I was curious as to how common it is to age black/red teas? I know the obvious aging of liu bao, but does anyone age any other of their Chinese reds?
I'm wondering what the consensus is on amount of years to age, which ones age better, and storing conditions. After drinking many different teas over the years I've come to the conclusion I prefer sheng, yancha, and hongcha most of the time. So my plan is to stock up on mainly these styles. But as good of an idea that I have on what sheng and yancha potentially age well, I'm pretty much clueless when it comes to hongcha.
Any comments/recommendations would be of great help..
Oct 23rd, '15, 00:12
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Re: Aged Black/Red teas
Telling from my own experiences with a selection of indian and chinese black teas I had in storage for up to 15 years (next to some oolongs and Pu Erhs - different story), some of them vacuum sealed, others just bagged and stored in hermetically sealed tins, I personally would not buy large amounts of black tea, especially Darjeelings in order to age them indefinetely but I found that some black (red) teas, particularly some Keemuns do benefit from an extended resting period, up to a couple years. It all depends.
Re: Aged Black/Red teas
I'm sure the variance is great. I kind of figured darjeelings wouldn't do good. And I know smoked black teas age pretty well. Maybe consensus is they "rest" well, as in up to 5 years or so, but long term aging should be out of the picture.
Curious as to those blacks that are made of decent quality pu'er material. They don't seem to be that fruity or floral to begin with and wonder if little age brings on any kind of any (interesting) flavors (woodsy, earthy,mineral). I know the processing stunts any possibility of getting those fermented flavors, but some vintage oolongs are good examples of how fruitier, maltier, and more floral teas develop interesting contrasting flavors.
Curious as to those blacks that are made of decent quality pu'er material. They don't seem to be that fruity or floral to begin with and wonder if little age brings on any kind of any (interesting) flavors (woodsy, earthy,mineral). I know the processing stunts any possibility of getting those fermented flavors, but some vintage oolongs are good examples of how fruitier, maltier, and more floral teas develop interesting contrasting flavors.
Re: Aged Black/Red teas
I got some Taiwanese hongcha recently.. lots and lots of power, strong and large leaves. I'd bet that those would age greatly.
Re: Aged Black/Red teas
Hmmm, high altitude taiwanese reds. Yes, very well may be good candidates for aging! I've had some very interesting hongcha from taiwan. And I agree, some are very powerful. I need to give the whole "pesticides in taiwan tea" a rest already, and trust good vendors judging a tea by its obvious qualities and inherit good farming practices.miig wrote:I got some Taiwanese hongcha recently.. lots and lots of power, strong and large leaves. I'd bet that those would age greatly.
Oct 25th, '15, 15:04
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Re: Aged Black/Red teas
I honestly had disappointing results with Taiwanese reds; most of them enter in the category of spiciness/sweetness losing strength and endurance (after 5/7 y.).
Still, one in particular is improving significantly!
Still, one in particular is improving significantly!
Oct 25th, '15, 15:28
Posts: 541
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Re: Aged Black/Red teas
2015 has been the first year where I bought more certified organic tea than non-organic stuff and I intend to keep it that way. I'm also looking forward to buying more and more tea directly from farmers/producers and stocking up on pure, natural tea that ages well and isn't produced at the cost of environmental pollution and human health. We have more choices than ever before.LouPepe wrote: I need to give the whole "pesticides in taiwan tea" a rest already, and trust good vendors judging a tea by its obvious qualities and inherit good farming practices.
Oct 25th, '15, 22:41
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Evan Draper
Re: Aged Black/Red teas
Yeah, word is aged dian hong is the way to go. Haven't had any to my recollection tho. Got a couple samples of '90's sealed in original packaging, but you can't have your tea and drink it too....LouPepe wrote:Curious as to those blacks that are made of decent quality pu'er material.
Re: Aged Black/Red teas
Yeah that doesn't sound appealing at all. With so many new cultivars coming out of taiwan I guess it wouldn't hurt to keep a couple of 100 gram baggies stashed away to see how they progress.William wrote:I honestly had disappointing results with Taiwanese reds; most of them enter in the category of spiciness/sweetness losing strength and endurance (after 5/7 y.).
Still, one in particular is improving significantly!
You should open those bad boys up and enlighten usEvan Draper wrote:Yeah, word is aged dian hong is the way to go. Haven't had any to my recollection tho. Got a couple samples of '90's sealed in original packaging, but you can't have your tea and drink it too....LouPepe wrote:Curious as to those blacks that are made of decent quality pu'er material.
