A deep and abiding love of Oriental Beauty

A deep and abiding love of Oriental Beauty

The journey continues with three Liu Bao teas from Camellia Sinensis Tea House in Canada.

Waiting for the water to boil to warm my tools and wake up this old tea!
It is time to try something totally new, and after discovering Camellia Sinensis Tea House the same day I learn about Liu Bao, I decide to take them up on a sweet and generous offer to sample three of their offerings.
What I am told about Liu Bao teas helps me make the decision to try them next, and it is simply thus: It is a fermented loose black tea, and if I like Oolongs and am working on getting used to and opening up myself to Puerhs this is a natural progression of that interest.
That's good enough for me and so when asked to choose any three teas by one of the owners, Kevin, I choose three Liu Baos.

 The first and certainly the oldest tea I have tasted so far is Liu Bao 1980. I prepare my vessels, heat up the new kettle and I am off on my journey!

Four steeps in and I am not yet ready to fully describe it. The leaves are waking up very slowly and only at the fifth steep am I beginning to taste some subtle nuances coming through the earthy tones just in the back of my throat.
Camphor? Eucalyptus?Menthol? Something that leaves my breath slightly cleaner than before the session began. There is a mild and steady earthiness, a taste of peat-moss, no bitterness and no astringency. It reminds me of a old cedar-lined trunk that's been in an attic for a long time. Opening it up one feels the contents waiting to be unfurled, the dust shaken off, and for the ghosts allowed room to move their formless limbs. It tastes old and more than a wee bit haunting is what I am saying! An acquired taste undoubtedly and one I am not yet sure I will be given the gift of but I am excited to keep exploring it. Moving on to my next Liu Bao tomorrow, which will be quite a bit younger and perhaps a little more kind to my newbie senses, but until then I am off to reawaken this tea and try a few more steeps!
Wake up, wake up, fair and tiny gift! Come out, come out, and taste your life!