Has anyone tried on Laochatou?
I tried a aged Laochatou yesterday. It was delicious. And ago took away the heavy fermentation taste. It is good and recommendable. but even the owner doesn't know where it is from and how many years it is. One thing sure, quite old. must be over 7 years.
Re: Has anyone tried on Laochatou?
I've had new season laochatou and it doesn't really have the fresh fermentation flavor. I think the sweetness overpowers the fermentation flavor IMO.
Jul 5th, '10, 12:53
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Re: Has anyone tried on Laochatou?
it can be a nice tea.
As far as I know, the sweet taste comes from pectins and sugar-like components being released in the process. when wo dui is made with piling method, the leaves are regularly moved (the ones on the top to bottom end the ones on the bottom upwards) so as to homogenize the exposition to heat and humidity. yet some leaves while they are down the pile, as a result to a time of "overexposure" to heat & humidity, will release components like pectins plus others and will aggregate.
after fermentation process is completed, the aggregates are sorted out. that's why they are called "cha tou". "cha tou" means "what you put aside"; like Imen puts it in a post on Tea Obsession it is the "heads and tails" of tea. cha tou is anything that results from sorting, and can apply to any tea process. not very far from the "demono" notion with japanese tea.
so shu cha tou is a funny byproduct : something put aside because it is generally not considered nice / or good enough / or homogenous / to be conditioned and sold mixed with the final product. But why throw away something that is drinkable (and even can be very nice) and can be sold ? so it appeared on the market (I believe it is recent, but I am not able to quote a date), preferably called "lao cha tou".
lao : old ? well, yes and no. thing is, on each batch the quantity of cha tou is not huge. so it is kept until, batch after batch, there is a quantity that justifies conditioning (eg pressing) and putting on the market. there is probably more sorting done, and not all byproduct kept.
so in a compressed cha tou brick you may have bits from different years/ different batches/different leaves. "lao" sexes it up a little bit when put on sale.
Basically the "age" is not intended, but as the material gets more sugarlike and sweet in taste with time, I guess it is reasonable to assume that some makers would now intentionally keep the shu cha tou for some time and maybe create grades. it is also not unlikely that cha tou from shu cha could become a product in itself. that will depend on how the market likes it.
As far as I know, the sweet taste comes from pectins and sugar-like components being released in the process. when wo dui is made with piling method, the leaves are regularly moved (the ones on the top to bottom end the ones on the bottom upwards) so as to homogenize the exposition to heat and humidity. yet some leaves while they are down the pile, as a result to a time of "overexposure" to heat & humidity, will release components like pectins plus others and will aggregate.
after fermentation process is completed, the aggregates are sorted out. that's why they are called "cha tou". "cha tou" means "what you put aside"; like Imen puts it in a post on Tea Obsession it is the "heads and tails" of tea. cha tou is anything that results from sorting, and can apply to any tea process. not very far from the "demono" notion with japanese tea.
so shu cha tou is a funny byproduct : something put aside because it is generally not considered nice / or good enough / or homogenous / to be conditioned and sold mixed with the final product. But why throw away something that is drinkable (and even can be very nice) and can be sold ? so it appeared on the market (I believe it is recent, but I am not able to quote a date), preferably called "lao cha tou".
lao : old ? well, yes and no. thing is, on each batch the quantity of cha tou is not huge. so it is kept until, batch after batch, there is a quantity that justifies conditioning (eg pressing) and putting on the market. there is probably more sorting done, and not all byproduct kept.
so in a compressed cha tou brick you may have bits from different years/ different batches/different leaves. "lao" sexes it up a little bit when put on sale.
Basically the "age" is not intended, but as the material gets more sugarlike and sweet in taste with time, I guess it is reasonable to assume that some makers would now intentionally keep the shu cha tou for some time and maybe create grades. it is also not unlikely that cha tou from shu cha could become a product in itself. that will depend on how the market likes it.
Last edited by alan logan on Jul 5th, '10, 17:33, edited 1 time in total.
Jul 5th, '10, 17:30
Posts: 5896
Joined: Jan 10th, '10, 16:04
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Contact:
debunix
Re: Has anyone tried on Laochatou?
plus, I retrieved this post by Imen :
http://tea-obsession.blogspot.com/2009/01/cha-tou.html
she explains the whole "cha tou" notion.
http://tea-obsession.blogspot.com/2009/01/cha-tou.html
she explains the whole "cha tou" notion.
Re: Has anyone tried on Laochatou?
I've only tried the Dayi laochatou brick. Haven't stumbled upon many others. I think I saw a laotongzhi brick as well. Good stuff but breaking it apart can take some strength.