Aged Oolongs J-Teas??

[hop_goblin]

So, have any of you glanced over J-teas aged oolong selection? Or, even better, have any of you tried them? I am really scratching my head as to how he has aquired most of his teas? It is my understanding that vendors in China and Taiwan didn't start to purposely age oolongs until the Puerh craze created a niche. If genuine, (not suggesting they are not), how do they sell them for pennies? (Last question was rhetorical)

[gingkoseto]

Many small farmers in Fujian keep some aged oolong at home for their own enjoyment. Aged oolong is not a popular concept in mainland China. Many of the owners of aged oolong never mean to sell their aged tea because there is no market demand. For the same reason if one really wants it, then it's possible to get aged oolong at very reasonable price.

I've never yet seen a vendor selling aged oolong in mainland China market. But if such sales exist, I would guess aged traditionally processed oolong is worth a lot more than aged modern processed oolong (featured by very light oxidation and very light shaking in process).

[hop_goblin]

Many small farmers in Fujian keep some aged oolong at home for their own enjoyment. Aged oolong is not a popular concept in mainland China. Many of the owners of aged oolong never mean to sell their aged tea because there is no market demand. For the same reason if one really wants it, then it's possible to get aged oolong at very reasonable price.

I've never yet seen a vendor selling aged oolong in mainland China market. But if such sales exist, I would guess aged traditionally processed oolong is worth a lot more than aged modern processed oolong (featured by very light oxidation and very light shaking in process).

Oh, I know all about them, just that I can't understand his great selection.

[Proinsias]

I've just ordered some, I'll let you know

[hop_goblin]

I've just ordered some, I'll let you know

Awesome! Please do so!

[ABx]

Something to keep in mind is that "rare" means something different in a country as highly populated, and with so much more tea culture, as China. Certainly aged wulong started as soon as the first people had reason to start continually re-roasting old stock, or had stock that sat completely sealed, for 10+ years. But a "small fraction" over there represents a much greater absolute number than we're used to seeing here; there's probably more aged wulong available in China than there is good quality tea, of any age, available in the US. J-Tea may simply know where to look or have connections; China is a big place.

Some of it is intentionally aged (there are even competitions for aged wulong), and "everyone knows" that particularly high fire stuff gets better with age (e.g., yancha, though I don't know when that started), but a lot of the stuff on the market is stuff that sat sealed up in the back room for a long time; hence many cheap prices over there (not so much here - I've paid a mint for some very poorly stored stuff, and gotten some of my best for cheap).

I've seen it said that the Taiwanese particularly like it because it represents a kind of stability and longevity that they don't see in their lives (with their political climate and such), though I don't know how true that really is.

[Proinsias]

Whilst I wait, has anyone tried the 70's oolong tuo from Houde?

[brose]

I am fortunate to live only a couple of miles from the J-tea shop. His oolongs selection is fantastic and I have found some that I really like and drink daily. I tasted some of the aged oolong a few months back but don't remember much about it offhand. I am no expert in the area of oolongs, but in general J-tea seemed better than most that I have had. It also seems that there are quite a bit more teas and teaware in the physical shop that are not listed in the online shop. From chatting with the owner it seems that he goes to Taiwan a couple of times a year and has a good many connections there. Let me know what you think when you try it. I might have to run over there and get some.

[Ironica]

I recently visited J-tea and bought a few aged oolongs. Turns out, those are the ones I like!

I have aged beauty 79' and aged dong ding 82' (don't know how I am supposed to refer to them )

The beauty is good, it has the after taste that I first fell in love with when I tried an aged pu'er sample from a friend. It lingers with me.. I love that! maybe it is the taste that is referred to as fungal? Geesh.. never thought in a million years I would like something "fungal".

The other one, the dong ding, is a more expensive tea, the leaves are in much better shape but I don't get quite the same yummy feeling in my mouth from it.

Disclaimer: I am very new to tea so know not of what I speak.

[TIM]

I recently visited J-tea and bought a few aged oolongs. Turns out, those are the ones I like!

I have aged beauty 79' and aged dong ding 82' (don't know how I am supposed to refer to them )

The beauty is good, it has the after taste that I first fell in love with when I tried an aged pu'er sample from a friend. It lingers with me.. I love that! maybe it is the taste that is referred to as fungal? Geesh.. never thought in a million years I would like something "fungal".

The other one, the dong ding, is a more expensive tea, the leaves are in much better shape but I don't get quite the same yummy feeling in my mouth from it.

Disclaimer: I am very new to tea so know not of what I speak.

Great notes Ironica, and welcome to the world of aged oolong. I never had a 30 yrs aged beauty before, was it still floral like a Darjeeling or Muscatel like? How's the prebrews the leaves and brewed color? Very interesting.

[Ironica]

Great notes Ironica, and welcome to the world of aged oolong. I never had a 30 yrs aged beauty before, was it still floral like a Darjeeling or Muscatel like? How's the prebrews the leaves and brewed color? Very interesting.

Thanks Tim.

I have no idea how exactly to answer you... I am ill equipped to describe what I am experiencing. The color is a rich brown red. I don't think it's floral... I say that with a very limited frame of reference though. I tried a jasmine pearl tea thinking I would like it because I absolutely adore the smell of jasmine. I really really really did NOT like it. To me that is a floral taste. I also tasted an oolong while at J-tea's that he said had a hint of floral but was not a fragranced tea. I didn't care for it so much either. Perhaps because I ruined myself with the Jasmine pearl first though.

I'm drinking the aged beauty now ( thanks for the excuse to make some more!)
I don't know the right words to use, I can only say it tastes like well worn wood feels. It is smooth and rich and almost creamy. The aftertaste is soft but very strong.

The leaves look like hell. They are all broken up, nothing like the leaves from the other one I bought that same day. The shop owner did tell me that being broken up means getting less infusions from it.

I don't know the word for it, but it has the same lingering taste that the aged pu'er I was given to sample had. Perhaps it is the Muscatel you mention?

[Proinsias]

I got the box in the post this morning

I got the:

Aged Beauty 1979
Wuyi from 1992
Wen Shan Bao Zhong 1989
An Xi Iron Goddess, not aged
and Josh chucked in a few samples

I'm drinking the '79 beauty atm moment and really enjoying it but I'll post something a little more substantial in a few days.

[TokyoB]

I got the box in the post this morning

I got the:

Aged Beauty 1979
Wuyi from 1992
Wen Shan Bao Zhong 1989
An Xi Iron Goddess, not aged
and Josh chucked in a few samples

I'm drinking the '79 beauty atm moment and really enjoying it but I'll post something a little more substantial in a few days.

Looking forward to it! Some of the J-Tea offerings can be pretty expensive so I've held off ordering from him. Thanks in advance.

[Proinsias]

I didn't find it too expensive for what it was.

The '79 aged beauty is by far my favourite. If I hadn't just spent lots of money on aged oolong I'd be buying more of it. As mentioned earlier the leaves are a quite broken but the tea is still very durable. I have no idea if it's actually from '79 but it certainly tastes old, I'd quite happily drink this instead of sheng of similar age which costs far more. It's a nice warming winter tea with quite a qi type kick to it. I've been drinking the 70's tuo from Hou De over the past few days and I much prefer the aged beauty to that, bear in mind these are the only 70's oolongs I've tried.

The '89 Wen Shan Bao Zhong is good tea but the difference between this and the aged beauty is stark. The aged beauty tastes very old,this does not, not sure if it's storage, the state of the leaf or initial processing or simply the ten years extra.It's great tea which is hard to mess up, even heavily overbrewed it still tastes thick and sweet.

The '92 wuyi I've only had twice. The first time, in a gaiwan, I wasn't too impressed. It was much nicer the second time in my little yixing. At $17 for 4oz it's good wuyi. It tastes like it's been roasted not too long ago and might benefit from some time out, other than that I can't really fault it.

[TokyoB]

Proinsias - thanks for the comments. Does the '79 aged beauty have any wet storage/ musty smell or taste?