So, wow. This stuff was amazing. I had a sample with my last order and it really surprised me. It had a roasted flavor, yet also seemed to have qualities of an aged pu'erh.
This was the oldest oolong I've had. Is that normal for an aged oolong?
Any recommendations for other experiences with aged oolongs?
Though I haven't had much experience with aged oolongs, I also got a bit of the earthy pu-erh taste in the scent of the wet leaves of the one that I had, 90s Select Aged Nan Tou from Hou De. I highly recommend that tea. It has a lovely toasty flavor with all sorts of fun nuances to it, and it resteeps incredibly well.
Re: 70s oolong from Nadacha
It's one kind of normal. Whether the tea is roasted or green to start with, it will usually start to develop some of those pu'er like characteristics if it isn't periodically re-roasted to keep the moisture out. So generally speaking (and this is a gross oversimplification), aged oolongs will tend towards more sweet tasting or more earthy tasting (or, in some cases, sour tasting). This depends on the degree of initial roasting, storage container, storage environment / humidity, degree and frequency of subsequent roasts, if any, the age (of course), and so on. As you try more, you'll see the tendencies that tend to develop over time.Drax wrote:So, wow. This stuff was amazing. I had a sample with my last order and it really surprised me. It had a roasted flavor, yet also seemed to have qualities of an aged pu'erh.
This was the oldest oolong I've had. Is that normal for an aged oolong?
Have a read of the following threads if you haven't already:
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=9057
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?p=64348
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=8713
The aged baozhongs from Stephane at Teamasters (the '76 one if he still has it), as well as most of his other aged oolongs are quite good. Also, Red Blossom's aged baozhong is pretty nice, and hasn't been re-roasted much.Any recommendations for other experiences with aged oolongs?
I would also recommend trying some 90s or so Taiwanese gaoshan that's been re-roasted very little or not at all. The taste will be considerably younger / fresher than stuff from the 70s / 80s, and the aftertaste should be really long lasting, but without much astringency or other harsh flavors. Stephane may have something along these lines (his '91 "dong ding" was very nice IMO, but I think isn't available anymore).
Shiuwen at Floating Leaves has some aged teas in stock, so you might want to give her a call... she has a '90s Buddha Hand (Fo Shou) that's quite sweet and pleasant to drink.
Jun 13th, '09, 09:50
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Joined: Dec 21st, '08, 19:43
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JAS-eTea Guy
25-30 years old TGY
This is definitely different.
The camphor or minty taste on the tip of the tongue is the predominant note. The liquor is clear and has beautiful golden appearance. The mouthfeel is nice but nothing special. Most of the astringency of a green tea seems to have mellowed out with age but there is enough there to still be felt on the edges of the tongue. I am searching for other flavor notes but it is difficult to peek behind the predominant camphor note. This seems like a great tea for summer. Now in the fourth infusion and there is a bit of tingle on my lips and tongue tip. Very interesting tea.
Definitely worth trying an aged TGY if you have only had the less than one-year-old stuff in the past.
Cheers,
Steve
The camphor or minty taste on the tip of the tongue is the predominant note. The liquor is clear and has beautiful golden appearance. The mouthfeel is nice but nothing special. Most of the astringency of a green tea seems to have mellowed out with age but there is enough there to still be felt on the edges of the tongue. I am searching for other flavor notes but it is difficult to peek behind the predominant camphor note. This seems like a great tea for summer. Now in the fourth infusion and there is a bit of tingle on my lips and tongue tip. Very interesting tea.
Definitely worth trying an aged TGY if you have only had the less than one-year-old stuff in the past.
Cheers,
Steve
Good tea drinking,
Steve
Steve
Camphor?
Hesitating a guess here...
Camphor is an unusual terpenoid (in this case,a bi-cyclo ketone specific to an Asian laurel genus). It's highly unlikely to have developed over longterm aging of tea on its own and may have been acquired through storage in or around camphor wood. Camphor is quite 'aromatic' and as a flavor note, and would indeed mask / override subtle flavor qualities (due to large phenolic complex formation) that slowly develops with many years of storage.
Camphor deters insect invasion and also acts as an antimicrobial (mold control) agent.
Camphor is an unusual terpenoid (in this case,a bi-cyclo ketone specific to an Asian laurel genus). It's highly unlikely to have developed over longterm aging of tea on its own and may have been acquired through storage in or around camphor wood. Camphor is quite 'aromatic' and as a flavor note, and would indeed mask / override subtle flavor qualities (due to large phenolic complex formation) that slowly develops with many years of storage.
Camphor deters insect invasion and also acts as an antimicrobial (mold control) agent.
Appreciate the feedback, everybody. When my backlog of teas to try has cleared a bit, I will explore a bit more into the aged oolong area. I was very pleasantly surprised by this particular one!
Intuit -- as far as I can tell, most aged pu'erhs develop a camphor-like flavoring. I think this often gets referred to as the "Chinese medicine" factor -- maybe people use those to refer to two different things, but this is the impression I get. This is not to imply that it IS camphor, but is reminiscent of the tone and the effects of camphor.
Intuit -- as far as I can tell, most aged pu'erhs develop a camphor-like flavoring. I think this often gets referred to as the "Chinese medicine" factor -- maybe people use those to refer to two different things, but this is the impression I get. This is not to imply that it IS camphor, but is reminiscent of the tone and the effects of camphor.
Jun 13th, '09, 22:14
Posts: 155
Joined: Dec 21st, '08, 19:43
Location: Burke, VA
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JAS-eTea Guy
Re: Camphor?
Thanks Intuit.Intuit wrote:Hesitating a guess here...
Camphor is an unusual terpenoid (in this case,a bi-cyclo ketone specific to an Asian laurel genus). It's highly unlikely to have developed over longterm aging of tea on its own and may have been acquired through storage in or around camphor wood. Camphor is quite 'aromatic' and as a flavor note, and would indeed mask / override subtle flavor qualities (due to large phenolic complex formation) that slowly develops with many years of storage.
Camphor deters insect invasion and also acts as an antimicrobial (mold control) agent.
Lots of information that I did not know.
Steve
Good tea drinking,
Steve
Steve
I didn't care for this one too much except for it's qi. Go for Houde's 90's Baozhong which is the best aged oolong I've had so far IMHO.
What I found most interesting about this 70's one is that it had white frost on the dry leaves, but the flavor wasn't completely empty or sour. It tasted like it had just been reroasted within the last few years. The smell of the wet leaves even carries a shicang aroma about it.
What I found most interesting about this 70's one is that it had white frost on the dry leaves, but the flavor wasn't completely empty or sour. It tasted like it had just been reroasted within the last few years. The smell of the wet leaves even carries a shicang aroma about it.