Age & Life Cycle A well-crafted raw puerh would go through at least 3 development phases, generally speaking, when it ages. The first one is the youth phase which is right after it is made. It has a lot of the young and fresh elements, and mostly it would taste like a green tea. It can also come with assertiveness and a sense of place where the tea trees grow. The blended of plantation material would take about 7 years to finish this phase, while that of those from arbor trees 3-4 years. Then the second phase follows when it sheds its greenness and most of the harshness. At this point It has developed secondary flavors that would make it enjoyable to drink. Some of the secondary flavors would also reinforce the sense of places, for example, Mahei. The blended of plantation puerh tea leaves would last 14-21 years in this phase, while that of those from arbor trees 7-14 years. The third phase shows up when the tertiary flavors appear that now the tea is very decadent and highly satisfying. Although phases one and two can be interesting and a lot of fun to taste and follow the development along, it is this last phase which allows the tea to show off its most charm and mesmerizing flavors of all, which in turn have been captivating all puerh connoisseurs and enthusiasts around the world. This phase could last forever, like 100 plus years. In each of these phases, development is never linear but sinuous. For a new puerh, it would have all the young flavors in the first 3-5 years. Then suddenly it becomes muted. It would break out of its shell at the beginning of a phase two, and become enjoyable to drink again under a different taste profile. Sometimes the same peak and trough could happen a few times, even within the same development phase. The above most likely is just a general guideline, which assumes storage condition of temperature 50F to 120F and humidity 45* - 80* varying throughout the whole year. It could very well change according to different storage conditions. In our store, the 3 beauties of Yiwu (teaheavenly/drinks/3-beauties-yiwu) represent phases one (the 2011 Generic) and two (the 2009 Mahei). They would provide our customers a chance to follow the interesting aforementioned development in the next 10-20 years, and possibly beyond subject to availability.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 17:42:52 +0000
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