Verdant Tea

Aged Oolong Tasting Kit

Aged Oolong Tasting Kit

Regular Price $165.00 $148.50
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This bundle includes three 25g bags of aged oolong tea and one 90g cake for 165g total (33 sessions).

Taste through the decades with this selection of hand-picked and hand fired oolongs from Master Zhang in Daping Village and the Li Family in Wuyishan. Our partners have opened their reserves of aged oolongs, including selections decades-old. Fine aged oolongs are carefully re-roasted yearly to control for moisture and maintain optimal conditions for flavor texture and aroma to keep building complexity over time. As Zhang Rongde explains, "Tea may be dried, but it is still living inside. In roasting, you need to have experience. You need to understand the tea, the leaves, the fire. Only then can you make good tea."

This sampler shows off how differently teas can age. You can expect a diverse range of flavors, united by an inexplicable depth and commanding texture only possible through perfect finishing and patient aging.

This bundle includes five 25g bags of aged oolong tea for 125g total (25 sessions).

Taste through the decades with this selection of hand-picked and hand fired oolongs from Master Zhang in Daping Village. Zhang Rongde has opened his private reserve of aged oolongs, including selections decades-old. Fine aged oolongs are carefully re-roasted yearly to control for moisture and maintain optimal conditions for flavor texture and aroma to keep building complexity over time. As Master Zhang explains, "Tea may be dried, but it is still living inside. In roasting, you need to have experience. You need to understand the tea, the leaves, the fire. Only then can you make good tea"

This sampler shows off how differently teas can age. You can expect a diverse range of flavors, united by an inexplicable depth and commanding texture only possible through perfect finishing and patient aging.

Explore aged Anxi and Wuyishan oolong teas: 

2000 Aged Tieguanyin (25g)

Master Zhang is making some of the finest Tieguanyin in the world. Based in Daping village at the very highest peaks of Gande, Anxi. His terraced fields are overgrown with wildflowers, and fed by naturally sweet and clear mountain spring water. Master Zhang rarely releases such mature aged Tieguanyin, but when he does, the result is intensely rewarding. The slow and subtle roasting and aging process adds deep lingering spice to the Tieguanyin florals.

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2009 Full Roast Tie Luohan (90g)

This aged Tie Luohan (or Iron Arhat) is one of the four famous varietals that define Wuyi oolong teas. Originally roasted and finished over several months in 2009, the Li Family has carefully re-roasted and rested this tea each year over the past eight years. Each meticulous hand-firing process takes over sixteen hours, and in total this tea has been fired fourteen times for deep intense texture and powerful aftertaste. Full of fudgey, salty sweetness, this powerfully flavorful tea steeps out in a long flavor arc over many brews into beautiful mineral sweetness with soothing throat-coating texture and a hint of clean mustiness.

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1995 Aged Tieguanyin (25g)

This 1995 aged Tieguanyin varietal harvest already has over twenty years of aging. Master Zhang’s terraced fields are overgrown with wildflowers, and fed by naturally sweet and clear mountain spring water. The natural complexity of his tea makes it a perfect candidate for careful aging, which involves yearly re-roasting and sealed storage. The result is a classic rich dark profile that brings out the rich fruity creamy notes in Tieguanyin.

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2003 Aged Mao Xie (25g)

Mao Xie is arguably Daping Village’s most “classic” tea. Mao Xie is native to the area and grew on the mountains above Daping long before Tieguanyin was planted. Master Zhang’s labor-intensive traditional finish hearkens back to the style before the modern green oolong trend became popular and all Anxi teas were finished with at least a light roast and oxidation. Mao Xie translates to “hairy crab,” a reference to the appearance of the leaves. A classic traditional finish on Mao Xie brings out the iconic savory notes in the varietal and makes it taste almost pastry-like. Aging brings out the natural savory undertones of this varietal and deepens the aftertaste.

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1985 Aged Se Zhong Oolong (25g)

Many of Master Zhang's oldest tea plants are 'se zhong' varietals, teas other than Tieguanyin that flourish in Anxi. Master Zhang's grandparents and forebears planted Ben Shan, Mao Xie, and other sezhong varietals on their high mountain peak above Daping decades ago. Master Zhang picked these leaves in 1985, carefully re-roasting this mixed se zhong harvest every year for almost ten years. The tea was allowed the tea to rest for another twenty years before this beautiful cache was released The deep, dark mineral notes and fruity sweetness of se zhong oolong become alluringly foresty, a great example of "yun" - the pysical sensation of the tea in the throat and the lingering cooling electric aftertaste and texture that fine teas create. The longer this tea steeps, the more intense woody and cooling qualities it reveals.

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Learn more about the craft and science of aged oolong teas:

In his own words, Master Zhang teaches us about aged Anxi oolong and his aged Tieguanyin teas. After ten years of careful re-roasting, the teas grow in complexity, aroma, and depth. As Master Zhang explains, “Tea may be dried, but it is still living inside.” The careful control of moisture and clean storage helps insure aging Teiguanyin gains its depth naturally, rather becoming sour or overly fired...

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"Tea is full of complex molecules – from sugars and phenols to volatile aromatics. Given enough time and the right conditions, each can transform over time through a variety of complex, natural processes..."

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