- This topic has 7 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 1 month ago by
.
-
Posts
-
-
-
-
@sofie1212 you are right, green style oolongs do not mature. They should be consumed fresh. Most Wuyi and Phoenix mature well, except for some fragrant varieties and green styles they are also producing too. Some producers also do not dry their teas well or in wrong ways so they do not mature too. Taiwan also produces oolongs that mature, although a lot of the fresher styles that are popular don’t.
Successful maturing begins with an appropriate quality selection, proper handling, storage and environment. Otherwise, everything else is just waiting. When a tea matures, it’s a wonderful reward.@happyman, even in the case of pu’er, the older the better is a myth. Tea matures to a peak, plateau and then gradually or sharply degenerates. I believe that applies to wines too. It just so happen that different varieties peak and plateau differently. Harshly dried oolongs, such as some of those Wuyi in the market, takes a long time to mature, if they do at all, but even their peak is not very nice. Fine oolongs takes as little as a couple of years to mature, but their peak is very satisfying. The older the better is a sheer myth that many merchants would like their customers to believe. -
-
I’d like to think of it as a tea getting better when left alone for a duration of time. Lately I am discovering the wonderful tastes and aroma of silver needle from 2011. I compared the teas I got from a few sources and understand one thing: what Leo has been saying about true white tea means that some silver needles are not real white tea! That means they only get worse when left aside. Real white tea silver needle has become so warm, sweet, and soft in both smell and taste! So time is not only only a way to make a better tea out of silver needle, but also a test to see if a white tea is real or not!
-
-
-
-
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
