4 aspects to let you know what old tea is!

My understanding of old tea is that it has been stored for more than 20 years after the finished product. In this way, tea before 2005 can basically be considered old tea. The reason for storing it for 20 years is that under normal circumstances, it takes so long for the old flavor of tea to come out. "Twenty years to age", that's what it means.

The storage of tea is the aging process, and "aging" is the further dynamic biochemical process of tea leaves under certain temperature and humidity conditions, such as enzymatic reactions, microbial metabolism or oxidation processes. The aging of tea leaves causes the soup color, taste, aroma, and body sensation to begin to change, with a small change every five years and a big change every ten years.

The following 4 aspects can be used to distinguish:

1. Changes

Take Sheng Pu as an example

• A five-year-old Sheng Pu is like a young man in his twenties, tender, immature, clean, energetic, but relatively straightforward;
• A ten-year-old Sheng Pu is like a young man in his thirties who has achieved some success in his career. He begins to understand some euphemisms, has a calm face after some experience, and has some rules for doing things;
• A fifteen-year-old Sheng Pu is close to forty years old, looks mature and seems deep, but once carefully scrutinized, it is not quite right, and there are still loopholes to follow;
• A twenty-year-old Sheng Pu is a mature middle-aged man who has experienced some hardships, has a sense of strength, stability, and is not hurried, and begins to exude personal charm;
• What if it is a thirty-year-old Sheng Pu? That is a man in his fifties, with physical strength not weakened, successful career, extremely experienced and harmonious, and his efforts in the world can be unnoticeable.

What about a forty-year-old Sheng Pu?

Like an old man, full of wisdom, tolerance, broadness and breadth after years of tempering, his power is invisible and gentle, he has no desire to show himself, calm and peaceful. He looks full of the frost of the years, his body is no longer tight and strong, and his sense of power is radiated in an unconscious aura. This power is not only a physical feeling, but also reaches the psychological level, making people's hearts slightly bumped, touched and awakened. But these are still similar to the feelings of secular people, not out of the world, nor rising to the spiritual level.

Why is forty-year-old tea compared to an old man? Isn't there an even older tea?

Forty years is a more important watershed for tea. We often say, "Forty years of medicinal fragrance" refers to the higher taste state of tea leaves after aging, which is medicinal fragrance. This medicinal fragrance is also like an old wood fragrance, a very clean old wood in the forest that emanates from the inside - this smell is immersed in the tea soup, deep and powerful, fascinating.

We often say "twenty years old", and tea soup with an aged flavor is already a rare old tea. And tea soup with an old wood medicinal fragrance is even more advanced than the aged flavor. But under normal circumstances, at least forty years are needed. This is why forty-year-old tea is like an old man.

And the old man is also divided into sixty, seventy, eighty, and ninety years old. The immortals mentioned by the ancients should be a hundred years old. What about tea?

For older tea, I think it should be classified by a large time period, seventy or eighty years as a period, and a hundred years and above as a period. Pu'er tea that is seventy or eighty years old is the "seal-grade tea" that appeared in the period before and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, such as red seal and blue seal; and tea that is more than a hundred years old is the "number-grade tea" from the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China, such as Jingchanghao and Tongqinghao.

When tea is more than seventy or eighty years old, it is not only the "medicinal fragrance" in the mouth, it will have a gasification feeling. It's like meeting an old immortal.

2. “Vaporization”

The vaporization of old tea is often interpreted by people who have not experienced it as bragging by people who have drunk old tea. They think that Chinese people always like to describe something vaguely, so where does the vapor in tea soup come from?

The vaporization of tea soup can be roughly divided into three stages.

• The first stage is in the mouth.

After the old tea soup enters the mouth, you will feel a ball of gas, and the tea soup and the gas are mixed together, which seems difficult to distinguish. This is very similar to drinking strong liquor. If the liquor is strong enough, the stimulation will cover up the presence of the liquid - this vaporization feeling is the stimulation of the tea soup, but it is not the taste stimulation of new tea, but the taste of the tea soup is transformed into a complex smell and diffused in the mouth.

The best old tea actually only has the feeling of gas in the mouth without the feeling of liquid. I often compare it to a ball of gas.

This kind of gasification feeling is not produced by all old teas. Two conditions are required: first, the tea leaves are of good quality and rich in internal substances; second, the aging environment is good, and the temperature and humidity have not been seriously damaged for decades. The tea leaves are carefully transformed until they enter the mouth.

The gasification feeling in the mouth is divided into semi-gasification and full-gasification. The above description is full-gasification, while semi-gasification refers to the feeling of half soup and half gas after the tea soup enters the mouth. Tea that has been aged for about 40 years (I call it old) will have a semi-gasification feeling. The reason why it cannot be fully gasified is not because of the substances contained in it, but because of the lack of years of experience. It needs to be transformed for about 30 years. When it is 70 or 80 years old (such as the Yin-grade tea I mentioned above), it will "contain soup like gas, and there will be only gas but no soup in the mouth."

• The second stage is in the abdominal cavity.

After the tea soup is swallowed, that is, the so-called "three bowls of tea to search the intestines" said by Lu Tong, the tea soup reaches the stomach and produces a gas feeling in the lower abdomen. This feeling of qi may diffuse, wander, jump, or penetrate. Of course, even tea that is seventy or eighty years old may not produce a sense of qi transformation in the lower abdomen. If you encounter an old tea that has completed the qi transformation in the mouth and then reached the qi transformation in the lower abdomen, it is really a rare and precious opportunity.

The Taoists say "essence transforms into qi, and qi transforms into spirit", which means that after eating food, through certain practices, material energy is transformed into qi and enters the lower dantian. But if you drink a strong old tea, you don't need to practice. People with slightly sensitive bodies will feel the stimulation in the lower abdomen. This is the second level of qi transformation of old tea.

• The third level is in the muscles and bones.

Lu Tong said "five bowls of muscle and bone clearing", but his muscle and bone clearing was caused by "light sweating". Anyone who sweats a lot will feel refreshed. The third level of qi transformation I want to talk about is that after the lower abdomen has a sense of qi transformation, the back gradually becomes hot from bottom to top. This heat is emitted from a deeper depth, slowly and faintly, and then sweating on the forehead. At this time, people's minds are very empty, their spirits are vigorous, and inexplicable joy follows. It is estimated that Lu's "six bowls of immortality" is the highest enjoyment brought by this tea.

The three levels of tea qi are not from the mind, and it is not that you feel it will happen and then feel it. It is completely caused by physical feelings first and then spiritual feelings, and it happens unconsciously.

Good old tea can bring these wonderful feelings, but it should be noted that this kind of tea drinking feeling is just a feeling. With a little guidance, everyone can get it. It will not bring people more profound consciousness.

3. Soup color

When the tea is poured into the cup, before the mouth, the soup color can basically let you roughly feel whether this tea is reliable.

In recent years, the brothers who drink tea together have summarized five words: "Oil, bright, red, smooth, bright". The soup color of old tea that reaches these five words is a tea that is not too bad.

"Oil", the tea soup looks like oil, and it is thick when poured, like pouring oil;

"Bright", the tea soup in the glass cup emits a bright luster from top to bottom, not dull;

"Red", the color of the tea soup is reddish, of course, the older tea will be darker red;

"Clear", the tea soup is not turbid, there is no sediment, the tea soup is transparent from one side of the cup to the other side, this transparency is actually the result of the decomposition of tea cellulose over the years;

"Bright", it means that there is a layer of light on the surface of the tea soup. The "bright" mentioned just now also refers to the light of the tea soup, but that is the overall light of the tea soup. The bright here refers to the light reflected on the surface of the tea soup, which is very similar to the moonlight reflected on the surface of the lake in the night, bright and dazzling.

The better the old tea, the more transparent and shiny its soup color is, red, like a cup of oil.

Of course, some pseudo-old teas from warehouses are artificially oxidized quickly by high temperature and high humidity, which will also turn the soup color red, but unfortunately, it cannot make the soup color transparent and bright.

The five elements of soup color must be achieved at the same time, which must require years of accumulation and cultivation.

4. Taste

The first impression of the tea soup is that it enters the mouth.

For tea with rich substance, the tongue often feels that the tea soup is heavier, and then the taste brings the tongue feeling, which is the first appearance of the taste of the tea soup, and then the taste will gradually deepen.

Good tea will penetrate the tongue after the taste first appears, and then it will spread from the middle of the tongue to the surrounding of the tongue, and then spread in the mouth. After swallowing, the feeling that has spread in the mouth will continue for a while, and then the mouth will be full of saliva.

This is very much like meeting a stranger, he approaches, shakes hands and talks, has in-depth exchanges, says goodbye, and watches his back go away.

Not very good tea is sloppy in every link.

For example, the feeling you get when you first drink it disappears before you can savor it more deeply, just like when you meet someone, you just approach him, say hello, and then turn around and leave. You don’t even see his back.

Worse tea turns around and leaves, but leaves some bad things behind, such as some unpleasant bitterness and lingering astringency.

Therefore, the tea soup that strengthens, penetrates, diffuses, and stays diffusely after drinking, and the aftertaste is endless, is a good trend; the tea soup that is straight, shrinks, and lingers after drinking, will not be very good.

So, what kind of tea soup tastes outstanding in old tea? We have summarized it in seven words: "Chen, sand, dissolve, smooth, sharp, soft, and lively".

"Chen" is the old taste of old tea I mentioned earlier. Old tea has an old taste in 20 years and a medicinal fragrance in 40 years. The first thing that makes old tea stand out is the old taste when it first enters the mouth, which is impossible for new tea. The old taste is a metaphor for time, giving people a heavy and deep feeling.

"Sand" is a very subtle granular feeling. Tea soup with a heavy soup feeling is often rich in substances. The point-like stimulation on the tongue surface is very similar to the existence of grains of sand. This is what you can feel when you hold the tea soup in your mouth, and these granular feelings will also penetrate clearly to the tongue surface.

"Transformation" is the diffusion of tea soup on the tongue surface and in the mouth, which I just mentioned. It is also the gasification feeling mentioned in the previous article. The tea soup seems to turn into a ball of gas, which first spreads from the tongue surface and then spreads all over the mouth. For good old tea, the taste of tea will spread very quickly and will never stay only on the tongue surface. The older the tea, the more gasification it has. There is no soup in the mouth, only gas, which diffuses all over the mouth, which is very pleasant.

"Slippery" is that high-grade tea soup is oily and slippery. It not only looks like this, but also tastes like this. It is not the feeling of drinking a sip of water, not thin, but thick.

"Sharp" is sharp, which is the most characteristic taste feature of this sip of tea soup, which is clearly shown in the tea soup. For example, strong, clear, tender, fresh, thick... No matter what kind of characteristics, they should be expressed very prominently, and it is best not only to be prominent, but also to be expressed sharply.

"Mian" means long and continuous. A good tea will have an extraordinary taste. It should not only let the drinker feel it, but also have a lingering aftertaste. The so-called rhyme, I understand as "the present and the future". "The lingering sound" means that you hear a pleasant sound, and the sound still echoes after it is emitted. The lingering aftertaste of tea lies in the beautiful feelings that remain in the mouth after swallowing. Some good teas, after swallowing it in one gulp, those beautiful aromas still remain in the mouth for a long time, which makes people aftertaste. This is the lingering.

"Live" is actually a change and turning point. Tea is like people, some people are simple and clear, and some people are intriguing. Most teas have a direct taste, and the first impression is the last impression, but some teas are not. The first impression is like this, and then there is a second impression, or even a third impression. Oh, I started to understand this person. He has a good temperament, not bad. Oh, he can also write calligraphy, not bad. Hey, he can also write poetry... That's how surprises come.

The taste of a tea changes because it is rich in substance. When you taste it carefully, it seems that the taste is always changing. This is life.

How to feel the taste of old tea, roughly like this.

Life is full of regrets, and tea is even more so. Don't try to follow the map and find all the advantages I mentioned in a tea. Meeting tea is a fate between each other. We know how to taste and appreciate it, not to demand it, but to cherish it more.