Today I dug out one of the teas from my own storage. It drinks better than it did as a new tea — but alas, the storage has gone slightly wrong.
What’s wrong with the storage? I drank only three or four sips, then paused for a few minutes. When the minutes passed, my throat didn’t feel quite moistened; there was the faintest sense of its presence, and a touch of dryness. It isn’t serious, but by my experience this is certainly a storage problem — good storage should leave the throat perfectly comfortable after drinking, with no dryness at all. And considering how I myself kept this cake, I’d say a storage problem was likely anyway, but that’s a story for another day.
I think storage quality comes in countless grades. In numbers, there are 0-point teas and 100-point teas and 99-point teas. Of course it can’t truly be that precise — this tea today, I’d grade its storage around 90. Does that mean such storage is acceptable? I don’t think so. Unless it is 100-point perfect storage, I have no interest in drinking it again, because what it gives me is not a good bodily sensation. From 0 to 99 is one grade; 100 is another. I accept only 100.
Which teas earn 100 points for storage from me? Any tea that, once drunk, gives the body not a hint of discomfort — my instinct says drink it and want more — that tea I can score 100. And this has nothing to do with price.
But a 100-point storage does not mean the tea was stored in purely dry conditions. Compared with purely dry storage, some teas transform a little further and carry a faintly uncomfortable smell, yet on drinking, the overall bodily sensation is still comfortable and leaves you wanting more. I can give those 100 points too.
One more thing: people differ in sensitivity to storage. A tea whose storage is around 90 points may taste wrong to me, while some tea friends cannot taste the storage problem at all and find no fault. That is the difference of experience and of individual constitution. If you are a new tea friend, consider that you may simply not yet taste storage faults; if you are an old hand, consider individual difference. You can also ask a few experienced tea friends to taste it and see whether the storage truly has a problem. Not everyone’s standard will match, but a standard that most people accept will always exist.
So how long does it take to ruin a tea’s storage? By my own experience, in Shenzhen’s normal weather, kept in a zip-lock bag opened only occasionally, one month is enough to ruin a cake’s storage. Left exposed to open air too long, it may take less than a month. Of course you can ruin it in one second — just pour water on it. The one month I speak of means a cake that has been opened and is stored and drunk normally. So my personal definition of a mid-age tea is: any tea, sold non-sealed, more than a month after release.
Anyone who talks about mid-age tea without discussing storage is simply misbehaving.
Related reading recommendations
The Dao of Tea: Myths of the Pu-erh Jianghu
The Dao of Tea: What Makes a Good Session
Author: Panda Lu Tea,
—
Author: Lam Sam (LamSam), the Old Tea Head
ZENTEA MANOR
Alliance Supply Chain Services Limited
Unit 902-3, 9/F, Mini Cube, 10 Sam Chuk Street, San Po Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
www.zentea-shop.com Email:info@zentea-shop.com
