Guangxi is the birthplace of Bai Hao tea itself. The trees here are commonly grown at altitudes between 800 and 1500m, receiving an average precipitation of 1500-2000mm per year and with an average yearly temperature of 16-23℃.

It is said that the Bai Hao variety is the only tea species versatile enough to be used as base material for all of the six basic types of tea: green, white, black, yellow, oolong, and pu-erh. It is a large-leaf species with elastic yellowish-green leaves containing an abundance of important compounds: one test shows that the leaves contain 3.36% amino acids, 35.6% polyphenols, 4.91% caffeine, and 182.92 mg/g of catechinic acid.

In 1964 a large number of these trees were found growing wild in Lingyun County, Guangxi, with the largest among them measured at nearly ten meters in height with a trunk 25cm wide.

Liu Bao tea has a history stretching back longer than 1500 years as a unique traditional tea from Guangxi. During the Qing dynasty it was listed as one of the 24 most famous Chinese teas for its unique betel nut aroma; then through the Maritime Silk Road, it was exported to southeast Asia and other countries through the 19th century, and has gradually become an indispensable part of life for overseas Chinese or local tea lovers.

In 2006, liu bao won the only gold medal for the dark tea category in the Guangzhou, China International Tea Expo; in 2007 it was awarded a number of gold and Tea King awards by the nation and Autonomous Region; and in 2011, the former National Bureau of Quality Inspection approved the implementation of protection of geographical indications for the tea type.