Any Tea Can Be Aged, I Suppose

In Korea many years ago it occurred to me that any type of tea can be aged into something different and potentially interesting.  I came to an understanding that it doesn’t even have to be the typical type of aged tea or hei cha (puerh, liu bao, liu ann) to be aged.  I came to this revelation earlier than some, influenced by the different types of tea produced in Korea many of which can be aged.

I also remember that others were also coming to the same conclusions.  I remember this article in A Tea Addicts Journal, where Marshal’N pretty much reaches the same conclusion about Darjeeling Second Flush- it actually ages quite well.

The Chinese Tea Shop in Vancouver was early out of the gates selling aged white tea.  The first in the western market, I do believe.  I think, it was an early influence on Char of Oolong Owl who is an avid drinker and ager of white.  I ended up sampling a bunch of this stuff from them in 2010.  I ended up buying up a couple KG of fresh Yunnan white teas at that time to age.  Actually, they were a year old and discounted heavily because at that time, people didn’t understand the aging potential of white tea.  I ended up giving most of it to a family member who loved white tea and drank some of it up.  In the end I didn’t even have any left to age out.

Times have changed especially over the last few years.  For tea dealers there has to be a market for this stuff before they can sell it.  Nowadays due to various market forces, aging of white and black tea seem to have taken hold.  But for dealers to offer this tea in the first place a certain groundwork has to be laid.  First, people have to be aware of the fact that they can age a particular type of tea.  However, once there is a public understanding that a certain type of tea can be aged, then there is room for the tea vendor to sell more of it compared to a tea that must be consumed fresh.  They can sell some to customers for current consumption and to others for later aging or maybe to the same person willing to both drink now and age.

Currently, white2tea is effectively pitching this to tea drinkers and backing it up with some white and red teas that people seem to be excited about.  This is, no doubt, in response to the increasing price of puerh, mainly, but also, I believe, to changing tea drinking trends in mainland China.  The last year or so white2tea have been focusing on pressing white tea.  Pictured above is a complimentary sample of 2018 white2tea Turtledove Mini that I received in my Black Friday order.  Turtledove uses material from Yunnan.  I wasn’t a big fan of it but to be honest but I haven’t sampled pressed white tea enough to make a real educated option.

This year white2tea has also put an emphasis on red tea (aka hong cha or “black tea”) even in pressed form.  I haven’t tried any from white2tea this year but pictured below is an interesting hong cha from the Essence of Tea.  Most of these Hong cha are using Xishuangbanna puerh material but are processing it as lightly oxidized hong cha.  This 2018 Essence of Tea Spring Da Xue Shan Wild Red Tea which I received complimentary in my Black Friday order is rather interesting though (pictured below).  The material is yesheng/ wild material but processed as hong cha.  It is very vibrant, intensely fresh aromatic and has a smooth very complex fruity body.  I highly recommend it for those looking for something different in red tea.  Too bad it wasn’t pressed into a cake.

For me, in the end, white or red tea doesn’t come close to puerh.  Sure, you could age it, but really it has a different energy to it, a different qi, and effects the body differently.  Well, really, you can age any good tea- I certainly have some really interesting aged tea in storage.  Even some crazy expensive green teas that were selling for $1.60/g in 2006 … who says you can’t age and re-roast green tea?  But will it ever be as complicated, nuanced, harmonious, and feel as good as aged puerh…

I doubt it.

Peace

2011 Dong Cheon "Dan Cha" Semi-Wild Hwagae Valley Red Tea

Arthur Park of Morning Crane Tea kindly sent the four Dong Cheon teas that he distributes. Of all the hundreds of Korean teas one has tried, never were they red tea. Over the last few years Koreans started developing a pallet for red tea (English call it black tea). So, quite naturally, one was egar to try this unlikely Korean tea.

First, there needs to be a comment on the name of this tea, "Dan-cha". Arthur stated that the teamaster at Dong Cheon Tea, Kim Jong Gyun, prefered to call this tea "Dan-cha". This is interesting because red tea in Korea is commonly known as "hongcha", the Chinese transliteration. What is also interesting is that this tea is not named the literal red colour in Korean which is "Bbal kang". So this begs the question, "Why is the name "Dan-cha" preferred?

The name "Dan-cha" has Daoist roots and implies good health. More specifically "Dan" here is alluding to the "Dantian" or "cinnabar field". Essentially it is referring to a deeper essence of red or cinnabar red. It has health implications because it suggests that the chaqi of this tea can touch our essence as it traverses the three chambers of our body. Arthur has since commented that the name was intended to imply "Dan-yak" or "miracle cure", another Daoist view of the teas potential health benefits.

Let's sit down with this tea meditatively and see if this tea is truly red tea, if it stands up to its name, and if its chaqi is at all penetrating.

The dry leaf is comprised of small black saejak grade leaves. They smell of deep, meaty, licorice notes with light woody-raisin notes in the distance. There is an interesting meaty-pungent odour in there as well.

These leaves are placed in a warm pot and water that spends only seconds in the cooling pot is makes its way over these leaves.

The first infusion presents with smooth-creamy bitter-sweet mild astringent black tea initial taste. The colour of the pour is a vibrant red-brown- if any doubts about it being a hongcha have arisen they are completely gone. A woody-raisin taste with a smooth sweet finish fills the mouth. There is a lingering mahogany-date quality to the finishing taste. The mouthfeel is full and goes down to the lower throat, coating it. One breaks a sweat all over, cheeks feel flushed, ones mind accelerated. A maple syrup-like sweetness is left on the breath appearing minutes later.

The second infusion presents with a smooth-deep wood raisin bittersweet taste before a tangy undercurrent passes by. There are strong notes of walnut which present first here as well. The taste fades until faint chocolate notes appear. It finishes as more of a mahogany-chocolate taste, sweetness circles the mouth as well with raisin and deeper foresty wood on the breath. The aftertaste is long and complex, the mouthfeel is deep and full. Each cup pushes one into a hot flash and sweat- this qi is strong and warm, penetrating indeed.

The third infusion has tangy notes that are almost citrus and present first over the wood-raisin base. They evolve to a creamy, raisin, walnut, almost-chocolate, deep wood taste. There is a prominent and even sweetness throughout. The mouthfeel is more chalky and thick but a soft quality coats the full throat and mouth. A sweet syrupy-nut-raisin is left in the long aftertaste.

The fourth has a soft chalky wood start which becomes tangy before the deeper raisin wood is revealed. It turns tangy again as the wood-faded raisin sweetness holds in the aftertaste. The mouthfeel now has a soft, dry quality to it. The qi still pushes hard with each cup.

The fifth sees the soft, sweet, deep walnuty-wood taste becoming lighter now and evolving into a deeper mahogany raisin which comes out later and lingers with sweetness.

In the sixth soft, sweet, tangy wood start fades into a juicy and faint fruity nutty watery raisin taste. The fruit notes come out in this infusion. The mouthfeel is slowly coming out of the throat and more into the mouth, it is a little drying.

The seventh infusion is much the same with fruit notes more obvious and a touch of malty-syurpy sweet finish noted. The mouthfeel continues its evolution to a thinner chalkier type.

The eighth infusion presents more of the fruity-wood bark initial taste with that red tea astringency gone this tea now tastes like quality balhyocha. It evolves into a deeper woody taste. The mouthfeel hold the upper throat and mouth.

This tea is enjoyed for another four or five pots. Here woody notes are more dominant but still full complex flavours can be found. Of note are the appricot and faint coco undertones enjoyed in these late infusions.

Link to Cha Yi Ji's Tasting Notes

Link to dicipleoftheleaf's Tasting Notes

Currently 2011 Dan-cha is available from the following vendors:

Morning Crane Tea

Phoenix Tea House

Peace

2009? Wild Lapsong Souchong

Zhengshan Xiaozhong (aka Lapsong Souchong) is one of only a handful of teas that can improve with age although most outlets that sell this tea don't age it. The lack of aged lapsong in the market likely indicates the use of artificial smoking or poor production techniques. This sample was gifted by Pedro of Dao tea, he aquired it from the owner and highly recommended I try it. It is from an online store called Wild Qi Tea where the site claims that it is 2/3 years aged.

Lapson Souchong has an abundantly warm thermal nature. Although all hong cha has qi that is warming, lapsong's heat is even more warming. This is because it takes on the essence of fire as it is smoked with pine during its production. One of the reasons why this tea is aged is to remove some of the smokiness and bring its energy into a more harmonious state.

Very sweet smooth grape smelling odours emit from these very small tippy mixed black and gold dry leaves- not the typical zhengshan xiaozhong leaves one remembers. Its been a while. A wood pine chalkiness welcomes then slowly transforms into sweet caramel transferring back to subtle smokey wood in the mouth. The transition between these tastes is slow and smooth, the mouthfeel full, wide, and chalky.

The second infusion starts with a sweet, open-watery taste which is filled with caramel then slowly fills the mouth with pine woody notes as the chalky mouthfeel slowly encroaches on the edges of the mouth. The aftertaste has a strong cooling undertone that is noticed with each in-breath. The chest heats up like an oven and the head feels light, the mind and eyes clear, and then focus ensues.

The third infusion starts with a taste that is less sweet and has a longer blank-empty-watery taste with each resulting infusion. The wood pine note is noticed under the whole profile. The aftertaste here is woody and more dry in the mouth. It has subtle hints of soft, smoky currents and is still quite cooling.

The fourth infusion has an even longer empty dry wood pine taste which slowly encroaches upon this emptiness. Sweet woody-gummy-grape aftertaste comes out in the aftertaste which still carries a coolness- the subtle smoky pine base is present throughout. The qi seems to heat the chest, heart, and imparts coolness to the head and limbs. The stomach and digestive organs are energized and softly vibrate. The fifth infusion is much the same but is considerably weaker.

The sixth and following infusions are reduced to dry wood and soft fruit. It is enjoyed like this for a few more pots.

Peace

The Types of Tea and Their Chaqi: Darjeeling Second Flush

One read a tea blog somewhere that proclaimed that only tea from China, and Japan (and Korea) has cha qi. This statement could be further from the truth especially when looking at the tea produced in Darjeeling. Some would argue that this could be because the tea in Darjeeling is produced using the Chinese variety of tea plant, Camellia sinensis var. sinensis rather than the Assam variety, Camellia sinensis var. assamica. This again, is ridiculous. Recently there has been a cold snap on the island and one has been drinking a lot of second flush Darjeeling reflecting on these things...

Darjeeling tea is known for its warming properties. These warm thermal properties of second flush Darjeeling are due to a variety of factors. Most of the warmth develops as the green tea leaf is oxidized. Oxidization induces warm thermal energy. The once green, cool properties of the plucked leaf undergo a process where heat is generated as the leaf oxidizes. The result is a dry leaf that is dark often with a reddish tinge to them, a liquor that is red-brown, and wet leaves that are coppery brown. All of these colours contain the colour spectrum of a dark red. Red is the colour of summer. Early Summer, late spring is when these leaves are picked. As a result they contain in them the heat of summer. Red is the colour of the Heart, therefore this tea is especially good for preventing heart conditions (see here and here and here). Because these leaves grow slowly at such high altitudes often among the high misty mountain tops they generate more heat, more yang. These leaves also contain in them dark colours. Darker colours indicate depth, like the depth of space or that of a deep ocean. In this way the qi of Darjeeling second flush is warm and deep, qualities that are often sought to balance the cold depths of Winter, or simply when we feel cold.

The taste of Darjeeling Second Flush also is an indication of its qi. Hong cha is sometimes known for its rather bitter taste, especially when production dictates heavy oxidization. Bitter tastes are descending in nature and have a special relationship with heat in the body as it is often associated with the communicating transfer of heat from the upper (yang) parts of the body to the lower (yin) parts of the body and conversely from the lower parts of the body to the upper parts of the body. This is especially true with second flush as it contains both the colour red, warmth, and darker colours that represent depth. Bitter tastes also descend deep in the body.

However if it was a strong bitter taste, its properties would be too harsh and would simply have a draining effect on the body, thereby depleting our qi. This is not the case because there is balance between Taste and Smell. The deep bitter taste anchors the warm qi downward and the light smell of florals and fruits lift it up. There is good movement of energy, a communication between upper and lower imparting heat there.

The bitter descending taste is also moderated by a fruity, often muscatel, sweetness. Sweet tastes strengthen and ascend, remedying much of the harsher effects of the bitter taste while circulating the warm thermal energy.

Second flush Darjeeling is processed in a way that a large surface area of the leaf and the enzymes released in production are quickly exposed when steeped in hot water. The release of its energy is quick and often dramatic and powerful, usually resulting in fewer more powerful infusions.

The nature of Darjeeling second flush is such that Middle Way is therefore maintained as Yin (descending, deep, dark, more taste, and bitter) is masterfully balanced in the cup by Yang (ascending, light, red, floral odour, and sweetness). The balance and harmony of this tea along with its characteristic cha qi is why Darjeeling Second Flush is even prized by the teamasters of Asia, least those with an open mind.

Peace