Dark

Guangxi & Cantonese

The southern dark-tea family rooted in Cantonese trade and warehouse culture. Liu Bao from Guangxi is stored and aged in baskets, developing a deep earthy, woody, and sometimes camphor or betel-nut character through years of humid warehouse aging. Liu An basket tea originated in Anhui but is historically aged and consumed in Hong Kong and Guangdong, where generations of tea drinkers built the appreciation for its distinctive aged profile. Both styles have deep roots in overseas Cantonese tea culture; they reward collectors willing to engage with aging as part of the experience.

teabert, the tealytics teapot, keeper of the kettle

This is the basket-aged southern branch, Liu Bao and Liu An, raised in humid warehouses until they turn deep, woody, and earthy. There's a patient, old-Cantonese soul to these teas, and I think they taste best when you meet them halfway and let the years they spent waiting count for something.

Styles in this family

Liu Bao

Liu Bao is a dark (hei cha) tea from Wuzhou in Guangxi province, aged in bamboo baskets and defined by a smooth earthiness that, in well-aged examples, develops…

Liu An Hei Cha (Basket Tea)

Liu An (also written Lu'an) basket tea is a post-fermented dark tea from Anhui province, packed into small bamboo baskets lined with bamboo leaves and aged,…