 Foo Joy Bonay
Some 10 years ago I worked at a restaurant where they had a bunch of
tea bags that no one really ever drank. One of those teas was a box of
something like 100 bags of Foo Joy Bonay (aka Puer) tea. At the time,
I didn't really drink much tea, but the restaurant closed its doors
and I ended up taking the puer tea bags with me. The bags sat and sat,
and occasionally I would drink some, but largely they just sat in the
various places I've lived since then. THEN, I started drinking tea
heavily, and eventually puer tea--both shu and then sheng--and now I
feel that those bags of puer were not half bad. In fact, compared with
any other shu puer I've had, they seem to have a more complex flavor
that isn't very strong, but which seems to have hints of a menthol-
like taste sometimes and also a taste I associate with cinnamon
(though it clearly is not cinnamon). The shu puer that I otherwise
have is much more musty and kind of flat tasting. What I'm wondering
now is whether the things I like about these Foo Joy tea bags are
related to the fact that the tea is probably from the mid-1990s, or
whether I could go track down a new box of Foo Joy tea and find that
it tastes the same. More broadly, my question is: does the "cooked"
flavor of shu puer diminish significantly after several years of
relatively dry (in some cases, very dry) storage? Unfortunately, I
only have three of those cooked puer bags left. I am not sure how easy
it will be to find a replacement, but hopefully it will taste as good
as the stuff I have now (and I can't imagine it will be expensive at
all). Should I look for the oldest box on the shelf in some dusty
Asian market?
-cha bing | 
