Winter Cold & 2000 Guangxi Liu Bao Tea

I am having a nasty cold. I thought all the tea and wine I've drunk is supposed to have given me an added immunity. Isn't that what they say? I never even added milk into my cuppa. By now, I should already be like Popeye after gulping a can of untainted spinach. What gives?

I feel miserable and I yearn for a tea that soothes. This usually calls for a good dose of decent cooked pu'er. However and fortunately, a package of 6 to 7-year old Liu Bao tea from Jing Tea Shop just arrived and I opted for this instead. The following is in no way a fair assessment of the tea, as I enjoyed it with a muted sense of smell and taste.

With my nose blocked and my throat itchy, I prepared the Liu Bao tea in a 120ml gaiwan, using about 10+ grams of dry leaves and just-boiled spring water. The small, dry leaves appeared reddish-black-brown and it smells like -- nope, my nose was too blocked to smell anything. The resulting liquor from the brew was dark brown and opaque. Pretty intimidating looking. It looked like a very bitter Chinese medicine that my parents told me to drink -- with dire consequences if I refused -- when I was a snotty kid.

I slurped the dark water carefully. Mmmm...smooth! It tasted like a clean-tasting cooked pu'er. It's got a thick milky texture, and it effortlessly slid down my throat. Curiously, the taste of this tea reminded me of milk! The aftertaste was clean but did not linger for long.

This tea was what I needed. It warmed and soothed my body. At a time like this, I rarely want any aromatic oolong or green tea. I'm going to brew this Liu Bao again later considerably more diluted and I'll add ginger to the brew.

*cough, sniffle, a-choo!*
agony of winter cold
this tea tastes like milk
~ Phyll in his pajama next to a big cuppa

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Image: "Sick Puppy" from www.cartooncomedyclub.com