Spring 2018 Jingmai Tian Xiang aged sample

Is Pu-erh tea worth aging? After eight years, we can get a first glimpse at the results of our storage environment. We chose to try the Tian Xiang from 2018 because it is the year we finally established our current processing technique. 

Our processing technique involves a short high temperature phase, followed by a lower temperature long phase during which the leaves are kepts in a ball so as to promote steaming. This long steaming phase at low temperature allows the leaf cells to degrade more and promote sweetness (same process as what happens when stir-frying vegetables). 

Some tea drinkers express concerns that such a tea will not age well, because the long cooking time and steaming would destroy all the enzymes, preventing further oxidation. They instead advocate for a short kill-green at high temperature, without steaming, this preserve more of the enzymes and as a result lead to a faster oxidation over the years. This is usually at the expense of having a strong 'fresh vegetable' taste and less sweetness in the early years. 

Does our processing method prevent aging? You can try for yourself with this limited release. Only 60 samples available.