Old Prometheus - Aged Liu Bao
Drinking great tea is revelatory in nature. Accompanied by a sense of joy, wonderment and serenity, it's as if the tea maker, using stolen knowledge from the Gods, unlocks the leaf's secrets to create what otherwise could only be interpreted as alchemy. Each sip only serves to reaffirm this transformation and as the tea ingested begins to work its magic, it opens the drinker to seeing the world from an entirely new vantage point.
Old Prometheus is a tea that plays to the subtler aspects of this experience.
It comes from Black Rock (Heishi) Mountain, one of the more famous areas that makes Liu Bao. Known for its older tea trees at high elevation and for adhering to the traditional way of making this tea (before accelerated fermentation was established in 1959), it is packed into baskets and then allowed to age naturally.
27 years on, and now older than some of your friends, this tea has developed beautifully. Its classic betel nut aroma and flavor are accentuated by notes of warmed whole grain bread, olive tapenade and Vegemite, leaving the drinker with plenty to mull over sensorially, or allowing one to downshift into a calmer state of being.
Location - Heishi Shan, Cangwu County, Wuzhou Prefecture, Guangxi Z.A.R., China
Factory - Heishi Mountain Tea Cooperative
Storage - Naturally aged in Guangzhou.
Harvest Time - Spring 1995
BREWING INSTRUCTIONS
- Gong Fu - This tea works great in both porcelain and semi porous vessels. Since it is a small curled leaf, we recommend filling a third of the vessel with dry leaf. Works wonderfully in grandpa style too, after a quick rinse of course.
- Western - Use 1 heaping teaspoon per 8 oz of water. Add 212F water and steep for 4-6 minutes. Can be re-steeped a second time, adding 2-3 minutes to the original steep time.