Aging Teas Yourself

[Janine]

Aside from puerh, which is in its own category of storage and aging, I'm wondering about the process of aging teas oneself. Which teas are best for this? Under which conditions do you age? If I taste a good batch of say, a really roasty Wuyi tea, how would I go about aging a good amount and what might I expect as the result? How about black teas like keemun, or darjeeling? Any expertise out there? Please share your thoughts and experience, and please include the experiments. Puerh comments welcome also, although that probably has its own forum. But perhaps we could discuss the differences in aging as well.

[wyardley]

Aside from puerh, which is in its own category of storage and aging, I'm wondering about the process of aging teas oneself. Which teas are best for this? Under which conditions do you age? If I taste a good batch of say, a really roasty Wuyi tea, how would I go about aging a good amount and what might I expect as the result? How about black teas like keemun, or darjeeling? Any expertise out there? Please share your thoughts and experience, and please include the experiments. Puerh comments welcome also, although that probably has its own forum. But perhaps we could discuss the differences in aging as well.

I don't think true black (in the English sense) /red teas will age well, since they are already fully oxidized. I don't know for sure that they can't ferment, but I don't think they will. They will, probably, last for a long time if well stored, though.

Also, while some people will drink old green tea, it's generally not intentionally aged. There are other post-fermented teas besides pu'er, and most of these benefit from aging as well, but most of the considerations are similar.

So this is probably most appropriate for the oolong forum. See also these old threads about aging oolong (storage, re-roasting, etc.):
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=6386
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=6860 (second half of this one)
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=7151

[Janine]

Actually I have a friend who has aged some darjeeling, with what to my taste is lovely results. So, I think I'll leave the thread here. Thanks for the reading material.

[Proinsias]

My approach is a little less than scientific, laziness is the main factor in my aging experiments. I've found some lapsang souchong can benefit from a bit of aging, to allow the smoke to calm down a little. I don't drink much white tea and as such often have little open bags which have been around for a year or more, in not anywhere near hermitic sealing, which are rather enjoyable - granted in doesn't have the freshness I expect from white but it can nevertheless be a decent cup of tea. If I'm not too keen on a tea or I've bought too much of a tea an aging experiment rears its head.

The line between stale, old tea and rare, aged white tea is a fine one and I know which way I lean.

Most of the Darjeeling I've had recently looks like it would change quite dramatically with age as I'm not convinced all those green bits mean it's been fully oxidized.

One thing I have learned is that supermarket sencha does not improve with age.

[wyardley]

Most of the Darjeeling I've had recently looks like it would change quite dramatically with age as I'm not convinced all those green bits mean it's been fully oxidized.

That's why I qualified my statement by saying "true" black tea. A lot of the new first flush darjeelings are more of a semi-green... I don't know if the method of production qualifies them to be oolongs, but I don't think they qualify to be a black tea either. I would imagine some of those could improve with age.

I would think that even if black teas might change a little over time, you wouldn't want to do much to them (roasting, exposing them to air) -- I think you'd basically just want to store them as you'd normally store tea (sealed, kept away from light, moisture and odors).

[Proinsias]

I think that's why the thread is quite interesting, the miscellaneous bit gives us a chance to discuss the aging potential of all the teas which don't neatly fit into categories. This would seem like a better place than the oolong threads to discuss the potential of not quite fully oxidized blacks, smoked teas, the seemingly random world of Darjeeling classification and what that old bag of silver needle at the back of the cupboard tastes like.

I wasn't trying to take issue with your definition of black teas just trying to show my support for a misc aged tea thread as opposed to this being more at home in the oolong forum.

True black or red tea could be pretty small category depending on how you define it. I'm guessing here but I'm not convinced black teas which have golden components are fully oxidized.

[Janine]

I think that's why the thread is quite interesting, the miscellaneous bit gives us a chance to discuss the aging potential of all the teas which don't neatly fit into categories.

Thank you, guys, for your comments. I also thought it might be nice to have a thread where it would be open to comparing components of aging across categories and therefore including puerhs in the discussion as well; i.e. how do different teas age differently. Plus I'm curious about aging a good rich Keemun. Or what about an Earl Gray with its bergamot? Just curious.

As I was thinking about this today, it struck me that *one* aspect of aging (and I might suggest there may be many different processes going on in tea aging) might be akin to something I have encountered elsewhere. One of my other interests is fine Japanese incense. These incenses I'm speaking of will have a completely natural makeup: usually formulae of woods and spices. There are traditional formulae to most of them, and they evolved from what was originally the importing of Chinese medicine to Japan. Hence you might get an incense that is a kind of "traditional 5 spice" recipe, for example.

Generally speaking, these traditional incenses are composed of woods such as aloeswood (varied grades and origins) and sandalwood (also varied grades and origins) mixed with spices like cassia, or even plum. A question has arisen among afficionados about "old incense." Some people wish to think of it as aging - and had noticed that in the older incenses the aloeswood notes were more pronounced. Keep in mind that aloeswood is an increasingly scarce, protected and regulated commodity and was highly valuable to begin with. So, incense companies in recent years are pretty much forced to downgrade the quality of the aloeswood in (the same) incense with each passing year - in fact some types aren't even made anymore because the aloeswood just isn't available. The question arose: did aging bring out the aroma of fine aloeswood more completely?

The answer I received from the best expert I know on the subject (trained in tradition and scientific approach to atmospheric control in different environments) was that in fact what happened was that the molecules of the spice notes mixed with the aloeswood were simply more volatile, and so dissipated more quickly, while the aloes retained its potent oils and scent longer. Hence, one had in "aged" incense a greater percentage of aroma from the aloes than, say, the cassia, than in the same incense freshly made.

I started to wonder today if a similar process might not happen with aging teas. Hence, Proinsias' noting that Lapsang may benefit from aging because the smokey factor may be the first to dissipate, leaving a balance of aromas that are more pleasing to some. Hence, I conclude that "smokey" aroma may be the most volatile in tea - the first to dissipate. So, perhaps just *one* thing to consider in aging tea might be a question of which notes disappear first... and does the resulting aroma balance make a more pleasing tea?

If we understood such a process better, we may be able to calculate *roughly* a given amount of time for certain aroma components to mellow and tone down to create a new balance we find more pleasing.

[Janine]

The second thing I wanted to ask people about was about other processes that are at work in aging. Perhaps molecules of the more volatile scents that make up the whole aroma dissipate fastest. On the other hand, I'm curious about other processes that go on in aging at the same time (like for example with puerhs).

Sort of the opposite of the disappearance of certain aroma molecules would be the aroma factors simply blending and melding into each other over time. One might be able to calculate what time is needed for certain degrees of aromas blending better and sort of "gelling" to create a consistent flavor.

Also, is it possible to create more depth through aging? I have a Da Hong Pao that is quite delicious - but disappointingly it does not really retain flavor through more than 3 or 4 brews. Could aging make this a more potently rich tea that would stand up to more brewing?

The other thing I wonder about is storage. There's the obvious question of humidity and dryness. What about packaging? Buy a pound of tea and leave it vacuum sealed? Tea tins? Ceramic ginger jar styles? I understood that ginger jars were a good idea for puerh, but recently I read another article saying they're a good idea for aging oolongs. But I'd been told by others that oolongs should be kept airtight in sealed packages. What do you all think? Any ideas on these subjects?

[scruffmcgruff]

Yikes! Lots of questions, most of which have no answers.

"Aged" teas take a long time to develop. Decades, even. Three or four years doesn't really count. A lot of aged oolong was simply forgotten about in a store somewhere after not selling when fresh, so there isn't going to be much data on how (or even how long) the tea was stored. So... determining the "best" storage methods, or doing calculations on how to age something, are basically impossible at this point. Everyone and their mother seems to have an idea about storing oolongs and puerhs, but the problem is that nobody really has hard, repeatable data yet. Maybe in ten years or so, though.

Figuring out what processes take place should be doable though. A couple places you might want to check out are the Cha Dao blog and rec.food.drink.tea, a usenet group about tea. These sources typically cater to the more technical among us.

I do find that aged teas often give more infusions before they give out. Aged oolong, for example, can last for a few dozen infusions (even over a number of weeks), while the same new tea probably wouldn't. At least, modern versions of those teas wouldn't.

[Janine]

Yikes! Lots of questions, most of which have no answers.

Please bear with me

I do find that aged teas often give more infusions before they give out. Aged oolong, for example, can last for a few dozen infusions (even over a number of weeks), while the same new tea probably wouldn't. At least, modern versions of those teas wouldn't.

Thanks, Scruff. This is something I really wanted to know about. I wonder if this would increase by aging a tea that didn't give so many before aging.

[scruffmcgruff]

Please bear with me

No worries, you are asking a lot of the right questions, there's just no data.

Thanks, Scruff. This is something I really wanted to know about. I wonder if this would increase by aging a tea that didn't give so many before aging.

It might, or it might not. For all the decent aged oolong on the market, there's not really any way of knowing how much crappy aged oolong didn't make the cut. Also it will take a while (probably) before you have something you could call aged. A lot of Wuyi yancha can be mellowed out over just a few years, so it loses some of its charcoal flavor and reveals a more complex profile, but that's not quite the same as aging per se.

[ABx]

I was going to say, actually, that the easiest way to experiment this early on in a tea obsession would just be to get some good high-fire Wuyi yancha, stick it in a good tin, and let it sit for a few years. These will produce the most noticeable results in the shortest amount of time. You won't end up with anything like what you get in wulong that's been aged for a decade or more, but as long as your palate is somewhat refined you will get an idea of how it's changing.

[xuancheng]

I saw an interesting TV program on Dancong Oolong here in China. One of the experts ages his Dancong in a fully airtight package for 10 years and then moves it to a huge ceramic jar to continue the ageing process. The ceramic jar will help to dissipate some of the undesirable odours according to him.

The outside of the jar was glazed, but I am not sure about the inside. I think the tea was loose inside the jar, which was not sealed.

This is not much information, but it seems to be from a good source (someone who has actually aged a tea for over 10 years.) So I thought I would throw it out there.

[Janine]

ABx, I'm seriously thinking of doing that with a really roasty Da Hong Pao I've come across. I love its fruitiness which stays with me through the day and haunts me, but it doesn't have the potency of as many brews as I'd like now.

I saw an interesting TV program on Dancong Oolong here in China. One of the experts ages his Dancong in a fully airtight package for 10 years and then moves it to a huge ceramic jar to continue the ageing process. The ceramic jar will help to dissipate some of the undesirable odours according to him.

The outside of the jar was glazed, but I am not sure about the inside. I think the tea was loose inside the jar, which was not sealed.

This is not much information, but it seems to be from a good source (someone who has actually aged a tea for over 10 years.) So I thought I would throw it out there.

xuancheng, that is really helpful information. This almost sounds like the idea of cooking a puerh to simulate aging, and then letting it age naturally. Perhaps the sealing somehow helps the aging process fastest, and then the ceramic helps with unpleasant odors, which makes sense to me given the nature of ceramics and the usual shapes of the jars. Thank you. My plan was to buy sealed and just keep it.

[Janine]

Are humidity or dryness factors for aging other teas besides puerhs?