Last year's tea

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Had a hankering for green tea this weekend, here in Texas, and brewed some that I had on hand. It was a Yunnan Maofeng 云南毛峰 purchased in Kunming early last Spring. Brought it over in my suitcase last month.

 

Delicate and fresh-tasting originally, but what a sad disappointment it was now. Barely recognizable and very different from the prime leaf I enjoyed so often in earlier parts of this year, all through the summer and well into early fall.

 

You may remember how I raved about it at the beginning of April:

 

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/51305-springtime-in-a-glass-yunnan-maofeng-tea-%E4%BA%91%E5%8D%97%E6%AF%9B%E5%B3%B0%E8%8C%B6/

 

Thought it would be instructive to give you an update on it now. Looks about the same as it used to, but has minimal aroma and minimal flavor. Pale gold green color.

 

    

 

Here's a closer look at the leaves after brewing. Note the fine structure: most complexes are one bud and only one leaf, carefully picked during the very earliest part of spring, right after the tea bush "wakes up" from its winter nap and is bursting with new vigor and sap.

 

       

 

Here's what it looked like beforehand:

 

    

 

To my eye, the appearance has not really changed. But the aroma is less forward after being brewed than it once was, and most notably the flavor is flat, slightly muddy and definitely weak.

 

What to do? Not sure. I know the shelf life of green tea can be short, particularly true for the more delicate varieties. Before tossing it out I did an informal experiment:

 

1.  Doubled the amount of dry leaf. This gave the liquor more color, but didn't help the taste, though it did make it less weak and insipid. Did not restore its previous "wow element."

2.  Doubled the brewing time. This made it a little bit astringent, though the liquor was still completely uninteresting.

3.  Used hotter water. A light green tea such as this typically requires water that's well under boiling for best results: high 80's to low 90's Celsius. This time I used it fresh from the flame, still close to 100 degrees. But hotter water didn't help either. Not when using normal amount of leaf or double; didn't help when using normal brewing time or double.

 

Conclusion: This tea is finished, dead and defunct. Need to toss it out and buy some more in late March when I'm back in its province of origin. Some teas just have a quick peak and a short optimum drinking span; it isn't a tragedy. Maybe it's even a reminder of the fleeting nature of life, the importance of "now." Enjoy the good things today, enjoy the good times without delay; they won't last forever. 

 

Also some teas, like some regional wines, are said to "not travel well." This light, delicate Yunnan Maofeng is one of those. Toss it into a suitcase at your peril. Durability is not one of its virtues.

 

Some teas can have their life extended by being vacuum packed in non-porous wrapping. This tea, however, is all wisps of thin leaves and slender shoots; that method would reduce it to powder. Works great for Taiwan Oolong or Fujian Tieguanyin, but not for Yunnan Maofeng. Similarly, freezing is not recommended, though it can extend the life of some other varieties if done properly with commercial equipment.

 

Well, I had to ask, what about the Yunnan Biluochun 云南碧螺春 I had brought over with it? Let's find out how it fared. Beautiful stuff, tightly rolled like a snail. You remember that the name roughly means "spring snail." It was grown and processed in the same general area, far south Yunnan in the famous tea mountains of Xishuangbanna Prefecture 西双版纳州。

 

        

 

Brewed some up in the usual manner. Was greatly relieved to find that it still had plenty of nose and plenty of mouth 口感。The liquor had a pleasant full color. Furthermore, it's "deliciousness factor" had not appreciably declined. Here's a look at the leaves after steeping in hot water.

 

        

 

Here's a shot of the brewed leaves of the Biluochun (left) and the Maofeng (right) side by side. And I used my trusty, hand-filling covered teacup from Jianshui 建水 for both.

 

           

 

This morning I gave the green tea a rest and made some very fine small-batch Yunnan Dian Hong 云南滇红 red tea from Fengqing County 风情县 。Same approximate vintage, mostly tips 嫩芽, with some complexes including one small leaf. Delighted to report that it was full bodied and rich, bursting with flavor. I'm sure it will be good for a couple more years. 

 

    

 

Would be interested in knowing your experience with drinking older tea, especially varieties that are intended to be consumed while still young. Have you found a way to revive it or diminish its acquired flaws? Any longevity tricks? Any personal tips on methods of storage?

[Luxi]

I don't have much tea experience, but that may explain why some teas that have glowing reviews in the shop or in the press, turn out to be very disappointing. The problem is, none of the shops in the UK where I buy tea from will give any information on the age of the tea,date of harvest or how long it's been sitting on their shelves. I should look for one that does. 

[ZhangKaiRong]

Unfortunately, green tea is a big no-no after the 9th month of the harvest. You can prolonge it up to 1 year, if you keep the tea under good conditions (e.g. at a dark place, around 5-10 Celsius degree, vacuum sealed), but there is a good reason why green teas should be consumed ASAP after the Qingming harvest. Even if you keep the tea in line with the recommended conditions, the fragrance and taste would deteriorate over time, simply because the production process (no fermentation, only slight oxidation) makes the tea vulnerable to aging. The best way of using old green tea is to brew it, let it cool and place it in the fridge, it eliminates the odors in the fridge My experience is the same with most 青乌龙s as well.

 

On the other hand, the fermented teas can get better over the time. It is particularly noticable in case of roasted oolongs (very good examples are all 凤凰单丛 teas from the Phoenix Mountains, and the oolongs from Wuyi), good quality black teas and puerhs. The next time you buy a good quality roasted oolong, put some aside for a year or a year and a half - just put it in a metal container, keep it at room temperature with a little humidity if possible, and I can guarantee it would taste much better compared to the year of the harvest. I just opened my 蜜兰香单丛 last week from 2014, and it was much sweeter than it was two years before, so it worth the waiting time.

[abcdefg]

Unfortunately, green tea is a big no-no after the 9th month of the harvest.

 

Agree with you, ZhangKaiRong. Green tea is an exciting spring love, but by fall the ardor is gone. One of my tea teachers used to tie it up in small muslin sachets and put them in her closets to draw away unwanted smells. Good trick about using expired leaf in the fridge as a deodorizer. I have not tried that (I use baking soda instead.)

 

...but that may explain why some teas that have glowing reviews in the shop or in the press, turn out to be very disappointing.

 

Luxi, that's a good observation. When you get tea that isn't tasty, it may not have been originally defective: it might just be old. From what I've seen, lots of on-line tea stores do give harvest information, at least for their better teas. Good luck ever finding such information for tea bags, which is another reason that they usually are disappointing.

 

Right about the roasted Oolongs improving, ZKR. I've noticed that too. But green tea, by contrast, isn't something to put in the back of the cupboard and save for a rainy day; it needs to be enjoyed while it is fragrant and young.

[LiMo]

Sounds like I've been doing tea wrong for a very long time. There's some horribly aged teas in my cupboards 

 

Great post, this has wet my appetite for some tannin laced adventures. I might check out the (outrageously overpriced?) tea shop in Chinatown.. 

[abcdefg]

Sounds like I've been doing tea wrong for a very long time. There's some horribly aged teas in my cupboards

 

Not necessarily, LiMo. It's the light and delicate green teas that deteriorate most rapidly. Think of them like a bouquet of freshly cut roses or a basket of garden strawberries.

 

Pu'er improves with time, generally speaking, as do several others as indicated by ZhangKaiRong, above. This morning I'm having a cup of a different black tea 红茶 which is also from Yunnan. It's three years old and still full of well-balanced flavor.

 

One thing I suggest to the friends to whom I give Chinese tea when I return to the US for my annual visit is to write the date prominently on the outside of the tin. I also urge them to drink it up instead of saving it.

[LiMo]

Oh, that's good news, I have some pu'er tea in my cupboards, too. I'll also follow that advice from now on. Thanks very much, abc.