Aged old-style white Tea, can it be brewed?
A tea enthusiast asked: the artificially aged white tea I bought doesn't taste good when steeped; can it be brewed instead?
Of course not! Its flavor is simply unacceptable.
In appearance, its color is uniformly dull and lacks luster. In terms of aroma, it smells like the burning of platycodon with a hint of tobacco and a burnt flavor. Once you smell its aroma, there's no longer any desire to Drink it. After Steeping, the tea soup appears murky, orange-red in color, and bland in taste.
Steeping it isn't an option, but what about brewing it?
If you brew artificially aged white tea using a zisha (purple clay) teapot, which has abundant pores, it will absorb all the off-flavors of the old white tea and also improve the tea soup. However, this is just a form of self-consolation, or perhaps self-deception. The artificial aging process during the initial production of the white tea has already determined that it has no value whatsoever. It is not recommended to brew it at all.
How is artificially aged white tea made?
1. Piling and Damp-Heaping During Production
What is damp-heaping?
Damp-heaping is originally a fermentation process used in the production of ripe Pu'er tea.
It involves piling the fresh leaves together, sprinkling water on them, covering them with linen cloth, and allowing the internal heat and moisture to cause fermentation for around 24 hours until the tea has undergone a certain degree of transformation, after which it is spread out to dry.
White tea, which undergoes minimal natural fermentation (without artificial intervention), is neither rolled nor twisted. After being manually harvested, the fresh leaves are evenly spread on bamboo trays and sun-dried or gently oven-dried. This method preserves the most natural state of the tea, leaving the white down intact on the surface and resulting in a naturally varied color.
After long-term aging, the color of authentic old white tea will fade, meaning that the saturation level of the original color of the dry tea decreases, but the color remains natural.
If damp-heaping is used during the processing of white tea to accelerate its transformation, the internal heat generated will have an adverse effect on the tea itself. The large amount of chlorophyll present would be oxidized and decomposed, leading to the appearance of more tea red pigments and tea brown pigments, resulting in a color similar to that of old white tea but lacking naturalness.
The method of damp-heaping to artificially age white tea goes against traditional white tea production techniques. Moreover, during the damp-heaping process, large amounts of polyphenols, caffeine, amino acids, and polysaccharides are decomposed, rendering the tea unable to support further transformation.
This processing method, aimed at reducing the time required for withering and enabling the production of large quantities of old white tea in a short period, results in nothing more than dried leaves devoid of substance.
2. Excessive Oxidation
Excessive oxidation is commonly seen in the artificial aging of loose-leaf old white tea. Young white tea is placed in a high temperature and high humidity environment, causing rapid oxidation and promoting reactions that make the tea appear older and more aged in appearance.
However, this method also causes irreversible damage to the white tea.
During excessive oxidation, the internal structure of the white tea changes, losing its vitality. This type of tea excessively depletes its internal nutrients, resulting in a particularly “empty” taste and weak aroma, losing both its drinking and collection value.
What should you do if you encounter artificially aged white tea?
Some people, even after realizing that the white tea they purchased is artificially aged, still try various methods to drink it.
Before Drinking Tea, it's worth considering why you buy tea in the first place.
Is it for its taste or its health benefits?
Artificially aged white tea fails to satisfy in both taste and health benefits. Even if you feel sorry for spending money on such tea, consider it a lesson learned. In the future, exercise caution when buying tea or seek advice from experienced tea enthusiasts before making a purchase.
It's actually quite easy to distinguish between artificially aged old white tea and genuine old white tea based on their appearance and color. So why do so many people still get duped? The reason lies in the price. As long as one pays attention, artificially aged white tea is not difficult to identify. Don't let its low price cloud your judgment.