Bok wrote: ↑Mon Sep 14, 2020 12:25 am
mbanu wrote: ↑Mon Sep 14, 2020 12:07 am
although I don't know if or when Taiwan adopted this practice.
I have seen two basic versions: heavy duty thick transparent plastic bags and a large version of what is used for standard retail vacuum packs.
This aligns with what my other peeps in Taiwan say. I got a jin of multi-decade old dong ding that had been stored in a large plastic bag, haphazardly stored. It’s delicious.
The shop owner claimed it was from 1981 and I refer to it as that but it could just as well be 1991. I trust the tea more than the sellers. It’s rolled traditionally: loose with the petiole making a kind of tail.
I’ve also had a Taiwanese ersatz yancha from the 70s that was a slice of heaven.
I’ve had baozhong from the 60s and a 70s low oxidized oolong pressed into a taocha. Both were awful and not just from rancid flavors.
It seems that oolong with high oxidation and/or roasting age better. Hong shui, yancha, Taiwanese ersatz yancha, have all (for the most part) aged very well in my experience.
I got interested in aging tea and seeking aged oolong after a da hong pao I had stored with a cloak of nitrogen for 12 years was tremendously improved.
I’ve put away dongfang meiren in plastic caddies with a nitrogen cloak and it was delicious up to 7 years.
It seems that yancha (and probably other oolongs) have a period of years where they have growing pains but improve afterwards.
Even though some of these exceptional teas aged well without care, I store most of them in large amber glass jars with desiccant.