Age oolong 10-15 y tradition ?

[aet]

I just stumbled upon this page and there is a claim " n the past 10-15 years, a group of oolong farmers have actually begin to age their oolong. "
https://www.goldentleaf.com/7-taiwan-oo ... never-buy/
Just wondering if there is any offical documentation ( like offical competetion or such ) somewhere. Can be in Chinese ( with TW traditional han zi , I'd had to bother my wife though )
Of course there will be houndreds claims of not previously documented, like Mr.XXX has done some small batch etc.
I would be also wondering what comunity things about other topics mentioned there?
I'm just preparing my self for an interview about fake puerhs and fake claims tea in general , with one podcaster.
I'm not much experienced with oolong though , yet I believe the princips of faster ageing is same for any tea leaf - oxidation - enzyme activity , but I'd like to have also some historical data.
I ll be gratefull for any hints.
Cheers.

[Bok]

While I like this article in general, a lot of it is true and good advice, he gets it wrong on aged high mountain Oolong. Of course it does not make sense to age green Oolong(it is possible you just need to wait a very long time, maybe 40-50y for something worthwhile to happen).

But – there are farmers who use high mountain leaves to produce roasted teas and then age them. One of these guys I know for over 10y and he is doing exactly that. It is pricey and very delicious, totally different to aged Dongding. My un-educated guess is that the whole thing with looking for aged teas started at the same time when Taiwanese tea pioneers ventured out into Yunnan/HK etc. to seek out old Puerh. In any case my source told me his father already used to drink aged tea all day long...

It is also not the farmers who started aging their Oolong, it is the merchants and customers. It is a regular thing for people to put away several huge jars containing a few kilos each of tea to be aged and drunk in a rotation system. > Boss-Level Tea consumption, hobby of the rich. The impatient let the merchant do it.

[aet]

My un-educated guess is that the whole thing with looking for aged teas started at the same time when Taiwanese tea pioneers ventured out into Yunnan/HK etc. to seek out old Puerh. .

which was around what year?

[Bok]

My un-educated guess is that the whole thing with looking for aged teas started at the same time when Taiwanese tea pioneers ventured out into Yunnan/HK etc. to seek out old Puerh. .

which was around what year?

I think just around the opening of China, late 80s, early 90s. Same time they went on to open up businesses and factories in China, Fujian, Dongguan, Shanghai etc.

[aet]

In any case my source told me his father already used to drink aged tea all day long...

just last one , if I may.
What is considered an "aged tea" in TW? like how many years? Or is it like aged taste? Because in China we also have that expression Chen Nian ( aged ) but not necessarily have to be actually old , it can be just made the way as old shu ( for example ) tastes.
Just asking if there is no any misinterpretation in translation.

Cheers.

[Bok]

As many as you want : )

What is considered an "aged tea" in TW? like how many years?

Anything below 5 years is not aged, some may say "it has a little age, you nian fen". Also because Oolong often enters a sort of akward, or flat period before five, where it becomes boring before it gets more interesting.

Considered old starts at 10y, open end of course.

expression Chen Nian ( aged ) but not necessarily have to be actually old , it can be just made the way as old shu ( for example ) tastes.

This exists in Taiwan too, but usually it means old.

[aet]

As many as you want : )

What is considered an "aged tea" in TW? like how many years?

Anything below 5 years is not aged, some may say "it has a little age, you nian fen". Also because Oolong often enters a sort of akward, or flat period before five, where it becomes boring before it gets more interesting.

Considered old starts at 10y, open end of course.

expression Chen Nian ( aged ) but not necessarily have to be actually old , it can be just made the way as old shu ( for example ) tastes.

This exists in Taiwan too, but usually it means old.

thanks for veryfication. I wrote it incorectly. Chen nian in CN also means old , they use expressions : chen xiang ( aged aroma ) or chen wei ( aged taste ) for those "aged" nut not actually old tea.

Cheers

[Balthazar]

One example is the annual "Fucheng Tea Festival" (Tainan, Taiwan) production, which is a longan charcoal roasted ruanzhi/qingxin. There's a bit of info on the Chinese (simplified) Wikipedia, as well as FB.

Obviously intended for storing a while, or as they say on the package: "久藏陳韻漸顯風味尤佳"

I've been grandpa brewing the 2014 production in a glass mug for the past few days for some variation from dianhong. It's obviously nothing too fancy, but it's a significant step up from say deathroasted Fukien stuff and while just below the 10 year mark the charcoal has subsided significantly giving way for rich fruity (and an ever so slightly but well balanced sourness, 酸果香 as I believe a clever seller would describe it :p) and caramel-like sweetness. A very delicious winter option for unattentive brewing, I am finding it.

Some packaging pics for the curious

[Bok]

You inspired me to get some more stuff to age… 1 斤(600g) of roasted, slightly aged Foshou. Now in the akward stage, but with 5+ more years it should get real nice. And much cheaper than to directly buy 10+ y aged teas…

[aet]

nice one!

I have also around 400g of Dan Cong forgotten in storage.
Air sealed. I've tried last year and it was fruitier then before, less sharp ( that was the reason I didn't put it on shop ) .
When was new, it had an astringency of sheng , which I found weird with DC. Anyway, so I've packed it and forgot in storage.

Lets see in some years to come.