2025 Sheqian Liu Bao Tea

This premium tea is meticulously selected from the Ludi 芦荻 High Mountain Tea Garden of Liu Bao Town 六堡镇, featuring the first flush of spring shoots – one bud and one leaf – from original Zhengshan old tea trees, harvested before the Chun She 春社 festival. Ludi, one of the three core producing areas of Liubao tea, boasts a warm and humid climate and a superior ecological environment. The tea trees here are over fifty years old and have long been cultivated under organic standards. The so-called "She Qian tea 社前茶” is harvested and processed before the fifth Wu day after the beginning of spring (立春, Lichun), a time even earlier than the Qingming 明前 festival. It represents the pinnacle of tenderness and freshness in Liubao tea, rich in intrinsic substances, making it a true gem among spring teas. These original seed tea trees, having undergone natural selection, grow slowly but possess outstanding adaptability and resilience, making them rare and exceptional materials for crafting traditional Liubao tea.

To preserve the inherent character of the raw materials, we adhere to ancient tea-making techniques. The process involves seven core steps: spreading, kill-green, initial rolling, piling and smothering, breaking up clumps, re-rolling, and drying. These are supplemented by over ten meticulous refinements, each layer carefully polished. Building upon years of academic research and tea-tasting experience, we have subtly optimized the details of these ancient methods. This effectively resolves the common issue of bitterness often found in high-grade raw materials, achieving a harmonious unity of flavor and tradition. The result is a tea liquor that is even more mellow, smooth, and full-bodied, with a long-lasting aftertaste.

The dry tea leaves are slender, tightly-rolled, and have a lustrous greenish-brown appearance. When smelled dry, they exude a fragrance reminiscent of smoked plums and blueberries. We recommend brewing this tea using a gaiwan. The first two infusions yield a bright orange-yellow liquor with a rich, mellow, and sweet taste, accompanied by a long-lasting throat-feel and notes of fresh aroma and sweet beans. From the third to the seventh infusion, the liquor turns a translucent golden-yellow, offering a full-bodied and refreshing taste with subtle hints of orchid fragrance. Even after eight infusions, the tea liquor remains clear and bright, with a pure and mellow taste and a persistent sweet aftertaste, revealing a gentle jujube seed fragrance. The infused leaves are a bright, yellowish-brown, showcasing their tender buds, and they retain a long-lasting fresh aroma when smelled cold. Each infusion is like a gentle whisper of spring, with a profound and memorable flavor that lingers.