Liu'an Lan Cha vs Liu Bao

Liu'an Lan Cha

Liu'an Lan Cha, often shortened to An Cha, is a rare basket-aged dark tea from southern Anhui with a history stretching back to the Ming dynasty. After an initial processing similar to green tea, the leaves are packed into bamboo baskets lined with bamboo husk and left to ferment slowly for years. The result is gentle and refined: smooth, earthy-woody with camphor coolness and a light herbal sweetness, softer than Hunan bricks and closer in spirit to aged Liu Bao.

Liu Bao

Liu Bao is a dark tea from Wuzhou in Guangxi, traditionally piled and aged in bamboo baskets. The cup is smooth and grounding: damp earth, betel nut, and dark wood with a clean mineral finish and a natural sweetness that emerges over steeps. Aged Liu Bao develops a medicinal, cooling character prized in humid southern China.

Liu'an Lan Cha

Water temperature

95–100°C

Leaf to water

5g / 250ml

Steep time

0.5–1 min

Re-steep

5–8 times

Liu Bao

Water temperature

95–100°C

Leaf to water

5g / 250ml

Steep time

0.5–1 min

Re-steep

5–8 times

Liu'an Lan Cha

Medium caffeine — roughly 20–40 mg per brewed serving

A moderate, steady lift without an intense spike.

Liu Bao

Medium caffeine — roughly 30–60 mg per brewed serving

A moderate, steady lift without an intense spike.

Liu'an Lan Cha

China · Anhui (Qimen area)

Liu'an Lan Cha is produced around Qimen and Shitai counties in Anhui; the 'lan' refers to the bamboo basket (basket in local dialect) used for aging.

Liu Bao

China · Guangxi

Liu Bao ('six castles') takes its name from the old tea markets of Wuzhou, Guangxi.