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“Thanks, unnamed tea trader, for sending me this sample. I found this tea really interesting. It is older than me! Not by much, though. It brews like a cross between shu pu-erh, hei cha, and aged...” Read full tasting note
“It’s my birthday, so I decided to celebrate with this. I would have preferred some sheng, but this is what was available, so it will have to do. I opened the package and gave these old leaves a...” Read full tasting note
“This tea was hyped up by someone who I guessed was a young, hipster writer who knows very little about tea. They made the tea seem like a rarity that would be impossible to find and was a magical,...” Read full tasting note
This antiquity from the north west of Taiwan, with leaves burnished by time, releases after rinsing aromas of undergrowth and leather. Its dark reddish-brown liquor is mineral and full tasting, embellished with notes of tobacco, dried fruit and beetroot. Its peppery finish also evokes the fragrance of roasted coffee. A warm and memorable tea to taste for tapping into the present moment.
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Thanks, unnamed tea trader, for sending me this sample. I found this tea really interesting. It is older than me! Not by much, though. It brews like a cross between shu pu-erh, hei cha, and aged oolong. The broth is thick, with notes of must, tang, and a strong astringency that works well. Big tea buzz. Very unique, and close to a dollar a gram, so not an everyday pleasure for most of us. But well worth trying to experience such an old and unique gem.
It’s my birthday, so I decided to celebrate with this. I would have preferred some sheng, but this is what was available, so it will have to do. I opened the package and gave these old leaves a whiff. I was picking up some real old tones. I picked up some slight roast, parchment, and just a little bit of dry sweetness. I warmed up my new teapot and cups (Novak :D) and poured these little curls in. The scent deepened into a deep earth and dry minerals. This scent was a lot like a basement in the summer. It’s a good but oddly strange scent. I washed the leaves once and prepared for brewing. The steeped leaves had an amazing scent! I really loved the spice, musk, mineral aroma. I picked up some amazing pine resin scent with a background of smoke. The aroma was so good! The flavor was something unique. The taste began drying with some pleasant sour tones. The sip then developed to an intense pine flavor. I got a nice head high and body buzz from the drink. In later steeping I picked up some maple syrup sweetness. I was able to pull only about four good steeping sessions. The session was decent, but it wasn’t all that amazing. I thought that for the price this should be at least somewhat fantastic. However, it was still a good experience, and I still have some to try out. I will hopefully find a better suited birthday tea…
https://www.instagram.com/p/-HEtTiTGVS/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel
Flavors: Earth, Maple, Musty, Paper, Pine, Pleasantly Sour, Resin, Smoke, Sweet, Wood
Happy Birthday!
Happy, happy!
Happy Happy Birthday! :D
I often describe aged teas and Shou as smelling or tasting like basement as well, and it’s a positive observation for me too.
Happy birthday!
Happy Birthday!
Happy birthday to you!
It is my birthday too this week and now you have me planning several days in advance what super fabulous tea I will begin the day with.
Happy birthday!
Thank you all so much!
Happy Birthday! I hope it was wonderful. (belated since I didn’t have internet access)
This tea was hyped up by someone who I guessed was a young, hipster writer who knows very little about tea. They made the tea seem like a rarity that would be impossible to find and was a magical, esoteric treasure to behold. Thus… me being me… armed with solely the age of the tea, its type, and its aroma, I had to find the tea. And. I. Did. It tastes like an okay quality liu bao. I love liu bao, so that was not a problem at all. :p The artistic license that journalists take sometimes drives me a bit batty…
Did it have any of those unpleasant, aged flavors that older teas often develop? Some have been described as wet wood or bamboo.
A bit of wet wood, yes. However, I happen to enjoy the raw earth mustiness of certain aged teas. I really enjoy it when a hei cha reminds me of wet forest soil, undergrowth, and old logs covered in moss. With this oolong, however, the wet wood flavor was there, but, I didn’t pay much attention to it. I think I was a bit overwhelmed by how underwhelmed I was by the tea and thus I didn’t focus on individual notes as much as I usually do.
I have often wondered at the theory of aging Oolongs? I don’t know if it works like aging Puerhs.
I’m still very much on the fence. I look forward to trying more aged oolongs in the future, however, I have noticed that with the ones that I have sampled, the aged oolongs that are re-roasted periodically tend to be better. With that said, overall, there has only been one aged oolong that I have truly enjoyed and it is a heavily roasted Muzha TGY. The conundrum that I have with aged oolongs is that, by and large, they are on the more pricey side. Thus, why spend money on an aged tea that may not have much more give left to it when you can spend money on hei cha?
