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Hello!

I received a 2006 Big Green Tea Taiwan storage from a friend. When I hit the 1st infusion, the tea tasted flat, a little winged bean taste, and bitter and no astringency. By the time I got into the 5th and 6th infusions, the bitterness was gone, but the flat taste was still there.

Was there a storage issue there? My suspicion was that the supplier here has had storage issues. What do you guys think?

For starters: what is Big green tea? Never heard of it. It might just be be bad tea to start with… no amount of time can cure that.

Secondly in my experience with aged greens, you need at least 50 years before anything noteworthy (might) happen. All the the years before the tea will be boring.

Was it 2006 Big Green Tree Sheng Puerh? If it is, a photo of the wrapper would help.

DailyTX wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 20, 2022 8:53 pm

Was it 2006 Big Green Tree Sheng Puerh? If it is, a photo of the wrapper would help.

Ah that makes sense, it is Puerh, haha.

Bok wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 20, 2022 9:03 pm

DailyTX wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 20, 2022 8:53 pm

Was it 2006 Big Green Tree Sheng Puerh? If it is, a photo of the wrapper would help.

Ah that makes sense, it is Puerh, haha.

Just a guess, we will need @Dogen to confirm. That year, a few factories made cake using that name.

DailyTX wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 20, 2022 9:20 pm

Bok wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 20, 2022 9:03 pm

DailyTX wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 20, 2022 8:53 pm

Was it 2006 Big Green Tree Sheng Puerh? If it is, a photo of the wrapper would help.

Ah that makes sense, it is Puerh, haha.

Just a guess, we will need Dogen to confirm. That year, a few factories made cake using that name.

I do not have a photo of the wrapper as this tea was a sample, but I took the seller's pictures. Here it is:

Dogen wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 20, 2022 11:32 pm

DailyTX wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 20, 2022 9:20 pm

Bok wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 20, 2022 9:03 pm

Ah that makes sense, it is Puerh, haha.

Just a guess, we will need Dogen to confirm. That year, a few factories made cake using that name.

I do not have a photo of the wrapper as this tea was a sample, but I took the seller's pictures. Here it is:

That’s 2006 Zhongcha Big Green Tea. Try to store your samples with other Sheng puerh for a few weeks, and then try it on a warm day. I noticed puerh taste better when it has sufficient time to settle. Another possibility is cold temperature which can cause the tea to taste flat.

DailyTX wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 21, 2022 12:01 am

Dogen wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 20, 2022 11:32 pm

DailyTX wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 20, 2022 9:20 pm

Just a guess, we will need Dogen to confirm. That year, a few factories made cake using that name.

I do not have a photo of the wrapper as this tea was a sample, but I took the seller's pictures. Here it is:

That’s 2006 Zhongcha Big Green Tea. Try to store your samples with other Sheng puerh for a few weeks, and then try it on a warm day. I noticed puerh taste better when it has sufficient time to settle. Another possibility is cold temperature which can cause the tea to taste flat.

That's a good suggestion! I remember that stacking up shengs will benefit each other. Well, that confirmed what I learned.

Possibly. I think it was the vendor's supplier that has the storage issues.

Is it normal to have those black oily spots on the wrapper?

LeoFox wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 21, 2022 7:47 am

Is it normal to have those black oily spots on the wrapper?

@LeoFox maybe other puerh vendors or expert can chime in. Those spots are sign of humid storage, that’s my guess. It’s hard to tell from the photo if those are oil or tea stains. Sometime you will find bug bite holes on the wrapper. All those provide information on where the cake has been, assuming the wrapper is original. So, it’s common not typical.

The black spots look like bug eaten holes. The brown stains are tea, in a very moderate amount i tend to consider them as a good sign.