Lifespan of tea
Posted on 29 June 2011
What’s the lifespan of tea? In its simplest form, tea should be consumed as quickly as possible. Green tea will live one season; supermarket black perhaps two, but there’s no interest dragging it on to the second year. Tea, just as roasted coffee or fruit juice, is perishable and probably tastes best as soon after manufacture as possible.
On the opposite pole, some teas can properly age – like good red wine. Puer is notorious for its ageing potential, and well-preserved puer tea from the 1920s is worth its weight in gold. Arguably any good puer will be better ten years down the road than upon release (though some tea drinkers disagree). Good black tea, properly stored in airtight containers, can keep for a decade or two, and tea geeks will debate over changes in its ‘qi’, the energy that it releases when drunk.
Oolong tea – halfway between green and black – can also keep very well. Stéphane Erler of Teamasters wrote extensively about aged Taiwanese oolongs, and Chinese examples such as old-tree Dancong, roast Tieguanyin or rock-grown Wuyi can easily swallow a decade.
One tea you’re not suppose to age is green tea. You’re normally encouraged to consume your batch before the next vintage, while in the case of green teas from Japan that are more perishable (because of their fragmented leaves), the real drinkability window can be as short as six weeks.
Lies, all lies. Or rather, rules to which many exceptions exist. I still have several green teas from the pas seasons (not only 2010s but even a few 2009s) that have been gathering dust in my admittedly overfurnished tea closet. As I’m preparing to move to another house and in the process of packing up my teas, I’m giving these ‘dead’ teas a last brew. There are good surprises to be had. A 2008 Bailu from Taiwan on which I blogged two years ago and which I didn’t expect to be at all drinkable is actually turning out to be enjoyable. It has lost most of its fruit but still has an appealing roundness of texture. Even brewed at 80C it’s not bitter or aggressive (as are most dead teas). An even greater surprise comes from the 2008 Kabusecha Takamado I purchased from Marukyu-Koyamaen in spring 2009 and which I reviewed soon after. I really dislike expired Japanese tea but brewed strong with perhaps 8g of leaf for 80ml this has plenty of strong umami flavour, none of the dusty dried-herby character of old sencha, and is really alive and kicking. I wouldn’t have believed it if you told me.
Disclosure
Source of teas: own purchase.