Breaking apart a raw tea cake: faster aging?

[Zpro]

I totally agree with zeusmta, there is general preference towards quality and freshness and a couple other things, but flavor is often and almost always about opinion... just two years ago i couldnt even drink tea and now i drink it daily. But then again, it could be only my opinion that flavors and preferences are all about personal opinions... . Also that does not mean it is not extremely relaxing and enjoyable to debate about such things, so i guess my post is pretty much pointless.

Zach

[spinmail]

Is there a popular preference toward quality vs age? Absolutely. Is personal preference relative? For certain.

In general, however, as with most things, there are factors that define good vs mediocre teas, and price is a general place to start. Puerh's value is complicated by age and rarity; there are simply less older puerh - and in particular, fine puerh.

In terms of value, I derive more enjoyment from un-aged tea, and the price can be much more reasonable. I would really love to try a more of the better, young cakes.

[AdamMY]

Spinmail,

I am not sure based on what you've said that you would ever like a large portion of young raw Puerh. The biggest problem might be that you somehow have it in your mind that you should grade puerh on the same scale as green tea, which will always give puerh horrible marks compared to even low grade everyday Long Jings.

Puerh must be graded in its own way, sure it will be bitter, but after you drink enough of it, you start to be able to pick out certain unique things in its flavor profile than just bitter. After distinguishing those things you can come up with your own opinion as to if it is good or bad, as some of the nuances are positive, and some are negative, and it really does depend on the person.

Many people on the forum enjoy Nada at The Essence of Teas productions, and sometime in the next month or so he should becoming out with his 2010 custom pressings. If you want to try higher quality young raw tea, I suggest you try his.

[spinmail]

I look forward to trying the Nada tea mentioned, when the new batch becomes available.

First all, I'm not sure that young puerh is necessarily bitter; brewing at a low temperature, or infusing a couple of times at a higher temperature before drinking (as one forum member suggested), you will extract roughly the equal amount of flavor. However, if you over-steep any green tea - gyokuro or immature puerh - you'll get the identical bitter taste. Try the taste test yourself.

I think it's great that some have developed a taste for immature puerh. I've found other mature leaf teas to be more rewarding. I'm hoping to have my eyes opened after I try the Essence of Tea crop mentioned.

[shogun89]

I have not yet been able to try Nada's production, but would love to. Its only the price that has got me held back.

[Proinsias]

Personally I think you should buy two cakes of a fairly young, cheap, tea you enjoy. Break one up and leave one intact. Taste every year or so side by side.

[Maitre_Tea]

I have not yet been able to try Nada's production, but would love to. Its only the price that has got me held back.

that's what samples are for...and IMO I think the price for his samples compares pretty favorably to young stuff being offered by the various vendors

[Proinsias]

That's what I love about Nada's store, you can purchase by the gram. It must be a bit of a pain in the *something* for him though.