Storage experiment: W2T Tuhao AF 2016, one year in
White2Tea’s Tuhao AF was one of the cakes stored in the Puerh hotbox described in my previous post. This is a much more aggressive LBZ-like tea than the Bosch and so it was interesting to see how it transformed after approximately one year of storage at 32C and 65% RH.
The heated tea is on the left (L), the unheated is on the right (R).
The dry leaf for (L) is slightly darker and the damp leaf is significantly more pungent and sweet on (L).
1. R has a very clear roast hay taste and a kind of greenness which definitely reminds of LBZ, I can see why W2T calls this Tuhao AF. There is a significant aftertaste sweetness on the front of the tongue, a kind of briny-metallic sweetness. The heated tea (L) is more perfumed, more resinous, sweeter, and thicker.
2. R is grassy, green, and medium thick, with good minty cooling aftertaste. L is much less grassy and slightly thicker, sweeter and overall quieter, less harsh
3. R remains toasty and quite green, and getting quite a bit thicker. L is becoming a bit more muted in comparison
4. R is quite rough now, L is less harsh, more colour, and definitely smoother and sweeter, but it is still harsh overall.
5. Liquor aroma on R is green, grass-hay, whereas the liquor aroma on L is sweeter and more perfumed. Both have a incense empty cup aroma.
The heated tea is obviously tamer, with much reduced roastiness and greenness and increased sweetness and thickness. It also shows its perfume and resinous content better in the early steeps. Later on, the heated tea seems a bit tamer than the unheated one. But both are quite harsh indeed, I wouldn’t say either is drinkable at this point. They are harsh on the stomach and give a kind of heartburn type of feeling. Again it is remarkable how easy it is to detect the differences between these teas after only a year in the hotbox.
Comments