When we talk about aged Liubao tea (六堡茶) in Malaysia, we must begin with the history of tin (錫) mining. Tin had been mined in the Malay Peninsula for centuries, but the industry expanded rapidly after rich tin deposits were discovered in Larut, Perak, in 1848. By the early 20th century, Malaya had become one of the world’s leading tin producers, supplying more than half of the world’s tin.
At that time, mining was still highly labor-intensive, and large numbers of workers were recruited from Guangdong (廣東) and Guangxi (廣西). Guangxi, especially, with its long history of mining, provided many experienced miners and supervisors. However, life in Malaya’s mining settlements was extremely harsh, and newly arrived workers often struggled to adapt to the hot and humid tropical climate. Many fell ill, and mortality rates were extremely high. However, some of them had brought Liubao tea from Wuzhou (梧州), Guangxi, and those who drank it regularly were observed to stay healthier and had significantly lower mortality rates.
As a result, Liubao tea gradually became a daily necessity in the mining communities and began to be imported into Malaya in large quantities. Over time, some of this tea remained untouched in warehouses, where it continued to age and transform, the warm and humid climate proving especially suitable for this process. Decades later, people discovered that these aged Liubao teas had developed remarkable medicinal and ginseng-like aromas over time, along with a deep and powerful ChaQi.
Last year, we traveled to Kuala Lumpur to visit several collectors of aged Liubao tea, including Mr. Yao Binyi (姚斌奕), author of the book - Liubao Tea Route (六堡航路). And we began exploring aged Liubao teas from different periods, origins, and storage conditions, searching for those that could pair most naturally with agarwood. Rather than simply matching the two powerful aromas, we were looking for a deeper harmony, where the aged character of the tea could echo the ethereal depth, complexity, and lingering fragrance of agarwood without either one overwhelming the other.
These Liubao teas, originally produced in Guangxi in the 1990s, then began a new chapter in their journey with us. More than 3,700 kilometers later, they arrived in the Wuyi Mountains. There, for the first time, we applied our agarwood-charcoal roasting technique to Liubao tea. Over the charcoal fire, the aged character of the tea slowly opened up, while the fragrance and Qi released from the agarwood gradually entered the leaves. The result was not simply a scented tea, but a transformation of its original character: the old medicinal and ginseng-like notes became clearer and more refined, while a subtle agarwood presence emerged naturally with each infusion.
After dozens of hours of gentle charcoal roasting, this aged Liubao tea seemed to take on a new life. Unlike Pu-erh, which is often pressed into dense cakes, Liubao tea has a naturally compact yet relatively loose and porous structure, leaving spaces between the leaves. This unique structure allows the tea to absorb and hold fragrance remarkably well, making it especially suited to carrying the subtle fragrance of agarwood. After several years of repeated testing and refinement, we have realised that Liubao tea is one of the most natural and harmonious carriers for agarwood.
When the tea was finally completed, I was blown away. With my eyes closed, the dry leaves smelled almost like a dark, resin-rich piece of agarwood itself. I had never imagined that tea and agarwood could merge so seamlessly. As hot water was poured over the leaves, these two treasures, shaped by nature and transformed through time, seemed to melt into one. The deep, ginseng-like character of aged Liubao intertwined with the full spectrum of agarwood fragrance released over charcoal, creating an extraordinary depth and richness.
What surprised me even more was its powerful Qi. From the very first cup, I could feel an intense warmth spreading through my entire body, like a great river beginning to flow within me. Within a minute, a fine layer of sweat appeared on my skin. I had never experienced such a strong and immediate sense of energy from a tea before.
Another unexpected discovery was that the charcoal roasting almost completely removed the musty and damp notes that had developed during decades of warehouse aging. With most aged Liubao teas, the first one or two infusions are usually discarded to wash away these unwanted storage aromas. Our agarwood-roasted Liubao tea was entirely different. From the very first infusion, the mustiness was nowhere to be found, replaced by a clean, gentle fragrance of agarwood, while the original character of the aged tea remained beautifully intact.
This experiment has been the greatest breakthrough we have made in our years of exploring agarwood tea. More importantly, it has given me a deeper appreciation of what lies behind both tea and agarwood. Each is, in its own way, a distillation of nature’s vitality, slowly shaped and refined by time. When the two finally meet in harmony, it feels less like something we have created, and more like something formed by the quiet yet unstoppable forces of nature and time.
