Hi.
I am still confused about all the different tea types and I think I still don`t understand how the pu erh is processed.
I thought all kind of tea can be differentiated depending on the level of oxidation. White tea for example has a really small amount of oxidation.
What is aged white tea then? I have an "Aged Fu Ding Bai Cha White Tea Brick" at home. Ist it actually a pu erh? Or just an aged white tea?
If so, what would be the difference between aged tea and pu erh.
Jan
pu erh and white aged tea.
a major difference is sheng puerh ('fermented' in the chart below) is cooked by heating and white tea is often not
Wikipedia has a very good article and diagram on the basic types of tea processing here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_processing
Depending on the details, aged white and puerh could have a lot of similarities.
And a similarly useful diagram was just posted above as I was working on this post.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_processing
Depending on the details, aged white and puerh could have a lot of similarities.
And a similarly useful diagram was just posted above as I was working on this post.
Hmm I see. Thank you very much for that.
Based on the wiki page the only big difference I can see is the panning process for pu erh and the baking process for white tea.
It seems like for both the oxidation kept to quiet to a minimum
So my question is, after drying if you the white tea natural age shouldn`t it turn into a pu erh because it would be post fermented?
Or is there not such thing like white or yellow pu erh?
So what I have, the aged White Tea Brick is kind of a niche?
Based on the wiki page the only big difference I can see is the panning process for pu erh and the baking process for white tea.
It seems like for both the oxidation kept to quiet to a minimum
So my question is, after drying if you the white tea natural age shouldn`t it turn into a pu erh because it would be post fermented?
Or is there not such thing like white or yellow pu erh?
So what I have, the aged White Tea Brick is kind of a niche?
Puer comes from different cultivars of tea plant that only grow in Yunnan and the surrounding areas, which also has the “special” microbes and bacteria from the region that develops the flavors when aging. Also similar to champagne, only tea processsed as puer within the yunnan region should be called puer.
You can have leaves from the yunnan tea plants processed as a white tea.
White tea can be aged, and some of the enzymes should be present since there’s no kill green. I think that’s why white tea ages in the way it does vs trying to age green tea.
I don’t think there’s any special microbes or bacteria though that I know of in other regions that would help age a white tea made in those areas, but perhaps it’s still unknown since aged white is super niche.
I don’t think there’s any point comparing cooked puer to aged white tea.
You can have leaves from the yunnan tea plants processed as a white tea.
White tea can be aged, and some of the enzymes should be present since there’s no kill green. I think that’s why white tea ages in the way it does vs trying to age green tea.
I don’t think there’s any special microbes or bacteria though that I know of in other regions that would help age a white tea made in those areas, but perhaps it’s still unknown since aged white is super niche.
I don’t think there’s any point comparing cooked puer to aged white tea.
No, it's a different processing. It will simply become aged white tea. As far as i know, the same leaves form yunnan can/could be processed white, sheng puerh, green, or red, or somewhere in between.
Could white tea be further fermented (like shu puerh is fermented out of sheng maocha)? I dont know, i've never heard about that.
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swordofmytriumph
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How does aging affect the flavor of white tea? What does it do for it?
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swordofmytriumph
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That's really cool. How is white tea aged? Do you age it like pu erh, like with a humidor, or is it better to age it without a humidor?
Aged white tea tasting notes are often hay/honey/medicinal. I personally don’t find it more appealing than fresh white tea, and aged white tea is often made from bai mu dan which isn’t close to being my favorite even fresh. I love fresh silver needle and have had aged silver needle and it was very underwhelming.
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swordofmytriumph
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- Location: Seattle, USA
Interesting. I'll have to try a sample and see how it is.
I realize the discussion grew out of a question concerning aged white tea and pu'er but I want to point out that the above diagram is not accurate, at least insofar as it refers to Oolong (Wulong) tea.
The second box says "Bruised/Rolled" however, oolong tea is not rolled prior to being oxisized and fixed. After withering it is only bruised and that allows oxidation to begin. Rolling (not "ball rolling but full rolling of the leaves) takes place AFTER the tea is fixed. After rolling there is an initial drying stage and then, depending upon style, the ball rolling stage or the start of the baking stage.
The second box says "Bruised/Rolled" however, oolong tea is not rolled prior to being oxisized and fixed. After withering it is only bruised and that allows oxidation to begin. Rolling (not "ball rolling but full rolling of the leaves) takes place AFTER the tea is fixed. After rolling there is an initial drying stage and then, depending upon style, the ball rolling stage or the start of the baking stage.
