shah82 wrote:gingkoseto, the example of that jingmai (although poor fermentation is a serious hazard for all smaller-leaf puerh--good leaf and good process is even more important) is why I don't do puerh made with aged maocha. Virtually all of them have a stereotypically "dark" and simplified taste.
"Simplified" is what I feel from my Jing Mai as well!
But I would still collect one or two if they come to my way.
shah82 wrote:Puerh is made from a variety of decay processes. If steaming was all that, at the very least, the japanese greens would age. They don't.
Actually I've been wondering about it for a while too. I have little knowledge of Japanese green but have wondered what's up with the aged gyokuro. I've got a box of 2010 Yunnan steamed green, which seem to last well through the two years. So I've been wondering if it's going to last well for a long time, or sort of "aging" with time being. But I don't think I'm enthusiastic enough to get more of it and conduct experiment. [/quote]
shah82 wrote:
However...
http://mattchasblog.blogspot.com/2010/0 ... k-cha.html
This green tea does age after steaming. Therefore, as the post illustrates, caking allows for a higher quality kind of aging, and different shapes, with different processed leaf, ages differently.
I've seen a few Chinese "teachatters" reporting about their aged green tea, even including aged longjing (must be accidentally aged, instead of intentionally, I guess). Usually a lot of other Chinese tea drinkers would sneer at it and make fun of it. But if it doesn't cost much to keep the tea and then observe it, I would say, why not. Without trying, nobody can be sure what will happen. It's actually good to see things out of people's expectation.