Employees of Guangxi Wuzhou Tea Factory Co., Ltd., an enterprise affiliated with the Guangxi Supply and Marketing Cooperative, promote Sanhe Liubao tea at a tea expo. (Photo provided by the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives)
Can Liubao tea be steeped, and can it be boiled?
Is it true that the longer it is stored, the better?
Does Shanping Village have its own tea brand?
…
On October 17, the General Secretary joined the discussion of the Guangxi delegation at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. As a member of the Guangxi delegation, Zhu Xuelan, Party Branch Secretary of Shanping Village, Liubao Town, Cangwu County, Wuzhou City, and Director of the Village Committee, spoke on developing distinctive agricultural industries. The General Secretary showed great concern for the development of Guangxi’s distinctive agricultural industries and asked delegate Zhu Xuelan three questions in a row about Liubao tea, urging that Liubao tea be made bigger and stronger.
To keep the General Secretary’s instructions firmly in mind and make the Liubao tea industry bigger and stronger, China Co-op Times·Tea Weekly All-Media invited He Meizhen, Director and Deputy General Manager of Guangxi Wuzhou Tea Factory Co., Ltd., who has been engaged in Liubao tea processing technology and R&D for more than 30 years, to answer the following questions from the perspective of popular science.
Chinese Master Tea Maker / Professor-level Senior Engineer
1. Can Liubao tea be steeped, and can it be boiled?
Liubao tea can not only be steeped and boiled, but also brewed in a sealed vessel (men). Generally speaking, new tea tastes better when boiled or men-brewed; aged tea and old tea can be steeped first and then boiled — that is, boiled after the infusion has turned weak — which fully brings out the value of aged and old tea.
2. Is Liubao tea better the longer it is stored?
Under suitable environmental conditions, Liubao tea can be stored for a long time. During storage, Liubao tea can secrete a variety of enzymes that accelerate the transformation of the tea’s inner substances, forming the quality characteristics of red, rich, aged and mellow. As time goes by, Liubao tea grows more fragrant with age, and its taste becomes increasingly mellow and smooth; it is therefore called “an antique you can drink”.
File photo.
In addition to the above two questions, the Tea Weekly editorial department also asked the expert to answer tea lovers’ questions about the health benefits of Liubao tea and how to tell its quality.
1. Why is Guangxi Liubao tea so popular? What beneficial effects does it have on health?
Liubao tea is a post-fermented tea belonging to the dark tea category, with a mild nature. Named after its place of origin — Liubao Town, Cangwu County, Wuzhou City, Guangxi — it has a history of more than 1,500 years. In the late Qing Dynasty it was exported via the ancient Tea Boat Road to Southeast Asia for Chinese and overseas Chinese to drink, making it a famous tea sold to overseas Chinese communities. Because of its beneficial effects of relieving summer heat, dispelling dampness and regulating the stomach and intestines, local overseas Chinese miners called it “life-preserving tea” and “life-saving tea”.
As the living standards of the Chinese people continue to rise and health awareness grows, Liubao tea — with its characteristics of growing more fragrant with age, more mellow with age, better in health benefits with age, and better in bodily feel with age — is increasingly loved by the Chinese people.
After I developed the “three highs” (high blood pressure, high blood sugar and high blood lipids) in 2006, I began drinking more Liubao tea, and I have gained more and more personal experience of its benefits, as follows:
① It helps lower the three highs, with beneficial effects on stabilizing blood pressure, cleansing the blood and keeping blood vessels clear;
② My chronic gastritis of many years is cured — my stomach no longer hurts;
③ My long-standing localized stubborn dermatitis also healed without my noticing;
④ My teeth have become stronger — in my fifties, my teeth are as strong as they were in my youth;
⑤ It helps dispel head wind and stop headaches; especially for women during their menstrual period, when it is easy to catch a chill and get headaches — a warm cup of Liubao tea quickly dispels the discomfort;
⑥ It works very well at cutting through greasiness and aiding digestion;
⑦ It works very well for sobering up and protecting the liver;
⑧ It balances the intestinal flora and has an auxiliary effect in treating gastrointestinal discomfort;
⑨ Drinking aged Liubao tea can calm the mind and aid sleep.
Liubao tea is a post-fermented tea; because it is aged in a cellar environment, it is rich in probiotics and can regulate human metabolism. Research on Liubao tea by the team of Liu Zhonghua, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, has also confirmed these effects.
2. How to tell good Liubao tea from bad?
High-quality Liubao tea has the quality characteristics of red, rich, aged and mellow: the liquor is red and rich, the taste is mellow and full, the aged aroma is pure, and it grows more fragrant with age; poor Liubao tea, by contrast, gives off unpleasant smells such as sour, rancid, mouldy and other off-odors.
“Does Shanping Village have its own tea brand?”
The General Secretary’s third question needs to be answered by Shanping Village itself — answered through the development practice and achievements of tea industry revitalization in Shanping Village! Tea Weekly will keep following this!
Produced by: China Co-op Times·Tea Weekly All-Media
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Author: Lam Sam (LamSam), the Old Tea Head
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