Aged White Tea was not well known to many in the past, but now it has become a highly sought-after tea among connoisseurs. White tea, without rolling or stir-frying, transforms from new to aged over time, with time serving as the best witness. Often, guests ask how to distinguish an aged white tea. We generally describe a high-quality aged white tea using the terms “aromatic, sweet, rich, thick, and smooth,” which can be felt through its thickness, smoothness, moistness, sweetness, purity, and aroma.
1. Full Thickness
The thickness of the tea soup is different from its concentration. The thickness of aged white tea is related to its texture, giving a very comfortable feeling – when the tea soup slides into your mouth, you feel a rich and viscous sensation, which is the thickness of aged white tea. When the tea soup has a certain strength, there are more substances dissolved in the water, which will manifest in this way in terms of taste.
2. Silky Smoothness
Often, a very smooth aged white tea leaves a feeling as if “a layer of oil” has been left behind after drinking, similar to drinking soy milk or rice gruel. The more full-bodied the tea soup, the more noticeable the smoothness. When the tea soup enters your mouth and lingers for a moment before flowing down your throat and into your stomach, you experience a round, intimate, and natural sensation; whereas poor quality tea leaves a choking sensation and astringency.
3. Refreshing Moistness
Many poor quality aged white teas give an indescribable sensation upon tasting, lacking vitality and refreshment, with a thin flavor akin to drinking plain water, devoid of interest. High-quality aged white tea leaves one feeling as if caressed by jade or bathed in a spring breeze. It immediately relieves dryness upon entering the mouth, like “a bowl that moistens the throat.” After brewing three to four infusions, the tea soup moisturizes the throat, demonstrating the moistness of aged white tea.
4. Lingering Sweetness
Sweetness is a simple and direct aspect of assessing aged white tea. Good aged white tea exudes a sweet fragrance even before the tea soup touches your tongue, and there are still traces of sweetness even in later infusions. Additionally, high-quality aged white tea lacks other unpleasant tastes, making the sweetness more pronounced.
The sweetness is quickly perceived when the tea soup touches the tongue and spreads throughout the mouth, lingering long after.
5. Clean Purity
Purity is an important indicator of the skillful withering process in aged white tea, reflecting the cleanliness of the post-processing environment, the correctness of the method used, the appropriateness of the transformation degree, and the ideal storage conditions. The purity of good tea soup means: first, the dry tea is free from impurities; second, the tea soup is clean and free from residue; it feels clean and comfortable to Drink, and even those who do not prefer white tea find it easy to accept. If there is an odd taste when drinking, it indicates unsanitary conditions during production or improper storage leading to contamination.
6. Pleasant Aged Aroma
The aged aroma is the “mystery” scent of aged white tea, a testament to time. If stored properly, aged white tea that has undergone at least five years of transformation will further evolve, presenting a richer array of aromas such as jujube, aged, woody, and Honey scents, which are pleasant to both taste and smell.
However, if the raw material of a tea Cake is poor to begin with, no amount of transformation will yield any surprises.