Aged Collection

1970s Si Jin Qian Liu Bao

四金钱六堡茶 (慎昌號)

Kowloon, then Malaysia

Dried Jujube · Sandalwood · Chen Xiang 陈香

Si Jin Qian means four coins. Shen Cheong made it from the Qing dynasty onward, and it became one of the teas that defined Hong Kong's tea houses in their best years, shipped from there across Southeast Asia. This is old stock: liu bao from the 1970s, held in Kowloon first and then moved to Malaysia to finish.

Two storage climates in one tea, and you can taste both. Hong Kong gave it the deep base and the chen xiang, the aroma that only turns up in tea left alone for decades and that nobody has worked out how to hurry. Malaysia carried it further and made it sweet. The liquor is dark and thick with a soft texture, dried jujube through the middle, and something like sandalwood underneath. It goes down warm and stays quiet for a long time afterward.

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Variant

$19.90

1970s Si Jin Qian Liu Bao

$19.90

Provenance

Made in the 1970s under the Shen Cheong name, then held in Kowloon through the decades when Hong Kong's warehouses were where aged tea came from. Later moved to Malaysia, where warmth and humidity pushed it further than it would have gone in dry storage. Double storage like this is uncommon and it is why the tea reads sweeter and rounder than a Hong Kong tea of the same age.

The Basket

We bought this from a Malaysian collector who had held it for years, which is how a Hong Kong tea comes to have finished its life in Malaysia. Private collections are where most genuinely old liu bao sits, and buying from one is slower and more expensive than buying from a wholesaler. It is also the only way to get tea like this with its history intact.

Brewing Guide

Water ....... 100°C
Leaf ......... 7g / 120ml
Vessel ...... Clay
Infusions ... 10s, then add a few seconds each round
Yield ........ 10+
Also ......... Boil the spent leaves for a final decoction