World of Tea Series: A Flight of Aged Teas

Northwest Tea Festival hosts the World of Tea Series one Saturday of each month. This series offers unique tea tastings and workshops presented by specialists in the industry.

On August 15th, Cinnabar Wright of Phoenix Tea presented a tasting of aged teas from Yunnan and Taiwan.  

The first tea was a 1980's Miao-Li Oolong from Taiwan, which had a notable shift in flavor over three infusions from caramel and roasted chestnut to lightly mossy and earthy.   

The second tea was a 1995 Sheng Puerh from Yunnan, pressed into a cake.  The group enjoyed this so much that we returned to it toward the end of the event for a total of eight infusions.  The leaves were large enough to stretch across 2/3 the length of my hand.

The third tea was a 1990's Kang Mongolian Brick Puerh from Yunnan.  The brick was so dense it could almost pass for building material and was filled with large stems, giving it an earthy, medicinal, citrus flavor throughout three infusions.

The fourth tea was a 1990's Aged Tiguanyin from Taiwan.  Traditionally, this tea would be stored in ceramic containers and removed occasionally for roasting.  The taste shifted from smoky caramel to nutty caramel over three infusions.

The fifth and final tea was a 1990's Baozhong from Taiwan.  This one changed significantly from floral to fruity and we liked it well enough to continue for a total of eight infusions.

Thanks to Cinnabar for preparing and presenting these fantastic teas and to Northwest Tea Festival for making events like this possible!