i was in taiwan recently, and i visited alishan. in one of the tea shops, a tea pot caught my eye, and i asked if it was for sale. it was not for sale, but the guy took it from the shelf and handed it to me so i could check it out. inside appeared to be old, brewed tea leaves with a bit of mold growing in there (i think the mold was white in color, but i don't remember for sure).
i figured someone brewed tea in there and just forgot all about it, but he was kind of telling me that it was intentional. i think he was telling me that they re-brew those leaves periodically or something, mold and all?? his english was not so good, and i didn't press the question further after he attempted to explain it to me a couple of times.
i don't remember what kind of tea it appeared to be, but it might have looked like gaoshan.
has anyone seen this kind of thing before? what's up with that?
Re: Keeping moldy tea in a teapot
I've never heard of that being done. I can't think of any possible reasons to keep moldy tea in a pot or make tea out of the leaves. I imagine it would change the flavor of the tea you were brewing, but probably for the worse. Maybe the guy was just embarrassed about its condition so he made something up? Either way, I personally wouldn't try tea that's been made in a pot like that.