James at TeaDB has also devoted time to discussing aged oolongs, and I have read his reports with great interest. I can commiserate with him in the fact that much of what is available to me in the West is largely overpriced and uninteresting. I have been meaning to try some of the more premium aged oolongs from Tea-Masters, however I haven't gotten around to it yet.
A work colleague and friend of mine, whom I have spoken of before, hails from Taiwan and primarily drinks oolong tea. I can credit him with sparking my interest in loose-leaf teas in the first place, so I was curious to discuss aged oolong tea with him. He did not know much about it, and hadn't really encountered many people selling it in Taiwan. A friend of his did have some aged oolong that he obtained for somewhere around $1/g, which we tasted on a break at work and I wasn't particularly impressed by it. It seemed kind of thin and lacked depth.
My work friend, J, had to travel to Taiwan recently to aid at a customer site and he asked me if I wanted him to get me anything. I asked him to try to find some aged oolong.
On his one free day, J went with a friend to the town of Yingge, which is famous for their pottery. It was raining and they had missed their bus, so they had to sit around for a while till the next one came. My name was mentioned ('I have a work colleague, a white American' - I quote) and J told his friend that I was in search of aged oolong tea (particularly the variety that hasn't been re-roasted). As it turns out, an older woman was eavesdropping on their conversation and leaned over to say that her brother sells aged oolong tea, and, as luck would have it, has a shop in Yingge.
J and his friend accompanied the woman on a visit to her brother's shop. It was tucked into the corner of a back alley, and J would have never found it unless he had days to simply wander around.
The gentleman who ran the shop claims that tea these days is impure, that it contains pesticides and pollutants that didn't exist long ago, and so he strives to find old, "pure" teas. He claims he tastes something around 600 teas a year and only selects a few to sell. J and his friend tasted four teas, three of which J bought some of to bring home.
The teas are a 1969 Zhushan oolong, a 1972 Lugu oolong, and a 1978 black tea. All come in around $0.30/g. There was a fourth tea, an alleged 1934(!) green tea, supposedly obtained by a military fellow from Japan. This fourth tea is something around $1.30/g, and J did not have enough cash to purchase any.
Are any of these teas authentic? Who knows. The price for the quality was there, so I'm extremely fortunate to be able to try them. Many thanks to J for the teas, and many thanks for those who have read through all that story just to reach descriptions of actual tea.
1969 Zhushan
This has a definite smell of Chinese herb shop. This tea was originally stored in an herb shop - it was given to customers to drink along with the herbs that they take. The shop owner passed away and left his business to his son, who found a bag of this tea in the back. The son did not want to continue in the business, so he sold the tea to the gentleman who now sells it in Yingge.
The tea is composed of very small leaves, many are broken now. There is the odd leaf which is bigger, and it was once loosely twisted and given a fairly strong roast. After many infusions, green can still be found in the leaves.
Its taste is thick, and the liquid sits in the top of the throat, producing a 'pooling' effect and a returning sweetness that lasts a good long time. This is the best tea of the bunch, in my opinion.
1972 Lugu
This tea comes from Lugu, the area in which Dong Ding oolong is produced. Was this a 1972 equivalent of dong ding? I can't say.
What I can say is that the tea is is not as good as the 1969 Zhushan. It still provides a nice aged taste, but its body is thinner and it lacks the throatiness of the previous tea. It also steeps out a bit faster. It is extremely difficult to overbrew it, never presenting sourness or bitterness, even when pushed. We have larger leaves here, many of which are mostly intact.
It reminds me a little bit of some of the aged wuyi oolongs from the now defunct OriginTea, albeit with less throat taste.
1978 Black
I'm not sure on the story behind this one. This is the first aged black tea that I have had, and it is an interesting tea. The dry leaf smells very strongly of malt and sweetness, just like a fresh black tea. There is a hint of something darker within the leaves, but it's difficult to detect.
The taste is very fruity, with a throatiness greater than the 1972 Lugu, but not as thick as the 1969 Zhushan. It is very sweet, and it has a mineral character which makes the tongue tingle. I think perhaps this is the aged taste?
I find it brews out rather quickly, although after letting it sit overnight and revisiting the leaves, I was able to get a few more infusions out of them. Its color is also very fresh black tea-like. More orange than the deeper, almost ruby red of the two aged oolongs. If I can find some more aged black tea, I'll be interested to compare. I know TaiwanSourcing has one..
Many thanks to J for the tea, and many thanks to anyone who has taken the time to stop by and read.
As a side note - I'm always open to doing some sample swapping with anyone who is interested. I'm always in the market for some more aged oolongs, so shoot me a message here or on Instagram if you wish :)
Happy Tea Drinking!
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