1980's Zhong Cha Liu An Tea

This is one of the vintage Liu An teas we acquired many years ago from a local source of the Chinese community.

This Liu An tea was specially commissioned and produced in very small batches. Its production period was brief, limited to only a few years in the late 1980s. Following reforms to the export system, the Anhui Provincial Tea Company discontinued this basket-style Liu An tea. As a result, it is now extremely rare on the market.

The tea carries the China Tea Company’s Red “Ba Zhong” (Eight Zhong) trademark as its internal ticket. It was made from a soft-branch tea cultivar from Anhui Province. The dry leaves appear dark and glossy, with a tender, supple, and full-bodied structure, expressing a clear and well-developed aged flavor. The liquor brews to a deep, clear reddish color.

The taste is sweet, refreshing, and clean, featuring a mature medicinal profile. The mouthfeel is layered and dynamic, accompanied by a distinctive note reminiscent of watermelon rind. The tea’s character is deep and resonant, with a rich, fragrant, and rounded presence. Like other locally stored vintage teas, it also shows a refreshing tartness reminiscent of dried plum skin, with gentle bitterness and light astringency that resolve into a pronounced returning sweetness (hui gan).

This tea is exceptionally resilient to multiple infusions, making it especially rewarding for long and unhurried tea sessions.

As a special suggestion: after multiple infusions in a gaiwan or teapot, when the flavor becomes lighter, you can transfer the leaves to a silver kettle and simmer them in water. This will reveal another layer of character and offer a different tasting experience.

More History of Liu An Tea

Liu An tea was once one of the most popular tea varieties in Hong Kong. From the 1950s through the 1970s, it was a staple served in most traditional teahouses.

In Anhui, tea farmers and factories historically focused on producing green and yellow teas for the local market. Basket Liu An tea, however, gained popularity in Guangdong Province, Hong Kong, and throughout Southeast Asia. In general, aged Liu An tea is mellow and gentle on the stomach, with calming and soothing qualities, making it especially favored by the older generation in Hong Kong.

During the War of Resistance against Japan, transportation and distribution routes for Liu An tea was completely cut off, forcing production and sales to cease. The last batch of Liu An tea was produced in 1946, after which production stopped entirely. As a result, Liu An tea gradually faded from the tea world.

In the years that followed, Liu An tea sold in Hong Kong was mainly produced using tea leaves sourced from Yunnan, Guangdong, and Fujian. In 1983, the Nanyang Overseas Chinese Association sent a complete basket of antique Sun Yi Shun Liu An tea to the relevant departments of the China Tea Company in Anhui, hoping to revive basket tea production. The Qimen Tea Factory organized a team of specialists to conduct research and carried out trial production in Luxi, southern Qimen. In the 1980s, basket-packed Liu An tea used the China Tea Company’s “Eight Zhong Cha” trademark as its inner label.

 * Because we have only a very limited number of baskets in stock, we sell it only in small sizes, so more people can have the opportunity to try this tea.