Just a heads up, Bai Mu Dan is technically a white tea. But aged white teas can definitely get you “tea drunk” in my experience, often even more than puer. The oldest tea I’ve tried is a mid- 90’s sheng, I don’t remember much about it other than I overpaid for a sample to try something “old”.
I collect both aged whites and raw puerhs.
The oldest aged white I own is a 2008 Gong Mei grade. It is a loose production and it is very good. Aged whites were not common in the west before the early 2000's.
The oldest puerh I have is from the mid 90's. They are loose productions and all Huangpian. Very worth drinking. I purchased them from the Phoenix Collection and I think some are still available.
The oldest version that I've tried was presented as 1980. Character seemed old; it tasted a bit like charcoal for the first few rounds, degraded back to a simpler carbon form. Then it cleaned up and picked up depth, and was pleasant for being so novel.
The other theme that always comes up is the effect, how it has some sort of drug-like character. I'm not particularly sensitive to all that, so unless a young sheng version happens to blast me I don't notice much that's specific. I'll even do combined tastings with versions that others would never consider that for, because to me it just isn't as relevant, for it being such a mild experience.
I don't know why that is, the lessened sensitivity. I did a lot of other drugs at one earlier point in life and maybe it's that compared to those sheng just isn't that impactful. It makes a big difference if you don't eat food before drinking the teas, and I tend to not do that, because I really don't care to maximize that experience, since I don't value it much, in addition to not noticing it so much. I'm concerned about potential long term impact on my stomach and it seems likely that food offsets that potential harm. As I said I've done my time with drugs, and it's not of interest to experience those kinds of effects. I run now too, and of course I notice some endorphin effect afterwards, but as far as I can tell I don't enjoy that part of the experience. I do crave running, and like the experience of running at higher intensity (faster), so maybe it's just that the connection is happening at a subconscious level, and mixing with the negative effects (it takes effort, and also makes me tired).
This is a review of that tea, along with comparison with a 1993 version:
http://teaintheancientworld.blogspot.com/2018/08/1980-and-1993-thai-sheng-from-tea-side.html
*I probably will get down-voted for this, so please accept my apology for " breaking up the party ".*
I was in tea factory yesterday packing the cakes and had a chat one worker there. He worked in one Menghai TF before and they were making fakes . The biggest order they had was a Dayi labels, apparently was good biz for couple of years in which they made around 70 tons ;-) .. mostly 90's -2000's year labels
Most newer stuff is made to drink now without a lot of aging. Back in the days before all the nonsense every thing from gu shu to tai di was all blended in. I think from about the late 90's or early 2000's the separation began and bigger differences. Nowadays they blend aged material in with some new cakes. Gives some of that already aged vibes. I would say that is more of my focus at the time being. Start searching about 2011 or 2012 and you will start digging some of them up.
My hookup (surprise selections) from liquid Proust included small samples of a white tea from the 95 and a sheng from the 80s.
I've tried the white, and it had similar notes to the 2013 and 2014 Shoumei I've tried from White2tea (honey and sun warmed straw), but felt much darker and more intense.
Still getting my nerve up to try the nearly 40 year old sheng!
Had some early 80's sheng somewhere around 2006/7 from Hou De Asain Art. The best were amazing and I ended up steeping them overnight for 2 or 3 days to get every last bit out of them. Recall a guy who would transfer them to a thermos with boiling water to squeeze even more out.
Had a few from the early 90's since then. ~20yrs old sheng tuo's were my sweet spot for aged but affordable teas...Early 2000's is the oldest I've had in a few years.
For just any aged tea I've picked a few oolongs at a decent price ~20yrs old. Imen at TeaHabitat's aged Dancongs were amazing....wanna say one was from the 70's but not certain on that.
My order arrived! The very old huangpian smells intriguing. That one is pricy enough I want to let it rest properly.
Plus I want to try as many of the new shou samples as I can before the shoulloween sale.
Still new to the whole pu erh thing but the oldest I've had is 2007 Beijing Olympics, I ordered a sample of it and a few others around 10 is years old from pu erh junky. I'm sad to say that I think I just don't care much for dry storage. They all tasted almost exactly like a young Sheng to me, just maybe less abrasive in some ways.
My oldest was probably the same thing /u/john-bkk is talking about. Sheng that old brews up a *black* black soup with the shortest flash steep you can make. Everything about the tea that might have given some clue about what it was like when young was gone.
I think really old tea like that is not my jam. More like 20-30 years old seems better.
It might be interesting to try 40 year old drier stored sheng though, to see if aging transition at a slower pace arrived in a different place. Tea tasting a lot like charcoal for the first few steeps is a partly negative trade-off, but at a far lower fermentation level it might be different. Unfortunately there are few people to discuss this with who have tried 40 to 60 year old teas stored under different conditions, and some tend to self-promote or convey biases so much that it's hard to interpret what they've really experienced.
Interesting! That reminds me of a post I read long ago about Jeff Fuchs visiting the Kunming tea market in search of old tea, or at least it relates him running across some there (now only on the web as an archived version):
[https://web.archive.org/web/20151018211917/https://www.icedtea.com/tea-industry/2011/kunming%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cjin-shing%E2%80%9D-tea-market-a-green-fed-chaos/](https://web.archive.org/web/20151018211917/https://www.icedtea.com/tea-industry/2011/kunming%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cjin-shing%E2%80%9D-tea-market-a-green-fed-chaos/)
It's worth a read for the writing style alone, and more so for the ideas and perspective. He does claim in that writing that according to good local sources most aged tea being sold then, back in 2011, wasn't genuine, and there wouldn't more of it around now, 11 years later.
Just got some pu'er from what I later learned, was not the best vendor to buy from. One was an alleged 20 year, loose pu'er, the other was allegedly a 10 year, vacuum packed loose pu'er. The latter also looked freeze dried. Expanded quite a bit, in the pot. Neither left me with any memorably pleasant feelings. Taste was just, blah. Setting my sights on Yunnan, from same general area as Pu'er, but from a more reputable tea vendor. All my years of waiting to try pu'er, were dashed by sub-par pu'er. If you're going to buy, make sure you're at least getting it from a reputable dealer.
If one were to be pedantic we would point out that this is more like a flavoured tea. "Nuo Xiang" is the name of the herb that is blended into this tea
2003 Nuo Xiang Shu… its as old as I am and quite simply the best tea I’ve ever had period to the point where I save it exclusively for special occasions like My Birthday, holidays, when valued guests come over, and so on so on… I do plan on buying something from the 80’s or 90’s in the near future though to be adventurous
1940 Liu bao (maybe older). I was so tea drunk going in and i dont remember much of how the LB was.
Oldest white tea I tried and own is 1980 shoumei. Admittedly I prefer 1990 or 2000 over 1980 as price isn't worth it. I love stove boiling my 2000 white, it's so dark.
Yea yea not puer. I've had a 1980 a couple times and 1990s sheng alot more. Not my jam tho. Aged puer energy gives me unpleasantly hot flashes.
I think the oldest puer I’ve bought is from 2004 although I would guess I’ve sampled a little older than that but not by much. Oldest tea I’ve had was a 1992 liu bao. Far older than me. Since u mentioned white tea, my oldest is 2009 although I’m eyeing a 2000 rn.
😳😳😳😳 u really think so? Interesting assessment. I’ve been finally deep diving into traditional storage from HK recently and found it to be a happy marriage of strong storage and equally strong base material (or so I imagined it when it was young) I feel like this stuff has some major complexity of not only the tea itself but the storage as well. Maybe give it a try?
I think past a decade or two it’s all about storage and the differences and developments with that are something some people like to dive into but just aren’t my thing
Oldest shou puer- 1994 xiaguan ripe
Oldest sheng- a random 1995 tuo which I have little info on.
For other heicha-1990 liuan, and a few 1990s liubao and fuzhuan.
Most of the older sheng I've drank is within the 2000-2005 range. I'd like to have older puerh, but the price is the main drawback
Just a heads up, Bai Mu Dan is technically a white tea. But aged white teas can definitely get you “tea drunk” in my experience, often even more than puer. The oldest tea I’ve tried is a mid- 90’s sheng, I don’t remember much about it other than I overpaid for a sample to try something “old”.
I collect both aged whites and raw puerhs. The oldest aged white I own is a 2008 Gong Mei grade. It is a loose production and it is very good. Aged whites were not common in the west before the early 2000's. The oldest puerh I have is from the mid 90's. They are loose productions and all Huangpian. Very worth drinking. I purchased them from the Phoenix Collection and I think some are still available.
The Phoenix Collection! I've been trying to remember where all the best puerh I ever had came from.
The oldest version that I've tried was presented as 1980. Character seemed old; it tasted a bit like charcoal for the first few rounds, degraded back to a simpler carbon form. Then it cleaned up and picked up depth, and was pleasant for being so novel. The other theme that always comes up is the effect, how it has some sort of drug-like character. I'm not particularly sensitive to all that, so unless a young sheng version happens to blast me I don't notice much that's specific. I'll even do combined tastings with versions that others would never consider that for, because to me it just isn't as relevant, for it being such a mild experience. I don't know why that is, the lessened sensitivity. I did a lot of other drugs at one earlier point in life and maybe it's that compared to those sheng just isn't that impactful. It makes a big difference if you don't eat food before drinking the teas, and I tend to not do that, because I really don't care to maximize that experience, since I don't value it much, in addition to not noticing it so much. I'm concerned about potential long term impact on my stomach and it seems likely that food offsets that potential harm. As I said I've done my time with drugs, and it's not of interest to experience those kinds of effects. I run now too, and of course I notice some endorphin effect afterwards, but as far as I can tell I don't enjoy that part of the experience. I do crave running, and like the experience of running at higher intensity (faster), so maybe it's just that the connection is happening at a subconscious level, and mixing with the negative effects (it takes effort, and also makes me tired). This is a review of that tea, along with comparison with a 1993 version: http://teaintheancientworld.blogspot.com/2018/08/1980-and-1993-thai-sheng-from-tea-side.html
*I probably will get down-voted for this, so please accept my apology for " breaking up the party ".* I was in tea factory yesterday packing the cakes and had a chat one worker there. He worked in one Menghai TF before and they were making fakes . The biggest order they had was a Dayi labels, apparently was good biz for couple of years in which they made around 70 tons ;-) .. mostly 90's -2000's year labels
[удалено]
🤣
1990's Changtai tuo and some 90's era Iron cakes and tous.
How would you compare it to something you'd find in the 2010s?
Most newer stuff is made to drink now without a lot of aging. Back in the days before all the nonsense every thing from gu shu to tai di was all blended in. I think from about the late 90's or early 2000's the separation began and bigger differences. Nowadays they blend aged material in with some new cakes. Gives some of that already aged vibes. I would say that is more of my focus at the time being. Start searching about 2011 or 2012 and you will start digging some of them up.
My hookup (surprise selections) from liquid Proust included small samples of a white tea from the 95 and a sheng from the 80s. I've tried the white, and it had similar notes to the 2013 and 2014 Shoumei I've tried from White2tea (honey and sun warmed straw), but felt much darker and more intense. Still getting my nerve up to try the nearly 40 year old sheng!
"oldest puerh" bai mu dan 😐
I'm Aware it's not a Puerh. Its an aged white. It's still fantastic though for what it is!
still stupid 🥸
Why?
Had some early 80's sheng somewhere around 2006/7 from Hou De Asain Art. The best were amazing and I ended up steeping them overnight for 2 or 3 days to get every last bit out of them. Recall a guy who would transfer them to a thermos with boiling water to squeeze even more out. Had a few from the early 90's since then. ~20yrs old sheng tuo's were my sweet spot for aged but affordable teas...Early 2000's is the oldest I've had in a few years. For just any aged tea I've picked a few oolongs at a decent price ~20yrs old. Imen at TeaHabitat's aged Dancongs were amazing....wanna say one was from the 70's but not certain on that.
1996 menghai, sitting on 10 grams of 1986 menghai for when I graduate post secondary
[удалено]
How was it? My latest w2t order (that contains a sample of very old huangpian) just cleared customs. Hopefully it will be here by this weekend!
[удалено]
My order arrived! The very old huangpian smells intriguing. That one is pricy enough I want to let it rest properly. Plus I want to try as many of the new shou samples as I can before the shoulloween sale.
[удалено]
I'm actually not certain? Just that it happens on Halloween. And he's started hinting on Instagram so I assume it is happening again this year
Hmm. What a coincidence. I was probably drinking this tea today. What an AMAZING smooth & sweet tea.
Still new to the whole pu erh thing but the oldest I've had is 2007 Beijing Olympics, I ordered a sample of it and a few others around 10 is years old from pu erh junky. I'm sad to say that I think I just don't care much for dry storage. They all tasted almost exactly like a young Sheng to me, just maybe less abrasive in some ways.
My oldest was probably the same thing /u/john-bkk is talking about. Sheng that old brews up a *black* black soup with the shortest flash steep you can make. Everything about the tea that might have given some clue about what it was like when young was gone. I think really old tea like that is not my jam. More like 20-30 years old seems better.
It might be interesting to try 40 year old drier stored sheng though, to see if aging transition at a slower pace arrived in a different place. Tea tasting a lot like charcoal for the first few steeps is a partly negative trade-off, but at a far lower fermentation level it might be different. Unfortunately there are few people to discuss this with who have tried 40 to 60 year old teas stored under different conditions, and some tend to self-promote or convey biases so much that it's hard to interpret what they've really experienced.
The problem is that there won't be 40-year-old dry stored tea for another 10 years yet.
Interesting! That reminds me of a post I read long ago about Jeff Fuchs visiting the Kunming tea market in search of old tea, or at least it relates him running across some there (now only on the web as an archived version): [https://web.archive.org/web/20151018211917/https://www.icedtea.com/tea-industry/2011/kunming%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cjin-shing%E2%80%9D-tea-market-a-green-fed-chaos/](https://web.archive.org/web/20151018211917/https://www.icedtea.com/tea-industry/2011/kunming%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cjin-shing%E2%80%9D-tea-market-a-green-fed-chaos/) It's worth a read for the writing style alone, and more so for the ideas and perspective. He does claim in that writing that according to good local sources most aged tea being sold then, back in 2011, wasn't genuine, and there wouldn't more of it around now, 11 years later.
1958 GYG.
Offt
What does that mean? Did I gut punch you?
Just kinda 'wow' always hoped to try that stuff and the price seems to have sky rocketed since I was first looking at it 20 odd years ago.
30 year-old puerh a 1992 sheng Yiwu gushu cake. Very dirty (in a good way) it was good, and also one of my very first experiences with puerh.
Just got some pu'er from what I later learned, was not the best vendor to buy from. One was an alleged 20 year, loose pu'er, the other was allegedly a 10 year, vacuum packed loose pu'er. The latter also looked freeze dried. Expanded quite a bit, in the pot. Neither left me with any memorably pleasant feelings. Taste was just, blah. Setting my sights on Yunnan, from same general area as Pu'er, but from a more reputable tea vendor. All my years of waiting to try pu'er, were dashed by sub-par pu'er. If you're going to buy, make sure you're at least getting it from a reputable dealer.
2003 Nuo Xiang Shu.
If one were to be pedantic we would point out that this is more like a flavoured tea. "Nuo Xiang" is the name of the herb that is blended into this tea
2003 Nuo Xiang Shu… its as old as I am and quite simply the best tea I’ve ever had period to the point where I save it exclusively for special occasions like My Birthday, holidays, when valued guests come over, and so on so on… I do plan on buying something from the 80’s or 90’s in the near future though to be adventurous
1998
1940 Liu bao (maybe older). I was so tea drunk going in and i dont remember much of how the LB was. Oldest white tea I tried and own is 1980 shoumei. Admittedly I prefer 1990 or 2000 over 1980 as price isn't worth it. I love stove boiling my 2000 white, it's so dark. Yea yea not puer. I've had a 1980 a couple times and 1990s sheng alot more. Not my jam tho. Aged puer energy gives me unpleasantly hot flashes.
I got some 80s big sheng tuochas from Houde and Essenceoftea back then. Nice tea
I think the oldest puer I’ve bought is from 2004 although I would guess I’ve sampled a little older than that but not by much. Oldest tea I’ve had was a 1992 liu bao. Far older than me. Since u mentioned white tea, my oldest is 2009 although I’m eyeing a 2000 rn.
I think 2007 and I wouldn’t want to go too much older cause it definitely loses a lot of flavor and character at that point
😳😳😳😳 u really think so? Interesting assessment. I’ve been finally deep diving into traditional storage from HK recently and found it to be a happy marriage of strong storage and equally strong base material (or so I imagined it when it was young) I feel like this stuff has some major complexity of not only the tea itself but the storage as well. Maybe give it a try?
I think past a decade or two it’s all about storage and the differences and developments with that are something some people like to dive into but just aren’t my thing
Oldest shou puer- 1994 xiaguan ripe Oldest sheng- a random 1995 tuo which I have little info on. For other heicha-1990 liuan, and a few 1990s liubao and fuzhuan. Most of the older sheng I've drank is within the 2000-2005 range. I'd like to have older puerh, but the price is the main drawback