ad me'ah v'esrim- aging puer for the long haul

21 adar 1 5782

a discussion that has been happening on discord lately (and im sure many times before i joined the server) is about judging a tea based on how well it will age and how well it will be 10+ years from now. classically, puer was only considered puer when it was at least 20-30 years old. and although i am not into strict fixed definitions, i recognize the reason for this distinction/delineation. 90%-99% of the 'puer' i drink (and same for many others in the west) is 'semi aged puer.' why do i only drink semi aged puer and not the 'real stuff'? well dear reader, i would if i could. trust and believe. although the semi aged tea i drink is very good, they do not yet have that markedly aged taste or feel yet. there is a certain something that truly old/aged cakes have that is distinct. i will happily write more on this subject once i have more of those teas (wistful sigh)

most of this 'real puer' is very expensive these days. all the more so in addition to being hard to find here in the west. i know that i will probably never try some of the best puers out there, and i am fine with that. my goal is to drink as much good tea as i can afford so i can enjoy my tea drinking and not have it be a stresser on my life.

a lot of the recent discussions on discord center around YQH teas and how a lot of them are maybe already peaking at 15 years. is it drinkable now? certainly? is it good now? certainly. but there is a certain thing it will not be 10 years from now. for me, that is fine. i just want something with good qi to drink here and now. there is also the common critique of poolong/pulong which is a modern style of processing puer so that it is drinkable when young instead of needing to age to reach a stage of drinkability (the jokey names come from it's similar taste to oolong). why do tea processors do this? from a business stand point, it makes a lot of sense. let's sell our product now instead of spending money on it and waiting X amount of years before we can make a profit. yes, an aged value added product would get more revenue for a business, but with the aging of puer comes a lot of risk. some teas may mold, some may get damaged in other ways, and some may just not turn out well down the line. it is hard to make a good puer that will be good 20 years from now. another reason companies like to make pulong is because it's popular. it's what people (and not just westerners) want to buy. people dont want to wait around for 20 years to drink a tea. plus, people prefer to spend money on a cheaper ready to drink tea vs something way more expensive because it's older.

this brings us to the discussion of buying a tea young while it is cheap and keeping it to age yourself so you can save money and still get some great puer. great idea right?! not so fast (just like good aging)! the simple first challenge is the same for anyone. how do i know X tea will age well? it is hard to guess and one needs lots of experience that i do not yet have. this involves lots of tea tasting and even tasting the same tea over time to see how it develops. will this astringency turn into a luxurious mouthfeel in 20 years? does this bitterness transform into a complex flavor profile in 20 years? hard stuff to know. 

a common thing people suggest is to buy classic factory recipes like Dayi 7542 and 8582, this is a safe bet because these teas have proven themselves to be quality controlled, consistent, and good for aging over time. good idea, right?! not so fast again (jeez, slow down, am i right?)! 

the 7542s etc of today are not the same as they used to be ("they dont make em like they used to"). the processing style for the leaves have changed over time to match the consumer preferences talked about above. the factories, including Xiaguan/Dayi, are making teas that are more palatable young and therefore, may reach their peak before 20 years. not only have the factories changed the processing, but the leaf quality is also different. because of the surge in popularity for puer, there has been an increased demand for the leaves and that means there is less to come by. so even if the same quality of leaf materiel is being used for a recipe, it is going to be more expensive, aka: out of my price range.

the last of the main tricky thing to account for is that not only are the processing style and leaves different but even the factories are different. around 2004-2006, Xiaguan and Dayi both underwent a 'restructuring' which is a classic capitalist thing that happens in the modern business world. the owners/managers were changed around, corners were cut, people were laid off, and 'money saving measures' were implemented. as you may guess, this coupled with the above mentioned changes means the quality of tea has changed. so that Dayi 7542 youre drinking now aint the same one that your grandma used to drink (unless she was like my grandma and drank maxwell house instant coffee...).

are you (ake: me, atzei besamim) saying that i (aka: you, the reader) shouldnt even bother buying young tea to age? ummm...yes... sorry. but that doesnt mean im saying dont buy puer to age (just to be clear, no sane person should do it to begin with. such a headache. find another hobby. find another tea you like. anything. but us puer junkies... we are a special breed). if you want to age tea, here is what you should think about:

storage: firstly, do you have space to accumulate X amount of bings/tongs for X amount of years. more importantly, can you store these teas under very controlled temperatures free from any fluctuations that would cause mold to form? right now, i cannot. my trailer does not stay that warm in the winter. i store my tea in a small loft section of my partner's tiny house about 100 yards away. this is not a good point in my life to buy up tea for aging. one day when i live somewhere warmer and more temperature controlled i will do this. but for now, i will drink my tea that is drinkable now.

longevity: as stated before, the puer they are making now aint what it used to be. so dont buy recent puer, and this is for a couple reasons. one being that the longevity is suspect as discussed above. another reason, also discussed above, is that it is hard to guess how something will turn out in 10-20 years. go for a tea that is already 10 or more years old so you can see how it is progressing. also, it's nice to have a cake started in China, Malaysia, or Taiwan or somewhere where the tea can age better than in a controlled home set up. aging tea is tricky and best to let the pros do some of that work. another reason to buy these older teas is that sometimes they are more affordable. because of supply and demand and all that gobbledygook, puer was fairly cheap around 2007 (there were a lot of investors and speculators investing in puer and then the 'bubble burst' and all the prices dropped. similar to how the housing market crashed in 2008. coincidence?!?!?!... yes, most certainly). 

this is not something you need to do to be able to enjoy puer. drink what you like and enjoy the tea you have. but if aging a tea for a long time and seeing how it changes over time is something that interests you, im right there with ya. well almost, i'll be closer to that a year two from now and we'll see how my tea drinking habits change by then. here's to us all learning to respect our elders in tea and humans.

xoxo,

atzei besamim