Wuyi tea cake?

> I do enjoy aged wuyi and other oolongs.  I've never had aged wuyi tea
> from a cake before. Has anyone else? What do you think the benefit of
> making the tea into a cake is in terms of impact on aging? Any other
> thoughts on this cake or how to age it?

It's sort of the new thing to try aged teas of all kind. I had
someone tell me they enjoyed some excellent 5-year old Maojin to my
chagrin. I got a chance to look at it, and it just seemed adulterated
with oils and recooked. I've had some pretty excellent aged Da Hong
Pao...but there again, it was recooked several times which shouldn't
be too good for your health. I think it's a market strategy at this
point. Most "aged" teas other than pu'er are the leftovers that
couldn't be sold from seasons past.

On 2008-09-23, TokyoB <dragonwelltea@> wrote:

> I do enjoy aged wuyi and other oolongs. I've never had aged wuyi tea
> from a cake before. Has anyone else? What do you think the benefit of
> making the tea into a cake is in terms of impact on aging? Any other
> thoughts on this cake or how to age it?

Historically, I think tea was compressed mostly for easier transport
(smaller in size, and if the tea fell out of the boxes it was
transported in, it was a lot easier to deal with).

There are some possible benefits in terms of aging; one would be that
there is less / slower exposure to air, so the tea should age a little
faster. People say that pu'er mao cha ages faster than compressed tea,
and loosely compressed tea ages faster than tightly compressed tea. On
the other hand, loose oolong is usually aged in fairly well sealed
containers, whereas cakes usually aren't.

I haven't actually tried yan cha in this form before, but I did see them
when I was there. I'm not sure to what extent they're sold mostly as a
curiosity and to what extent people actually use them. As mentioned in
my other reply, I did see the ones that are pomelos stuffed with tea,
which, at least according to the folks at the small factory I was at,
are used for medicinal purposes.

I think there was another thread about this on rfdt 6 months or so back,
so you might want to check the archives.

w

Reroasting and refrying who ever heard of such a thing to spruce up
tea taste. If you can play marbles with your tea it aint aged. The
easiest way to tell a chronological +10 year aged oolong the leaf
becomes fragile starting at the edges or tips not hard. You should be
able to use a needle and flick away a piece of the edge. Put some in
your hand and press with a finger from the other. It should
'shatter'. A dry leaf from repeated roastings will 'break'. If its
been sitting there should be a residue at the bottom of the
container. The spent leaf should look 'geriatric'. A bite of the
spent leaf should be bitter or harsh. Every one of my father time
teas have some of these symtoms. I cant say the taste was worth
waiting for except the old stuff can hold its own.

Jim

Will Yardley wrote:
....a couple of great dot the eyes and cross the teas posts...
> One of the best ways to make sure you end up with well aged tea is to
> start with good quality tea, and then store (and re-roast, if necessary)
> the tea yourself.