Camellia Sinensis
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Yet another lovely aged oolong from Camellia Sinensis. While I usually prefer aged ball oolongs, baozhongs seem to age really well too, retaining their fruity, vegetal qualities but also becoming more mellow and and gaining depth in the flavor spectrum. While I don’t love this tea as much as the 1978 Baozhong or the 1987 Mucha Tieguanyin that Camellia Sinensis offers, it is still a very, very enjoyable tea.
Preparation
This is one of my favorite teas. While I only brew it for special occasions, it’s really not that mixes remexpensive for a 30+ yo aged oolong. It has a rich, complex flavor (aged wood and roasted walnut up front, with cognac and plum aftertastes) and an intoxicating aroma. Highly recommended.
Preparation
teagasm! (ok, I’m terribly partial to aged oolongs, but still…)
An ancient oak door opening onto a scene from a childhood dream, a secret garden overgrown with memory and bittersweet vines, the words of the elders making poetry in this malty cup.
Delectably rich, with notes of walnut, mahogany, winter squash, and caramel, but not as pungent as the Ali Shan 1991. A tea to surrender to. Must be prepared in zhong or gong fu to really appreciate.
Preparation
I’m going to have to try this. Aged oolongs are certainly teas to be reckoned with. Sometimes the Ali Shan was a little to intense for me, depending on my mood and the infusion so I’d probably like this more. No way it’s better than pre-1970 Bai Hao though. only 30 seconds? kinda surprising for aged.
Well, I find the only way to really enjoy aged oolongs is via gong fu or zhong, so 30 seconds then is actually a bit long! There are so many intricacies to be discovered when one opts for several quick infusions rather than only a few longer brews. I have also often found the suggested brew time (from Camellia Sinensis) to be surprisingly long and always wondered why that is…perhaps they use less tea per pot? (for example, we would never brew an oolong for 4 min at Dobra!) Tis a mysterie. Maybe we can can have a degustation sometime—most of my tea friends don’t really appreciate aged oolongs! The powerful aromas and tastes freak them out!
Not appreciate aged oolongs? Blasphemy. Oolong workshop would be amazing and/or Pu-er. I always made sure to use my zhong with the ‘68 (except when drinking with others). I tried infusing for shorter and longer times and I found that the suggest 14mins or whatever Camellia wrote down worked and tasted quite good but it tasted it’s best at around 7 mins with a little bit hotter water. maybe they do use less tea per pot though. I’ve seen books that have steep times for Japanese greens for 5mins and up with just-off boiling water. Quite curious.
Ben, this is a very different tea that the Ali Shan. I agree with you that it can be a very intense tea, especially the charcoal roasted version. It’s a great dessert tea, but not a great “session” tea in my opinion.
The ’78 Bao Zhong, on the other hand, is one that you can really go the distance with. Very smooth and flavorable, with hints of the original fruit and vegetal qualities sneaking through in the later infusions.
As for the recommended brew times from CS, I asked one of their employees about it the last time I was in the shop. She informed me that because most of their customers brew with large teapots or teabags, they give longer recommended infusion times. I found that a bit confusing as the teas they carry appeal more to advanced tea drinkers who are probably doing gong fu or at least using a gaiwan.
That said, I find that most aged oolongs can hold up well under longer infusions done gong fu style, and not as much leaf is needed. Longer brews for these teas rarely become bitter; just more concentrated.
Only had a small amount of this so I savored it as much as I could. The age of the tea changed the flavor immensely compared to its modern equivalent. The aged version has a earthy-smokey-dusty-almost tree-like flavor and aroma that may or may not be able to stop time. Definitely an experience. Only wish I had enough for the ’58…
Preparation
Did you get this from dobra?
I’ve had both the ’58 and the ’68…And they both stop time…The most delicious way to time-travel, in fact! Andrew and I decided that I would be “Tung Ting 1981” at the tearoom (instead of my usual monniker “Tung Ting”), so that I could be an “aged” oolong, too!
