What is old tea tree?

One of the intentionally aged teas, Pu-Erh has a loyal following.
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Oct 13th, '11, 23:35
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What is old tea tree?

by TIM » Oct 13th, '11, 23:35

How old is old for tea tree, and why older the better? I once asked this question long ago to a Dai tea master in Yunnan: "Is your tea organically grown? Are they certified organic?" Looking at those ancient tea trees that are 400-700 years old in front of me... he gave me a smile in reply: "We've been harvesting these trees for 5 generations. And I don't know what standard of organic means to you..." I feel like a rookie Walmart buyer all of a sudden, still felt that way now when I thought about being there and was surrounded by those ancient living gems. So what is the difference from your own experience between old and new plantation tea?
Oct 13th, '11, 23:39
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Re: What is old tea tree?

by shah82 » Oct 13th, '11, 23:39

taidi (the good stuff) is like tasting a short story.

gushu is like tasting a novel.

Lao Banzhang is like tasting War and Peace.
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Oct 14th, '11, 03:05
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Re: What is old tea tree?

by nada » Oct 14th, '11, 03:05

More and more these days, it's not such a silly question. As prices rocket and as greed sets in, it's not so difficult to imagine that some farmers may be tempted to use chemical fertilisers on their old trees to increase yield. I've heard of this happening in LBZ this year.

After all, when a few extra kg of maocha can buy you a new motorbike...
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Oct 16th, '11, 23:18
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Re: What is old tea tree?

by bagua7 » Oct 16th, '11, 23:18

shah82 wrote:taidi (the good stuff) is like tasting a short story.

gushu is like tasting a novel.

Lao Banzhang is like tasting War and Peace.
And I would add to that:

100 year puerh is like reading Dao De Jing :)
Oct 24th, '11, 10:36
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Re: What is old tea tree?

by zhi zheng » Oct 24th, '11, 10:36

some farmers may be tempted to use chemical fertilisers on their old trees
Yes. Old tea trees doesn't necessarily mean no chemicals. Also, old tea trees that have not recently been treated can show signs of chemical residues from earlier times - much more common than one might care to think.
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Oct 28th, '11, 12:18
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Re: What is old tea tree?

by hop_goblin » Oct 28th, '11, 12:18

nada wrote:More and more these days, it's not such a silly question. As prices rocket and as greed sets in, it's not so difficult to imagine that some farmers may be tempted to use chemical fertilisers on their old trees to increase yield. I've heard of this happening in LBZ this year.

After all, when a few extra kg of maocha can buy you a new motorbike...
That would certainly be a tragedy. LBZ would do themselves a tremendous disfavor by increasing yield at the expense of tradition. Part of the appeal of LBZ of course as you know is its scarcity. Why flood the market with bad tea? I mean, all you have to do is sell your maocha, and some enterprising tea maker will just cut it with other growths and label it LBZ. Think Columbian 8) Not that they are not already doing this.
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