Age, flavor, pu-erh

One of the intentionally aged teas, Pu-Erh has a loyal following.


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Dec 29th, '08, 21:55
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Age, flavor, pu-erh

by Drax » Dec 29th, '08, 21:55

In a few recent posts, some people have made comments about whether a pu-erh tea will age well or not (vendors make similar comments). I mostly get a sense that this is all a 'feeling' about a tea, but there must be some indicators?

From what I vaguely recall, people seem to think that strong or overpowering shengs will tend to mellow with age (?), and it seems as though if a young sheng has no flavor at present, that it will not greatly gain anything with time.

Again, I'm just pulling info from the comments made here and there. I wouldn't be surprised if nobody really agreed on comment elements of how pu-erh flavor changes with time and what makes a good candidate for aging and another not. But it would still be interesting to hear. . .

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Dec 29th, '08, 22:56
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by Salsero » Dec 29th, '08, 22:56

I also plead beatific ignorance.

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Dec 29th, '08, 23:35
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by Wesli » Dec 29th, '08, 23:35

That's the idea Drax. But my take is that it needs to not only be strong, but be complex in the sense of having multiple flavors. I've also heard repeatedly that a strong hay flavor points to a fault in manufacture, and will lead the tea to worsen over time. I'm not sure about the hay thing, but I have heard it.

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