Aging

Definition

Most tea is best fresh. Green tea, yellow tea, most black tea and lightly oxidized floral oolong lose aroma and gain flat, stale notes within one to two years. A smaller group of teas improves with time: sheng pu'er, dark teas such as Liu Bao and Fu brick, white tea, and roasted oolong. In these teas, slow oxidation, microbial activity and other chemical changes turn sharp, bitter, astringent young leaf into smoother, sweeter, deeper tea over years or decades. Sheng pu'er is the main aging tea. Young sheng is bitter and astringent with floral, fruity notes; after ten to twenty years in good storage it shifts toward dried fruit, wood, camphor and leather with a thick, sweet body. White tea, especially Shou Mei and Bai Mu Dan, darkens and turns toward dates, honey and herbal notes, summed up in a Fujian saying: one year tea, three years medicine, seven years treasure. Aged oolong is usually re-roasted every few years to manage moisture. Storage conditions drive outcomes. Hong Kong and Guangdong "wet" storage, warm and humid, ages tea fast with earthy, sometimes musty notes. "Dry" storage, as in Kunming, ages more slowly and cleanly. Bad storage gives mold rather than age.