My introduction to aged oolong tea was about six years ago when I first began drinking and appreciating tea. I moved to Taiwan to open a purchasing office / warehouse for a publications company and the Taiwanese owner of the main printing factory / supplier was a passionate tea connoisseur. He introduced me to many different oolong teas, but his 
favorite teas were aged oolongs. Appreciating my interest and enthusiasm in exploring the fascinating world of teas, he would sometimes take me to visit his tea friends in remote villages and regions of the country to experience great teas. Unbeknownst to me at the time, he was treating me to some of the finest quality, most expensive, and rare aged oolongs. Since that time I have learned to appreciate and enjoy many other tea varieties in my “tea journey.”
Recently, however, my main Taiwan tea farmer colleague has started promoting her own aged oolongs; two of her teas won gold and silver awards in the new Taiwan “aged oolong” tea awards section. As a result, we have been discussing aged oolongs quite a bit and how to promote them more internationally.
As with many Chinese teas, there are a lot of quality issues, conflicts of interest, and opinions regarding how to arrive at the best tea – and aged oolong probably has more variations than most. Aged oolong can refer to many different teas from the standard, ball-rolled oolong teas to many other oolong varieties, including Baozhong, Bai hao, Tieguanyin, Anxi, and Wuyi oolongs. The aging process can also vary considerably – ranging from a qualified tea master experimenting with high-quality teas and scientific aging processes to a “questionable” tea merchant who simply could not sell some of his oolong tea stock, allowing it to “age” on the shelves for a few years, adding 10 years to its real age, and marketing it as “aged oolong.”
The natural aging process takes about three years, during which the tea loses its fresh look and flavor. After this, the color of the leaf starts to turns from green to brown and the maturing, or aging, process is underway. Aged tea experts suggest six-eight years as an ideal minimum for aged oolong tea to be mature. Of course, if the tea continues to be stored properly, it will further mature and improve with age. Fifteen-to-twenty-year aged oolongs are best.
Older aged oolong (20 or more years old) were usually roasted (and often re-roasted) using the traditional charcoal methods. They were usually from Dayeh (large leaf) tea strains and grown organically, or in a pesticide-free environment. More recent, balled-rolled, aged oolongs are Dong Ding-processed teas harvested from Jinxuan or Four Seasons tea strains.
Most oolongs being prepared for storage are roasted to a degree initially to determine the acceptable moisture content level to start the storing process. The stored tea is then usually taken out and inspected every two-three years and carefully re-roasted to remove excess moisture and retain flavors. Storage is usually in large earthenware or stone containers.
For those who haven’t experienced aged oolongs, they usually have a unique and complex taste, which is often very smooth, mellow, and pleasantly sweet – not usually as rich or earthy as many pu-erh teas. The level of “Cha Qi” in aged oolongs is often expressed by Chinese and Taiwanese as being more noticeably present than in regular fresh oolongs.
Aged oolong demand is increasing significantly in the local Chinese markets, and as the international community continues to explore and experience more varieties of teas, there will likely be an increasing demand there as well.
PS: I just discovered I still had some aged oolong that my printer friend gave me six years ago – and it has matured wonderfully!
I wasn’t aware that any tea other than pu-erhs were aged. This is fascinating. I can easily see how those who are unscrupulous could benefit from this interest however. I look forward to reading more about these oolongs.
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Hi Peter. Nice piece. One of my favorites teas is an aged Mi Lan Xiang Dan Cong. Expensive but worth it. Thanks for introducing people to the idea of aged oolongs. Do you think there will be a jump in aged oolong prices like the days of the Pu Er craze?
Yes, Dan prices are already increasing for high quality aged oolongs. The pricing standards are not very clearly defined at present so there are big variations in prices being asked. My colleague has a 20 year old aged Dahye aged oolong that she has been ‘sitting on” for years, but now that she is promoting it, can virtually ask any price she wants to and people are buying it. Unfortunately she has only a few kg remaining in stock.
Having tea award categories & officially recognizing it in other ways will help to regulate pricing and quality, but in typical Chinese fashion there will always be those exceptional teas belonging to tea masters & dealers who don’t sell or advertise commercially, and who will continue to set their own prices.Similar to a good quality sheng pu-erh stored in the right conditions, the value of aged oolongs also increases with age – often 5-10% each year.
I will be in Taipei in late June 2012 and would like to meet you – I am getting fascinated with this aging process and would like to try my hands upon Darjeeling teas..
And when you do I’d LOVE to try some of the aged Darjeeling!
Artificially aged, or fully “cooked” loose leaf pu-erh teas seem to be accepted as an everyday pu-erh tea, will aged oolong’s follow the same path? Here are the naturally aged, preciously and costly aged oolongs, over there are the processed artificially aged oolongs at a much lower price?
Sorry for taking so long to reply to your question, Guy. Here is what my Taiwanese tea colleague said about artificially processed aged oolongs –
The proper aging of oolong tea requires the intervention of tea masters to periodically roast the tea during the aging process. The quality of these interventions through knowledge and well-honed practices has a significant effect on the quality and the improvement of the tea throughout the aging process. Because of this key factor, some aged oolongs are not necessarily better (or have more value) because they are older. Some aged oolongs are very well-crafted and some are not.
For an aged oolong tea to be good it is necessary to use a good “young” tea to start with. You cannot make a good aged oolong out of an ordinary tea. You simply cannot improve something that has limitations in flavor and aroma to begin with. A good tea with the addition of good aging conditions and good craftsmanship can become an exceptional tea. This is also true of what you refer to as “artificially aged” oolongs. All good aged oolongs need to be good teas to start with. So, “artificially aged oolongs” should not be perceived as lower grade or bogus teas, they can still offer a satisfying experience in the cup and reflect the craftsmanship of the tea master behind the tea.
I would not necessarily call it artificially aged. When starting the aging process for an oolong tea, a decision has to be made on the roasting level to begin with. It could be green or very lightly roasted, middle roasted, or even a heavily roasted oolong tea can be used for aging.
The older these teas get, the more complex and velvety the flavors and aromas become with noticeable hints of dried fruit and plum. Aged oolongs that started as green or lightly roasted usually have a more distinctive and noticeable plum aroma after 5-6 years. Heavier roasted oolongs require more time for the plum aroma to be as present. But even if the aged oolongs are not as really as old and “aged” as some others, they still need to be good teas to begin with and must be well-crafted to give a pleasant cup.
Thanks Peter.
Ageing works well for many teas, but as Peter points out it is critical to start with a good tea. A mediocre tea will not become a great aged tea.
To be honest, aged Oolong is even more niche than PuErh. A big challenge to developing the market is stock, traditionally farmers would only keep very small batches for ageing. The challenge is in China that if something becomes popular demand is never small! This potentially puts us back into the equivalent of the 1980s Puerh market.
@Guy Munsch: I have not come across anyone trying the Shu Puerh style artificial ageing process with oolong. In our view it doesn’t fit the taste profile that you are aiming for with aged oolongs. With Puerh you are looking for the post fermentation process, which develops microbes to age the tea. Oolong ageing is more of a roasted profile. The baking/roasting that is commonly carried out with oolongs every 3-5 years depending on environment/storage/tea variety/judgement of tea master is aimed to remove excess moisture. In Puerh ageing this baking would be fatal, killing vital microbes.
@Rajiv Lochan / Fr. Patrick: Aged Darjeeling is great. Black teas work really well for ageing.
– Rajiv: If you are going to experiment use a second flush or an autumnal flush. Be very careful with any post baking. The clonal leaves tend to be quite sensitive.
I drink tea every morning.It is one of the best oolong tea in the world.
Good article. I’ll give oolong tea a try. Never had one before. Thanks for sharing.