A little anecdote for those with acute
Fear-of-missing-out syndrome:
Last night I had the chance to accompany someone to drink Republic of China period Sheng Puerh...
It came in a very rusty old tin, which had been used for export uses at the time. I wasn't allowed to take a picture of it as – quite understandably – they are worried fakers get better hints on how to replicate these tins. The financial gains of doing so, even to get your hands on an empty tin, are possibly enormous.
To the tea: Was it good, was it memorable?
It was clean, no storage or off-smell whatsover, so impeccably stored and protected. It was smooth.
Other than that, the only word that comes to my mind is – boring.
Heresy! ...you might want to cry, what a waste! Quite possible that there are bodily sensations to be had that I missed, I am not sensitive to these. It kept going for the better part of an evening. Pretty much not changing much in taste profile, really consistent. The more interesting tea we had later was a bud-only made cake of Puerh, which "only had about 20+ years. It reminded me more of white tea, or very fresh Puerh (but without the body destroying nastiness).
Special mention that this place tests ALL their cakes and teas for pesticides and provides a SGS certificate. I was told that for factory teas, they can be old and authentic, but can still contain harmful amounts of unhealthy substances, depending on the specific batch and contents.
So all that to say that if you think you are missing out not having tasted a ROC era Puerh, you might actually not necessarily
Of course this is only one sample of one person, so there might very well be an amazing antique tea out there...