Questions about long term storage and mature of white tea
During
one tea session we discussed the theme long term storage of the white
tea. Every type of tea can be storage for a longer period of time. In
some teas (pchu-er) there is a history and purpose in this activity,
but in other teas (shincha) is the long term storage rather a funny
idea. What about white tea? It is possible to store the white tea for
a longer time in a certain way it gets positive impact on its
quality. In other words will it matures? Does such storage have some
history and rules?
Czech
and English tea literature did not provide us answers. We did not
find any book that would deal with this issue more deeply. Actually
most of the books did not mention this theme at all.
And
so we had to
work only with internet sources. There is a huge amount of
information on the internet but the quality such information
is very fluctuating. Informative value of much internet information
about this theme can be the best describes as
„Friend of a friend
said...“
Although
the maturing of the white tea has at least one thousand years long
history, the answers of the following questions and thoughts remain
unclear.
1)
Is mature of the white tea possible?
Majority
of tea books recommends to consume white tea usually within one year
from picking, longest within two years. This very pragmatic attitude
corresponds with following idea. Why should we store tea longer than
year, when after a year there is possibility to buy the fresh
harvest? The freshness of teas is now very fashionable.
On
the other hand we found out that the long term storage and mature of
the white tea is not unusual thing. On the contrary in the past this
matter was usual and with certain history.
2) Which
procedure of mature of the white tea should we choose?
In one case
we came upon a description of rather unusual style of mature of the
white tea. Even the seller describes this style as a relative new
one. First, the loose leaf white peony is left to „rest“ for a
one year in a enclosed container. Second, the tea is steamed and then
pressed to a cakes or bricks. Third, the pressed tea is stored in
environment with 40 to 60 percent humidity. Higher humidity has to
support the fermentation of tea, as the seller says, by „good
bacteria“. In fact it is application of the process of maturing of
sheng pchu-er to the white tea. For the need of this article I will
call this style of maturing as a humid one.
Other
sources describe different way of mature the white tea. This way
demands a proper container that prevents the air, humidity and light
to get inside. Loose leaf tea is usually stored in this way but
application of this style for a pressed tea is not impossible. I will
call this style of mature as a dry one.
3) Loose
or pressed leaf?
In some
cases there is recommended to mature white tea in a form of loose
leaf. The second idea says that mature of pressed tea is better. We
should decide accordingly which style of mature we have chosen –
dry one or humid one.
Humid mature
is more appropriate for pressed tea. Humid mature of loose leaf is
also feasible, but it is much less usual.
Dry
mature is also preferable both for pressed and loose tea. For
the pressed tea there can be a problem to find appropriate container
that will fit the size of tea cakes or bricks. In the case of bad
container there could be much more air in the gaps than in a
container full of loose tea.
Long
term storage of pressed tea also requires much less space.
4) In
what does the white tea mature the best?
Two opinions
collide in this matter – traditional one and functionalist one. In
the first case the most preferred containers are ceramic doses,
glazed both inside and outside and with double lid that is sealed
with wax. Certain historical authentication of this practice is very
often mentioned. Furthermore we also came across some ideas that are
harder to understand, for example that the tea can be influenced by
the „energy of the dose“ and so on. If you are not afraid of
quite higher cost, you can let to make the shape, size and appearance
of the dose custom.
On the other
hand there are recommended such containers that separate the tea from
the outer environment in the best possible way. These containers do
not take in account aesthetical value or history. Supporters of this
style are not interested in not positivistic ideas and they usually
recommend the well known resalable ALU bags. These bags are also
really much cheaper then custom-made dose.
5) How
long should we let the white tea to mature?
Whatever tea
can mature whatever long we want. First question is when the tea
reaches the peak of the positive changes. Secondly, is there a risk,
that further storage under same conditions could harm the tea
quality.
The opinions
are again very different. We have find out some recommendations that
three years of maturing are enough but as well as we have find out
opinions that the white tea should mature at least fifteen years.
But most of
the data was somewhere between these two limit values and it can be
said, that the biggest consensus was at seven years of maturing.
In Fuding
there is allegedly one saying about the white tea „One year tea,
three years medicine, seven years treasure.“
6)
Influence of the outside environment?
 |
| Zheng He Pai Mu Tan after eight years of mature. Fotografie použita na základě písemného souhlasu Tea Guardian. Photo used with written permission by Tea Guardian. |
The
state of the outside environment is very important in the case of the
humid maturing (see point two). It is necessary to maintain the
required level of humidity. The temperature of surroundings, the
fresh air circulation and also prevention from odors should be taken
in account. But we did not find more accurate description. What is
the best temperature? Or how much the air should circulate in the
case of humid mature of the white tea?
If
we choose the dry style of maturing, then the most of outside
influences become unimportant (humidity, air circulation, odour).
Only the temperature of surroundings can have some influence. If it
is better to try to maintain constant level of temperature or if we
should try to adapt to fluctuations of temperature according to the
seasons remains unclear.
7)
Open or not to open?
Let
us say, that we decide to mature the white tea for seven years with
the dry style. There is question, if it is better to open the
container (for example once a year) and check, taste and evaluate the
state of mature or if it is more appropriate to do not disturb the
inner environment and open the container after the expiration of the
whole period.
8)
Roasted or not roasted?
In
one case we have find a recommendation that it is appropriate to
roast the maturing white tea once a year. The roasting should revive
the taste and fragrance of the tea. Unfortunately, there was not
described how long and at what temperature to roast. It is obvious
that we should roast only loose leaf tea that is maturing in a dry
way. We consider necessary to mention that bad roasting or baking can
entirely destroy the tea. To get the appropriate roasting machine is
also not easy and cheap.
9)
Which white tea is appropriate for maturing?
On
the internet you can buy all kinds of the long term storage white
tea, from Silver Needles, over the most often offered White Peony, to
Longevity Eyebrow. It is most interesting to note, that opposed to
oolongs and dark teas, where only the best quality tea should be
selected for maturing, in the case of the white tea it is vice versa.
For the mature of the white tea it is most often recommended to
choose tea of the darker character (White Peony, Longevity Eyebrow),
thus qualitatively lower grades of white tea. And due to the fact,
that white tea from Zheng He is usually more oxidized (darker
character). There is a recommendation to prioritize for mature teas
from this area versus the teas from Fuding.
If
someone of you is interested in or even deal with the maturing of the
white tea, I will be glad for your observations, opinions and
experience. Please write a comment.
Thank you for your time.
___________________________________________________________________________
Sources:
11) http://www.teaguardian.com/quality-varieties/tea-varieties/lightly-oxidized-tea-matured-white-peony/
13) opinions of me or my
friends, that were surely influenced by what have we heard or read
somewhere, but we have already forgotten where.
14) Zdeněk Prachař – storaging
of tea. Post on forum www.tea-earth.net.
A good article of white tea, thank you for sharing. Learning a lot. :D
OdpovědětVymazatYou are welcome.
Vymazat