August 2023
Aged White Tea
Building on our Fuding white tea club from exactly a year ago, this time we selected four aged white teas that are 7 years or older. In May, our curator Vincent traveled to Fuding for the second time and sourced these teas from multiple producers. White tea is slightly oxidized during processing and is suitable for being aged. A popular phrase in the tea market states that white tea becomes medicine after 3 years and treasure after 7 years. Having a good storage condition allows the compounds in the tea leaves to transform under a series of enzymatic reactions over time. This transformation darkens the leaf color, changes the taste, and generates new aromatic substances. If it is not stored properly, its aroma and taste will deteriorate, and its quality will be greatly reduced. Each of these four teas was stored in a clean and dry environment. This 2013 Honey Aroma Aged White tea naturally developed a fascinating honey aroma in the past ten years. And the compressed, biscuit-shaped 2016 Bai Mu Dan and Shou Mei acquired some floral and aged flavor while aging. Last but not least, the 2016 Wild Big Leaf White is a very rare tea nearly unavailable in the market, and its lotus leaf aroma and rock sugar sweetness are outstanding.
