Found some really old tea (19 years!) Can someone identify?

[twta500]

I was cleaning out my pantry when I saw a bunch of very old (2-19 years old!) Chinese/Taiwanese tea. My dad bought/was gifted all of these throughout the years and I guess he never bothered to drink it? Can anyone identify these teas?

Alishan High Mountain Tea - 2008

Wuyishan Tea

Dong Ding Group Tea - 2001

Chinese Tea

Long Jing Tea - 2001

Selected Famous Tea

Selected Famous Tea - 2002

meng shan tea

Taiwan Alpine Tea

China top 10 famous tea

China famous Tea - 2001

Jin Fuhong

Taiwan Black Tea

White Tea

Black Tea China

Shan Li Xi

Longjing Tea

All of these are sealed/vacuum packed. Are they still safe to drink?

[pedant]

they're definitely safe to drink. dry tea does not become unsafe to drink. the moisture content is too low for pathogens to grow.

how do you want them ID'd though? they seem already ID'd from your link titles.
just fyi, a lot of chinese tea packaging is generic. sometimes stuff is even mislabeled, lol.

[twta500]

they're definitely safe to drink. dry tea does not become unsafe to drink. the moisture content is too low for pathogens to grow.

how do you want them ID'd though? they seem already ID'd from your link titles.
just fyi, a lot of chinese tea packaging is generic. sometimes stuff is even mislabeled, lol.

Just curious as to if any of them would be considered "high end" or something. My dad says everything is "very high quality and expensive" but he doesn't know anything about tea and is probably just saying that so my mom doesn't throw them out haha.

[pedant]

mm, impossible to know from the packaging imo
there's good and bad examples of any style of tea

[Bok]

@twta500 would help if you posted actual pictures of them. Otherwise some of the description are not saying anything about the tea, I assume there will be Chinese characters on them as well? Sorry just realised there were links to the images, my bad...

[Bok]

As a general rule, the gift boxes from China are very often not very good teas, it is more about "giving face" than giving good tea. You never know.

The Dongding box looks like it could be something, could be out of one of the competitions.

Some of the single tins from China, especially the older ones could also be something decent.

The vaccum packs from Taiwan could be anything from stale tea to hidden gems.

You would have to open them and try. If it is green tea and older than 1-2 years, it is probably best to just leave it until it has a decade on it. Black and roasted oolongs you could give a try!



Leave until older than 10y or more:
Alishan High Mountain Tea - 2008
Long Jing Tea - 2001
Shan Li Xi = high mountain tea, gaoshan
Longjing Tea Green tea
Taiwan Alpine Tea = high mountain tea, gaoshan
White Tea
meng shan tea
China top 10 famous tea
China famous Tea - 2001


Could be something, try:
Wuyishan Tea
Dong Ding Group Tea - 2001
Taiwan Black Tea
Black Tea China
Jin Fuhong


No idea, but likely mostly green tea:
Chinese Tea
Selected Famous Tea
Selected Famous Tea - 2002

[twta500]

Leave until older than 10y or more:
Alishan High Mountain Tea - 2008
Long Jing Tea - 2001
Shan Li Xi = high mountain tea, gaoshan
Longjing Tea Green tea
Taiwan Alpine Tea = high mountain tea, gaoshan
White Tea
meng shan tea
China top 10 famous tea
China famous Tea - 2001


Could be something, try:
Wuyishan Tea
Dong Ding Group Tea - 2001
Taiwan Black Tea
Black Tea China
Jin Fuhong


No idea, but likely mostly green tea:
Chinese Tea
Selected Famous Tea
Selected Famous Tea - 2002

Leave until older than 10y or more:
Alishan High Mountain Tea - 2008 - I tried this and it was very very bitter. I brewed it gongfu style - ~1.5-2 layers of tea on the bottom of the clay teapot, 30 second infusions of 100C water with the first infusion discarded.
Shan Li Xi = high mountain tea, gaoshan - I tried this and it didn't taste off or anything, pretty good actually.

Could be something, try:
Wuyishan Tea
Dong Ding Group Tea - 2001
Jin Fuhong
Are any of these oolongs? For the black tea, is there any indicator of good or bad quality that would be easy for someone who hasn't bad Taiwan/Chinese black tea to distinguish?

[Bok]

Usually, I’d start with a thank you.

Then I’d google those names, who knows maybe someone among the few millions of people on earth has written something about those tea names...

[twta500]

Usually, I’d start with a thank you.

Then I’d google those names, who knows maybe someone among the few millions of people on earth has written something about those tea names...

Thanks. Sorry, I'm not used to typing "Thank yous" on forums as there is usually a "Thank you" button.

[Bok]

@twta500 no worries, no hard feelings

If the Alishan was very bitter, then I’m afraid your brewing must have been off... too much leaf, or brewed too long, or brewed in the wrong vessel, lots of factors could be the culprit. But even a not so good Alishan should not be bitter if brewed right.

Dongding and Wuyi are Oolongs. Good and bad quality can be subjective, just trust your own taste buds! If something feels off or makes you feel weird, then it’s probably bad tea.

[twta500]

twta500 no worries, no hard feelings

If the Alishan was very bitter, then I’m afraid your brewing must have been off... too much leaf, or brewed too long, or brewed in the wrong vessel, lots of factors could be the culprit. But even a not so good Alishan should not be bitter if brewed right.

Dongding and Wuyi are Oolongs. Good and bad quality can be subjective, just trust your own taste buds! If something feels off or makes you feel weird, then it’s probably bad tea.

I only brewed it for ~40 seconds so I'll try less leaf next time. I followed what a tea shop I visited this time in Taiwan said (for their lishan tea though) - aprox 1.5-2 layers of leaf on the bottom of the teapot.
I tried the Dongding and the leaves had almost no fragrance. However, when brewed, the fragrance came out. The taste of the tea itself wasn't very strong so I will try experimenting with more leaf next time.
Thanks again!

[Victoria]

Another thing to keep in mind these teas have been sealed for a few decades, after opening pack, close pack with a clip, then let them rest a week or more before steeping.

[twta500]

Another thing to keep in mind these teas have been sealed for a few decades, after opening pack, close pack with a clip, then let them rest a week or more before steeping.

Interesting, what exactly does this do?

[Victoria]

Another thing to keep in mind these teas have been sealed for a few decades, after opening pack, close pack with a clip, then let them rest a week or more before steeping.

Interesting, what exactly does this do?

It lets the tea awaken after a resting period. Basically, the tea is allowed to ‘open up’ a little with a small amount of oxygen and moisture introduced after opening and resealing the pack, or putting loose in a canister. Packs that have been properly sealed for a few decades are oxygen and moisture sealed, so when the seal is broken small amounts of air and moisture are reintroduced into the leaves beginning the ‘awakening’. The tea will taste better; smoother, more aromatic, and richer.

[faj]

It lets the tea awaken after a resting period. Basically, the tea is allowed to ‘open up’ a little with the small amount of oxygen and moisture introduced after opening and resealing the pack, or putting loose in a canister.

Although I guess information about this is not necessarily abundant, I would be curious to know what physical or chemical processes are at play, as this phenomenon is usually described with words such as "awakening", "breathing" and "opening up" which give an image rather than an explanation.

When you have an old tea package, either it was hermetic or it was not. If it was not hermetic, then opening it should not let more moisture or oxygen in than there already was. If it was hermetic (a tall order, it seems), then the moisture level should not have dropped that much compared to when it was sealed, as I do not think the conditions in a bag at ambient temperatures could cause water molecules to be involved in a chemical reaction (I could be wrong here). The oxygen, I guess, could have been depleted or reduced because of chemical reactions. But usually, the absence of oxygen is associated with preservation, and adding oxygen would, if anything, cause reactions one would associate with aging, not rejuvenation.

So, to sum up, this is something that kind of puzzles me. Of course, the world is complex, and there are processes involved I am not even aware of.