Tastings from the Cellar: Aged Gao Shan Hung Shui 2010 (Tea Masters)

I bought this tea from Tea Masters in 2010 I think, and back then it was a delicious young little thing, although a bit light on the oxidation and roast.
The dry leaves have a faint scent of aged oolong, but fresh fruitiness is still going strong at the background.

At first the infusion seems to portray only youthful milkyness and some roastedness. It is not until I approach the bottom of the first cup that the fragrance truly comes alive. There is a mild vegetable scent as well as delicious fruity and caramel notes.

This Hung Shui still has a clear and light taste, which does seem a bit deeper than younger High Mountain oolongs, but it does not feel particularly aged. At first the floral aftertaste seems weak and leaves me dissapointed, but as the aftertaste gains strenght, I understand the taste is only now starting to shine. I can distinguish roasted, nutty, and fruity notes.

Luckily this tea does not show signs of sourness or bitterness, but I feel the tea might be going through "difficult times" in terms of its aging process. Even though the second infusion is darker and a little bit more flavourful, it seems to lack mouthfeel, structure, and sweetness. It could be interesting to try and roast this now, maybe it would push the tea forward. But I am too lazy for that right now, so back to the cellar it is, and I will taste it again in a few years.

2014 Nan Tou LuGu "Guei Fei" Honey-aroma Oolong, Chin-shin variety (Hou De)

This tea was a part of my latest order for Hou De. I think I have ordered from them once before, but I have no clear picture left of the quality of their tea. I ordered a bunch of oolongs and some red tea.

The dry tea leaves luckily have some traces of freshness and sweetness in them and not that bland sourness, that I was afraid I would find. One can detect notes of fruits and the sunset in the fragrance.

In the first infusion, the aroma shows resemblance to dark caramellized fruits with a slight bitterness in the background. Behind the fruity notes there is a thick and round sweetness, which is not so much milky as in other Taiwanese oolongs, but more like honey.

As soon as I start sipping the tea, the fragrance of the brew transforms. The honeylike scent gets amplified and rises to the surface as the dark fruity notes withdraw to the background. In the second infusion some notes of minerals are added to the mixture, which makes the honey-aroma more compact and clearly defined.

The taste is very lively and splashes readily against the tongue. Clear fruity notes, peach and apricot, become apparent at once, and one can even detect a hint of orange zest. The mouthfeel is soft and rich, but it also has some minute traces of bitterness. As the mouth becomes accustomed to the taste, it rounds up quite a bite, but never loses its freshness and clarity. What is left is a delicious impression of pure honeyed water. Slowly an aftertaste starts to develop, which surpisingly features even stronger notes of flowers than those of fruits.

All in all this tea is a good everyday tea for the office and especially suited for people who like their Taiwanese oolong a bit more oxidized. It is not the most amazing oolong I've ever had, but it is a pleasure to drink nonetheless.

Tastings from the Cellar: Aged Ali Shan High Mountain 2010

Turning this blog to English in hope to reach more people. Which seems quite impossible in this day, however.

Anyway, today I am tasting an aged Ali Shan High Mountain oolong I bought from Finland in 2010. I have no further information about this tea and I remember thinking the tea was quite uninteresting when I first tasted it.

In 2010 I roasted the tea very slightly over hardwood charcoal. Today there are no signs of the roast in the aroma of the dry leaves. There is a very mild scent of that mustiness I always find in aged oolongs, but behind the aged aroma there are clearly noticeable notes of fresh flowers.

The first brew produces a scent more reminiscent of vegetables than the creamy floweriness one can find from young Taiwanese oolongs. However, in the second cup the vegetables have faded almost completely and a pleasing aroma of warm honey and mild notes of flowers arise.

Regarding the taste, the first brew focuses at first on vegetable notes backed up by a mildly fruity aftertaste. Then slowly darker notes of fruits become apparent. In the second cup the fruitiness and floweriness reach their full potential and the taste becomes very savoury.

At first the body of the brew has some structure, but lacks the weight and thickness I desire. Even though the mouthfeel becomes more clearly defined in the second cup, I still feel it is a bit too light.

I think High Mountain oolongs should be somewhat roasted and of high quality in order to age well.

Fortunately this tea is not sour, and compared to how light and ethereal this tea tasted six years ago, it has aged quite well. The taste and aroma have condensed to an enjoyable semi-aged level. However, as I would like the tea to have a bit more body and a bit darker notes in the taste, I will take this Ali Shan oolong back to the cellar for a couple of years.

Tastings from the Cellar: Aged Thai Oolong No. 17 Doi Tung King's Grade (2009?)

This oolong comes from the Finnish tea merchant théhuone. If I recall correctly, it was the year 2009 when I bought the tea, but I cannot know for certain if it was actually harvest in the same year.

I remember how I was not that impressed by the tea when I first tasted it, which is why it was left to age in my cellar to begin with. However, the time has come to give Doi Tung another chance.

There is a very slight musky warmth of aged oolong in the dry leaves, but one can also detect greener oolong notes behind the age. Luckily there is at least no signs of the staleness or sourness so often found in cheap tea bought from the supermarket.

After rinsing the leaves with hot water, the greener vegetable notes gain more strength. There are also underlying notes of milkiness and fruits behind the greenness.

In the aroma of the first infusion, there is certainly the kind of warmth and structure the tea was lacking younger. The floral, fruity, milky, and vegetable notes are well balanced, and there are no signs of those thin and sharp vegetable and marine scents that Doi Tung portrayed years ago. In the second brew, floral notes dominate and remind me of Taiwanese Dong Ding oolong.

The taste of Doi Tung is intensive and spreads immediately to cover the whole mouth. There is a very slight bitterness in the taste that could probably be driven away by reroasting the tea, but I see no reason to actually do this. In the flavour fruity notes are most apparent, and there is again no sign of that vegetable and marine character that made the tea unappealing before. In the second infusion the bitterness has somewhat faded, but is still suitably present to bring some edge to the otherwise round taste.

Unlike those aged teas that taste so smooth in the first infusions as to give an impression of tastelessness, in Doi Tung the taste is clear and easy to approach right from the beginning. The aftertaste is long lasting with a fruity, creamy, and warm character. I remember the mouthfeel was very slick when the tea was younger, but now it has gained impressive body and depth.

To be honest, of all my aged oolongs I have tasted so far, the transformation of Doi Tung has amazed me the most. The tea has simply changed so much, that I would not recognize it as the boring Thai oolong that I did not want to waste my precious time drinking. And this is speaking of a really affordable mid class oolong!

Doi Tung could maybe be even better in a couple of years, but because I only have a couple of sessions worth of the tea left, I am just going to drink it away and enjoy the tea as long as it lasts.

Tastings from the Cellar: Aged Gan Kou Oolong Roasted 2012 (Tea Masters)

Today I tasted the roasted version of the Taiwanese Gan Kou oolong bought from Stephane Erler from the Tea Masters -blog.

This particular tea is an exceptional Taiwanese oolong, because it has been cultivated at a relatively low height in Southern Taiwan. When I bought this tea, I chose to buy the lightly roasted version over the greener and more modern version, because I had been reading that the traditional more roasted and more oxidized oolongs were better suited for aging.

There is a quite strong roasted scent in the dry leaves, that does not leave any room for the musty aroma of aged oolong. Once the leaves have been rinsed with hot water, they release an intense smell of sour plums, which soon transforms into an even stronger notes of dried berries.

The aroma of the brew itself is surprisingly mildly roasted. One can distinguish notes of old wood, pine forest, and dark fruits behind the roast. During the time it takes to drink the cup, the aroma of berries and caramel becomes more apparent. In the second infusion, one can also notice a more traditional soft and misty floweriness of Taiwanese oolongs.

There is pretty much no signs of the roast in the taste of Gan Kou. At first one can detect faded signs of the roast, which manifests as a kind of twisted aroma of coal and ashes, but this scent is quickly replaced by notes of flowers and an incredibly complex aroma of dark fruits and caramel. The mouthfeel of the tea is silky smooth and gives an impression of tastelessness before the flavour develops.

All in all I am extremely impressed how this tea has developed over the years. I remember how at first I did not much like Gan Kou, because of the dull and monotonous roasted character, which covered up everything else. However now after the roast has faded, what is left is a very complex and classy oolong. As this tea shows no signs of deteriorating quality, I will take it back to the cellar for a couple of years at least.

Tastings from the Cellar: Aged Yancha Lao Cong Shui Xian 2010 (Tea Trail)

I've been taking my personal stash of oolongs everywhere for a couple of years now. They have moved from city to city and now they are resting in a damp and cool cellar under our house. I have really not paid any attention to the teas and just hoped to forget them until 10 or 15 years has passed.

Then I suddenly realize six years has gone by. A lot of things can happen in six years. I am not the same person as I was back in 2010, and I am sure my teas are not the same also. So it is time to have a taste of these aged teas and see how they have developed.

The first tea I am tasting is a Lao Cong Shui Xian from the expectional Finnish teashop Tea Trail. These are my tasting notes from the year 2010 when I bought the tea:

The scent is roasty and dark at first, but one can also find notes of berries.

The taste is warm, roasty, and thick with clarity, a nice warming and slick mouthfeel, and just the right amount of astringency. In the second and fourth cup I can also notice a flavour of grains.

In six years the tea has changed quite a bit. Just from the dry leaves I can smell the familiar aroma of musty old wood and medicinal herbs that I know from previous tastings of aged oolongs. This scent always reminds me of a setting sun on a summer evening. Maybe this is because it was a hot and humid summer evening in my crammed student flat when I first tasted aged oolong.

Once the leaves are rinsed with hot water, they release notes of liqueur which quickly transforms into a soft woody and berrylike aroma.

There is very little left of the original roasting in the scent of the infused tea. Behind the weak roast, I can find mineral and dark fruity notes. At first the roasting seems to give the fruits and the mineral a bitter twist, but luckily the roast dissipates quite quickly.

As time passes the fragrance develops into a stunningly complex harmony of mineral, herblike, and sweet dark fruity notes. Once in a while I can still detect those intense notes of berries that I know from younger yanchas. In the second infusion the aroma becomes a little bit softer and a bit grainy, but it is nonetheless extremely complex.

The taste of the tea is soft, but not bland, as there still appears some of that freshness and clarity of taste that I miss from younger yancha. At first the taste is very mild and I can mostly notice the mineral taste the tea leaves on my tongue. Because of the weak taste my attention if focused mostly on the fine and strong aftertaste of old wood and tender fruits.

Then slowly the taste starts to become clearer. In the second infusion the taste is already much clearer and balanced. It harmonizes well with the aftertaste, and I can also detect a small amount of bitterness, which gives the body of the tea some structure.

Lao Cong Shui Xian has definitely developed into a fine tea. I would very much like to drink it all up now and not risk that by aging more the tea will start to lose its appeal. But I want to see how the tea will develop if I push it to its limits. When I start to notice the quality deteriorating, that's when I will finish it.