Age of Oolong -- Older is better?

[Serg]

Hello to everyone here! This is my first topic at this forum.
I have the question for you. When we buy some green tea we try to find the tea leaves as fresh as possible. And when we buy pu-erh tea we try to find the oldest one. But what about oolong tea? Should i prefer oolong of current year's crop or should i seek the aged one? Or does it depend on different factors? I am particulary interested in Tie GuanYin and WuYI Rock oolongs.
Thank you in advance.

[edkrueger]

Generally speaking this years oolong will be the best. You will find last years greener oolongs will be a bit stale. However, darker roasts may be ok or better as they will loose some of the harshness the comes from the roasting. Intentionally aged oolong is either frequently reroasted or stored in a low oxygen environment –sealed bag, tin etc.

[tenuki]

depends on the tea, depends on the age, depends on you.

[AdamMY]

depends on the tea, depends on the age, depends on you.

+1 with as ambiguous as that is.

But in all honesty You can find an aged tea you absolutely love, then find another one of the same age or older which you hate. Or have a brand new one you find amazing.

[shah82]

I've seen a huge amount of love and hate for specific aged oolongs from a particular vendor. Aging is very much to taste, even for pu'erh, I suspect. Especially important to grab a sample before buying.

[Tead Off]

I've seen a huge amount of love and hate for specific aged oolongs from a particular vendor. Aging is very much to taste, even for pu'erh, I suspect. Especially important to grab a sample before buying.

Samples are good, for both aged and current crop. A spring oolong will be different than a winter oolong.

For Taiwan teas, my preference is for fresh (current year). Aged teas are a different category altogether, I think. The only aged teas I find really interesting are Puerhs. No comparison between a good aged and a current year production. This tea builds character as it ages and unfortunately gets very expensive.

Wuyi teas will depend on quality, how it's stored, roasted/re-roasted, and, individual taste. Both can be very good.

[Serg]

Thank you very much for your replies! I see my question is complex one.

[tingjunkie]

I have had both wuyi and heavy roast TGY which were over 15 years old, and they were both excellent.

Just tonight, the fellows at the NYC Tea Club had a discussion about a 2007 Rou Gui we were drinking, and TIM suggested it might do well with aging. This was due to the fact that it had a somewhat drying mouth feel, and the thought that after about 8 more years, this would mellow and become sweeter and less drying. The give and take is that he also thought it may lose some of its fruity/floral character.

I also hear some farmers try to optimize their oolong roasting for immediate consumption, while others intend to make an oolong for aging. I too would like to learn more about how to tell if an oolong will benefit with some age.

[AlexZorach]

I've never had an aged oolong and I find that most oolongs tend to lose flavor over time. They definitely keep fresh longer than green or white teas, but not as well as black teas and definitely not like pu-erh which often improves with age.

There are "aged oolongs" out there which are meant to be aged and presumably get better over age...but I don't know much about them and haven't tried one or even seen one for sale (except online).

I think other people's recommendations to sample it before buying a large quantity is good advice--just make sure to get enough to make several cups because some teas can be an acquired taste and you might love them in the end even if you don't like the first cup.