Planned Times for Opening Packets of Seasons' Gaoshan

[Ethan Kurland]

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.

Yes, I use absorber packets. Good for me that you asked, because I never have given them much thought. Just seemed to me that the packs protect tea; so , they go w/ good tea. I'll ask some some ?s before tea is packed for me again.

[Bok]

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.

Usually only greener teas have them(for Taiwan). Common wisdom in Taiwan is to discard them once you open a pack. Roasted oolongs do not necessarily need to age, but get rid of the so called "fire" of the roast. Preserving superficial notes as in green teas is obviously pointless as the'll dissipate over time anyways/been sort of "baked in" by the roast.

[Ethan Kurland]

Usually only greener teas have them(for Taiwan). Common wisdom in Taiwan is to discard them once you open a pack.

W/o any thoughts on it now & possibly ever, I have been taking out the absorbers once opening a vacuum pack & putting the absorbers in the tins that I keep opened & tightly banded vacuum packs. Looking at the tins, I see that a lot of absorbers are in the bottom of the gaoshan tin, some are in the tin I use for roasted teas (leading me to believe only some roasted teas I have include absorbers), &, the black tea tin has no absorbers. This "evidence" seems to support the reasons of posts above. Research completed

[GaoShan]

Usually only greener teas have them(for Taiwan). Common wisdom in Taiwan is to discard them once you open a pack.

W/o any thoughts on it now & possibly ever, I have been taking out the absorbers once opening a vacuum pack & putting the absorbers in the tins that I keep opened & tightly banded vacuum packs. Looking at the tins, I see that a lot of absorbers are in the bottom of the gaoshan tin, some are in the tin I use for roasted teas (leading me to believe only some roasted teas I have include absorbers), &, the black tea tin has no absorbers. This "evidence" seems to support the reasons of posts above. Research completed

I'm surprised you keep your green oolongs in tins. I did that a couple times and I think the air exposure shortened the life of the tea. However, I don't think they had a vacuum seal, so that could have been the problem.

I keep the absorber in the bag for green oolongs, and also for roasted ones if the vendor included it. I use those plastic sealing clips and squeeze as much air out as possible.

[Ethan Kurland]

I am surprised you keep your green oolongs in tins. I did that a couple times and I think the air exposure shortened the life of the tea...

... I use those plastic sealing clips and squeeze as much air out as possible.

Sorry, I was not clear. The tea is inside the original foil packs. The opened vacuum packs are squeezed tight & remain tight w/ bands, then the packs are put inside the tins where the absorbers that were originally inside the vacuum packs are. (I used the special, plastic clips for a year.)

Of course, the tins are unnecessary & make no discernible difference. I prefer the look of tins on my table to foil bags.

Air exposure definitely shortens the life of tea. For a short while I used ceramic caddies for some teas outside of the original foil packs. The tea might awaken from a sort of sleep induced by being relatively w/o air when vacuum-packed. I believed this was a benefit for few days; then, the tea suffered. Opening packs for taking out some leaves to be steeped, enables remaining leaves to breath enough.

[GaoShan]

Sorry, I was not clear. The tea is inside the original foil packs. The opened vacuum packs are squeezed tight & remain tight w/ bands, then the packs are put inside the tins where the absorbers that were originally inside the vacuum packs are. (I used the special, plastic clips for a year.)

Of course, the tins are unnecessary & make no discernible difference. I prefer the look of tins on my table to foil bags.

Air exposure definitely shortens the life of tea. For a short while I used ceramic caddies for some teas outside of the original foil packs. The tea might awaken from a sort of sleep induced by being relatively w/o air when vacuum-packed. I believed this was a benefit for few days; then, the tea suffered. Opening packs for taking out some leaves to be steeped, enables remaining leaves to breath enough.

Ah, that makes more sense! I have a tea cupboard with a door, so all the pouches are out of sight. Also, using the few sealing clips I have prevents me from opening too many bags of tea.

I never saw the point of those ceramic caddies for green oolong, though they might be useful for other types of tea.

[botlofchaz]

Can anyone speak to storage advice for oolongs that are typically roasted, like dong dings, and even the occasional roasted high mountain tea one might come across? Are rest periods beneficial for these teas? How does integrity of an opened vaccum packed high quality roasted tea like dong ding compare to high quality goashan? Starting to move a bit away from the fresher taste of high mountain and more toward roasted teas as the colder weather sets in here and this conversation brought up these questions for me.

[Ethan Kurland]

High-mountain roasted tea vs. gaoshan:

An opened packet of gaoshan should be finished within a few weeks. Of course, wonderful gaoshan will not become awful tea after a few weeks; but, we buy it for wonderful drinking.

Wonderful high-mountain roasted tea will stay wonderful for several months after a pack is opened.

Lately I have been buying gaoshan in 50-gram vacuum packs & roasted tea in 60-gram packs. I have bought roasted oolong (& high-mountain black tea) in 150-gram vacuum packs because the leaves keep their quality for so long after a packet is opened.

[Bok]

Can anyone speak to storage advice for oolongs that are typically roasted, like dong dings, and even the occasional roasted high mountain tea one might come across? Are rest periods beneficial for these teas? How does integrity of an opened vaccum packed high quality roasted tea like dong ding compare to high quality goashan? Starting to move a bit away from the fresher taste of high mountain and more toward roasted teas as the colder weather sets in here and this conversation brought up these questions for me.

It depends. Realistically the vendor won't provide times when exactly that batch has last been roasted. So, if you taste the "fire", you will know for yourself that it needs more rest. Kind of hard to describe, the closest I can think of is that it feels a little like heartburn. This is not only for roasted teas, High mountain and other freshly produced greener processed teas can have it too. Not always is that they need rest, some have been processed badly or in a hurry, so the "fire" is kind of locked in. Sounds all a bit vague I know, it is really easier to taste than to describe...

[Ethan Kurland]

.... a bit vague, I know, it is really easier to taste than to describe...

I think you do a good job of what can happen & why.

[Bok]

.... a bit vague, I know, it is really easier to taste than to describe...

I think you do a good job of what can happen & why.

Cheers!

[botlofchaz]

Thank you @Bok and @Ethan Kurland. All reallly helpful info. I havent yet come across a roasted oolong that has given me that harsh feeling. Perhaps it is only a matter of time, and now I will have a better sense of what to look for and pay attention to.

This may be a very beginner/newbie question, but what is it about the roasting process that helps preserve the characteristics of tea for longer? Does a heavier roasted oolong prolong the quality of a tea more than a lighter roast?

[Bok]

Thank you Bok and Ethan Kurland. All reallly helpful info. I havent yet come across a roasted oolong that has given me that harsh feeling. Perhaps it is only a matter of time, and now I will have a better sense of what to look for and pay attention to.

This may be a very beginner/newbie question, but what is it about the roasting process that helps preserve the characteristics of tea for longer? Does a heavier roasted oolong prolong the quality of a tea more than a lighter roast?

Actually not a begninner question at all.

Wrong priority: for long term storage what is more important than roast is proper oxydation. Under the right circumstances a lightly roasted, but properly oxidised tea can age much better, while preserving more of the original character of the tea.

A lot of high roast can age only terribly, as the underlying tea has not been made well first, or the material is low quality to begin with. Good example is a lot of what is marketed as "old school" roast, à la Hong Kong Tieguanyin and a certain segment of Taiwanese teas catering to older, but not necessarily very discerning Taiwanese drinkers.

> so actually roast is used to cover up lack of processing skill, hasty processing or bad quality.
> bad quality may come from: overharvested bushes, bad environment of farm, unwillingness to wait for right weather conditions to harvest (>save money/time/etc.)

And so on...

[botlofchaz]

Thank you Bok and Ethan Kurland. All reallly helpful info. I havent yet come across a roasted oolong that has given me that harsh feeling. Perhaps it is only a matter of time, and now I will have a better sense of what to look for and pay attention to.

This may be a very beginner/newbie question, but what is it about the roasting process that helps preserve the characteristics of tea for longer? Does a heavier roasted oolong prolong the quality of a tea more than a lighter roast?

Actually not a begninner question at all.

Wrong priority: for long term storage what is more important than roast is proper oxydation. Under the right circumstances a lightly roasted, but properly oxidised tea can age much better, while preserving more of the original character of the tea.

A lot of high roast can age only terribly, as the underlying tea has not been made well first, or the material is low quality to begin with. Good example is a lot of what is marketed as "old school" roast, à la Hong Kong Tieguanyin and a certain segment of Taiwanese teas catering to older, but not necessarily very discerning Taiwanese drinkers.

> so actually roast is used to cover up lack of processing skill, hasty processing or bad quality.
> bad quality may come from: overharvested bushes, bad environment of farm, unwillingness to wait for right weather conditions to harvest (>save money/time/etc.)

And so on...

Thanks for the response. I know I have a lot of questions but here is one more: are there general things to be looking out for that indicate whether a tea was over or under oxidized? I imagine this might vary from tea to tea or cultivar to cultivar but curious if you have thoughts...

[teatray]

Thanks for the response. I know I have a lot of questions but here is one more: are there general things to be looking out for that indicate whether a tea was over or under oxidized? I imagine this might vary from tea to tea or cultivar to cultivar but curious if you have thoughts...

I don't think there's technically a universal sweet spot for oxidation: different styles are produced which might have different advantages & disadvantages for taste/storage/aging. One might have a strong preference and some oxidation ranges are characteristic of traditional/well-established styles (around which cultivars have developed that may be particularly good when processed that way). Oxidation also doesn't happen in isolation and will impart different qualities depending on when and how it occurred during processing (e.g. wilting/shaking/etc. stages before fixation) or storage.

Sometimes I drink a tea in a style that I'm more or less familiar with and think to myself: that's a bit too green/too red. But then again, a tea master with knowledge & experience may have decided on-site that it's the best possible version of that tea, considering the raw material. So I find it difficult to judge.