Liubao '90s

Aged for more than twenty years in bamboo baskets, this hei cha (lit. 'black tea') is not as dark as all that—rather, the port-coloured liquor with traces of lilac is milky on the tongue, the wet bark aroma of its leaves giving way to the milder bamboo with which it has been impregnated, along with a raspberry tartness. It was the traditional process for producing this kind of tea that gave rise to the modern innovation of Shu Pu'er, and its subtler character will please anyone in the mood for dark, contemplative flavours with a soft body instead of pungency.

As sometimes happens, the exact harvest year has been lost to the intervening years, but we have a few intact and untouched 800-gram baskets from that harvest available for you, in addition to our packaged sizes.