Planned Times for Opening Packets of Seasons' Gaoshan

Semi-oxidized tea
Ethan Kurland
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Sat May 14, 2022 11:24 am

I went from suspecting to noticing sometimes to believing something: Gaoshan (very lightly oxidized high-mountain oolong) is better after a few months rest in vacuum packs. I believe this because the last several months I have been drinking goashan from late in Spring 2021 that was acquired by me & vacuum-packed for me in thick foil packs holding 50 grams each. (I remind readers that early in that season, it looked bad but tea from later came excellence.)

The tea was harvested & processed in late Spring of 2021 & was better than most seasons' tea for quality. I tasted this gaoshan several times in the first few months following its acquisition. It was excellent. However, the gaoshan was better after several months of rest in the vacuum packs. It remained at its peak until about 3 weeks ago. It is now still excellent but less durable (good for 1 or 2 less infusions) & the flavor is slightly weaker.

Having a prolonged tea session & brunch w/ my younger sister today, we drank from that Spring & from the following season. We agreed that the best time of the Spring '21 was past (though not tragically) & that the pack of the goashan of the following season (whose harvesting & processing was completed early, by mid-December '21) was very likely not going to get any better (that is what I would say is "at it peak").

Not the 11th Commandment, I conclude it is wise to:
1. Rest fresh gaoshan in its vacuum packs for a few months before using;
2. Then, that gaoshan will be at its best for several months;
3. Buying some extra gaoshan of exceptionally good seasons still makes sense because off its peak, it will still be as good or better than tea of average or below-average seasons.

I sort of have a time table. As the newest season's gaoshan is anticipated, sampled, & acquired, I am enjoying last season's at its best.
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LeoFox
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Sat May 14, 2022 3:07 pm

How do you store the vacuum packs? For vacuum packed gaoshan and greens, I refrigerate.
Ethan Kurland
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Sat May 14, 2022 4:58 pm

LeoFox wrote:
Sat May 14, 2022 3:07 pm
How do you store the vacuum packs? For vacuum packed gaoshan and greens, I refrigerate.
I also refrigerate.
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Victoria
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Sat May 14, 2022 5:18 pm

So far I’ve only refrigerated unopened Japanese greens, but I can see doing the same with high mountain teas (if I can make room in refrigerator). Today, I opened a gifted spring 2021 ShanLiShi, 25 gram vacuum pack, it was still very good - aromatic, viscous, well rounded and smooth.
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Bok
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Sat May 14, 2022 11:43 pm

People sometimes confuse the perceived “green-ness” of Gaoshan oolong with a green tea in the original sense(like Sencha or Chinese greens).

As you noticed, Gaoshan if we’ll made last for well over a year, even years.

Green can do so, but it will change more rapidly and some will benefit of a roast later to be able to be stored longer (becomes a different tea then obviously).

I’m still drinking some Gaoshan from two years ago😛
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Benjamin
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Mon May 16, 2022 12:00 am

Bok wrote:
Sat May 14, 2022 11:43 pm
People sometimes confuse the perceived “green-ness” of Gaoshan oolong with a green tea in the original sense(like Sencha or Chinese greens).

As you noticed, Gaoshan if we’ll made last for well over a year, even years.

Green can do so, but it will change more rapidly and some will benefit of a roast later to be able to be stored longer (becomes a different tea then obviously).

I’m still drinking some Gaoshan from two years ago😛
I'd agree, though IMO it really depends on the oxidation/發酵度 level of the gaoshan. Some more aber-hued, higher oxidation gaoshan teas hold up better than the incredibly sheng, low oxidation type that have become very popular in recent years. I prefer the former rather than the latter myself, though both can be good.
Andrew S
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Mon May 16, 2022 3:58 am

I suppose that there's a complex relationship between desirable freshness, desirable resting, and desirable ageing, but I also suppose that it depends upon personal preference as well as how the tea was processed and how it was rested or aged.

Wine is said to go through 'dumb' phases, once it's lost its freshness but has yet to gain pleasant aged notes, and when it tastes boring yet feels like it's got something in it which it is refusing to reveal. I suppose that a similar thing might happen with tea, but the point at which a tea is no longer fresh versus when it is pleasantly-rested or pleasantly-aged depends from one person to another.

I enjoyed a vacuum-packed 2008 high mountain tea, which someone else would probably have criticised for having lost its freshness.

@Ethan Kurland: has your experience mostly been with resting these teas for a few months, or have you also been putting any of them away for longer periods to age them? I wonder whether it might be worthwhile, or at least interesting, to keep back a few packets which have seemingly gone past their prime, but might just be in an awkward phase post-resting but pre-ageing.

Andrew
Ethan Kurland
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Mon May 16, 2022 9:31 am

Andrew S wrote:
Mon May 16, 2022 3:58 am
Wine is said to go through 'dumb' phases, once it's lost its freshness but has yet to gain pleasant aged notes, and when it tastes boring yet feels like it's got something in it which it is refusing to reveal.
Andrew
Some cigars go through such phases also. W/ cigars individual preference comes into play when they are aged so long that flavors can no longer be identified individually; they became a unique, blended flavor. A few smokers miss recognizing particular flavors. Also some cigars that transitioned (before being aged for years, the first third of a smoke gave some flavors that disappeared in the second third whose flavors were overtaken by others in the final third), no longer transition after a very long time being aged.

I don't think what I am talking about for the tea is anywhere close to what happens w/ wine or cigars sometime: A mild effect of resting vs. a greater effect of ageing. I thank you Andrew for using both words. To age for me, means planning & executing conditions, & timing, carefully. Vacuum packs of tea in a bag that is clipped or bound tight inside a refrigerator for 3 - 10 months (used as needed) is not the same. (No wine cellars; no humidors.)

The flavors of the rested tea are not newly revealed by the time spent in a refrigerator. Rather they are the same flavors that came from the tea when fresher; but, they might come together differently, be a bit more mellow here or more pronounced there. The lightly oxidized oolong is better w/ a few months or so of rest, but not greatly different.

From the movie, SIDEWAYS, it seems that not to drink a very special wine at its peak is a great waste. From experience, I can say that most Cuban cigars that are considered the best, are a waste of $ until they have been properly aged for years. The gaoshan that I drink is special even when just purchased but gets noticeably better for me (Andrew, I acknowledge that we all different as you wrote) after a few months of rest. Also I can notice that gaoshan begins to weaken after it is about 11 months old. (The flavors are weaker but not faded nor ruined.)

Hopefully for me to be repetitive, serves a purpose here. I believe it is so easy to think that there is a great quest, to go out into the world (through the internet) to find one greater tea after another. (Somewhere there will always be some fantastic tea that we can discover.) While chasing that dream, some seasons will be not provide even average gaoshan; so, knowing that excellent gaoshan gets even a bit better w/ some rest & does not worsen greatly when stored properly, encourages us to buy more of a good season's gaoshan & even more of a season that is much better than average.

(E.g., I don't need this Spring to be a good season for gaoshan. I just started using what I bought last Winter.)
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LeoFox
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Mon Jun 06, 2022 12:36 pm

Just cracked open a 2021 spring lishan 150g pack. Seems just as good as when I drank through a pack of the same tea last summer. Difference seems mainly in the level of butteriness (seems less). At the same time, it seems more fruity, and less "green." A note of honey is also more prominent now. All in all, a more refined experience after a year of resting.

Original plan was to drink through two 150g packs one after the other. But now am tempted to save one for longer term "aging" in the fridge.
IMG_20220606_133218_248.jpg
IMG_20220606_133218_248.jpg (186.32 KiB) Viewed 3757 times
This is same tea as this:
viewtopic.php?p=38490#p38490
GaoShan
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Mon Jun 06, 2022 5:36 pm

LeoFox wrote:
Mon Jun 06, 2022 12:36 pm
Just cracked open a 2021 spring lishan 150g pack. Seems just as good as when I drank through a pack of the same tea last summer. Difference seems mainly in the level of butteriness (seems less). At the same time, it seems more fruity, and less "green." A note of honey is also more prominent now. All in all, a more refined experience after a year of resting.

Original plan was to drink through two 150g packs one after the other. But now am tempted to save one for longer term "aging" in the fridge.
Image

This is same tea as this:
viewtopic.php?p=38490#p38490
I'm on my last few grams of a 150 g pack of this Lishan, and I agree, it is fruity. It has a nice combo of pineapple and stonefruit, though I don't notice the citrus as much. Longer steeps give me lots of umami (your analogy of buttery lobster rings true), and there's a bit of astringency and greenness in later steeps. I've been drinking this tea almost every day and haven't gotten tired of it!
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LeoFox
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Mon Jun 06, 2022 5:50 pm

GaoShan wrote:
Mon Jun 06, 2022 5:36 pm
LeoFox wrote:
Mon Jun 06, 2022 12:36 pm
Just cracked open a 2021 spring lishan 150g pack. Seems just as good as when I drank through a pack of the same tea last summer. Difference seems mainly in the level of butteriness (seems less). At the same time, it seems more fruity, and less "green." A note of honey is also more prominent now. All in all, a more refined experience after a year of resting.

Original plan was to drink through two 150g packs one after the other. But now am tempted to save one for longer term "aging" in the fridge.
Image

This is same tea as this:
viewtopic.php?p=38490#p38490
I'm on my last few grams of a 150 g pack of this Lishan, and I agree, it is fruity. It has a nice combo of pineapple and stonefruit, though I don't notice the citrus as much. Longer steeps give me lots of umami (your analogy of buttery lobster rings true), and there's a bit of astringency and greenness in later steeps. I've been drinking this tea almost every day and haven't gotten tired of it!
I think you did well to wait a year. The fruitiness is more pronounced now for sure! The lobster umami also seems weaker, but still very present.
GaoShan
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Mon Jun 06, 2022 6:35 pm

LeoFox wrote:
Mon Jun 06, 2022 5:50 pm
GaoShan wrote:
Mon Jun 06, 2022 5:36 pm
LeoFox wrote:
Mon Jun 06, 2022 12:36 pm
Just cracked open a 2021 spring lishan 150g pack. Seems just as good as when I drank through a pack of the same tea last summer. Difference seems mainly in the level of butteriness (seems less). At the same time, it seems more fruity, and less "green." A note of honey is also more prominent now. All in all, a more refined experience after a year of resting.

Original plan was to drink through two 150g packs one after the other. But now am tempted to save one for longer term "aging" in the fridge.
Image

This is same tea as this:
viewtopic.php?p=38490#p38490
I'm on my last few grams of a 150 g pack of this Lishan, and I agree, it is fruity. It has a nice combo of pineapple and stonefruit, though I don't notice the citrus as much. Longer steeps give me lots of umami (your analogy of buttery lobster rings true), and there's a bit of astringency and greenness in later steeps. I've been drinking this tea almost every day and haven't gotten tired of it!
I think you did well to wait a year. The fruitiness is more pronounced now for sure! The lobster umami also seems weaker, but still very present.
Of the oolongs I bought from TeaForum vendors, the Lishan from Bok and Ethan's Longfenxia were the most fruity to me, and I drank them almost back to back in the first half of 2022. Ethan's Perfect and Shanlinxi were more floral, and I drank them around October to December of 2021. Is this a coincidence? Maybe. I'm wondering if I need to wait a few months for the level of fruitiness I like in gaoshan to emerge. This could be a problem, as I have only 200 g or so of spring 2021 oolong left.
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Victoria
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Tue Jun 07, 2022 9:29 am

@GaoShan I’m enjoying this morning @Tillerman’s Winter ‘21 Lishan. It is very rich, silky smooth and stone fruity. You might give it a try.
GaoShan
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Tue Jun 07, 2022 1:25 pm

Victoria wrote:
Tue Jun 07, 2022 9:29 am
GaoShan I’m enjoying this morning Tillerman’s Winter ‘21 Lishan. It is very rich, silky smooth and stone fruity. You might give it a try.
Thanks for the recommendation! I've enjoyed a few teas from Tillerman, notably his Sweet Scented Dong Ding. I found the high mountain oolongs from him to be more floral than fruity, though I haven't tried his Lishan. I may have 10 g of the spring 2020 harvest somewhere, though I'm sure it's faded a bit with age.
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Wed Nov 09, 2022 8:44 am

Ethan Kurland wrote:
Sat May 14, 2022 11:24 am
I went from suspecting to noticing sometimes to believing something: Gaoshan (very lightly oxidized high-mountain oolong) is better after a few months rest in vacuum packs. I believe this because the last several months I have been drinking goashan from late in Spring 2021 that was acquired by me & vacuum-packed for me in thick foil packs holding 50 grams each. (I remind readers that early in that season, it looked bad but tea from later came excellence.)

The tea was harvested & processed in late Spring of 2021 & was better than most seasons' tea for quality. I tasted this gaoshan several times in the first few months following its acquisition. It was excellent. However, the gaoshan was better after several months of rest in the vacuum packs. It remained at its peak until about 3 weeks ago. It is now still excellent but less durable (good for 1 or 2 less infusions) & the flavor is slightly weaker.

Having a prolonged tea session & brunch w/ my younger sister today, we drank from that Spring & from the following season. We agreed that the best time of the Spring '21 was past (though not tragically) & that the pack of the goashan of the following season (whose harvesting & processing was completed early, by mid-December '21) was very likely not going to get any better (that is what I would say is "at it peak").

Not the 11th Commandment, I conclude it is wise to:
1. Rest fresh gaoshan in its vacuum packs for a few months before using;
2. Then, that gaoshan will be at its best for several months;
3. Buying some extra gaoshan of exceptionally good seasons still makes sense because off its peak, it will still be as good or better than tea of average or below-average seasons.

I sort of have a time table. As the newest season's gaoshan is anticipated, sampled, & acquired, I am enjoying last season's at its best.
Curious, do you use oxygen absorber packets with those vacuum bags?

Reason I ask is I've noticed that a vendor was including them with gaoshan but not roasted tea. Presumably that's to allow the roasted oolongs to age and to preserve the freshness of green oolongs.
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