{"title":"Aged Tea","description":"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTime and careful storage imparts unique flavor and aromatic notes to tea. Our aged collection consists only of high-grade oolongs that were intentionally reserved for aging for at least ten years.\u003c\/span\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"roasters-1990s-vintage-oolong","title":"Roaster's Vintage, ca. 1990s","description":"\u003cp class=\"product-notes\"\u003eNotes of chestnut honey, grass jelly, and mate de coca.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"tea-summary\"\u003eAged oolong tea from Taiwan・1995-1997・陳年烏龍・Unsprayed\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom Mr. Li’s private collection comes an aged oolong with the flavors and sweetness of classic pu-erh and the texture of heady cream stout. Over two and a half decades, Mr. Li has been carefully monitoring this cache of dark twisted leaf oolong, cupping it as the years pass and using the low heat of open charcoal pits to adjust the varying moisture content and keep the tea ‘alive’.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis process requires a refined hand, and palate. Too little moisture and the tea can become excessively sour, with an off-putting tang. Conversely, kept too dry and the tea will be inert to change as it ages, and it’s these small, incremental metamorphoses that we’re after; the time-honed notes and textures that imbue a tea with character.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMade from three consecutive harvests of the qing xin cultivar (1995-1997) crafted into a dark twisted leaf oolong, Mr. Li is in a unique position of both having crafted and aged this vintage oolong, responding to the changes in the tea over time, and creating a final product that drinks with a nitrogen-infused softness and profound depth of sweet, earthen flavor. Under this roaster’s careful watch, this tea has the complexity and texture of teas twice its age.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"brew-summary\"\u003eBrew: 5 grams・150 ml・210° F・2 min\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"brew-detail\"\u003eWhile we recommend 150 ml as our standard cupping method, we suggest long, gradual steeps in slightly larger teapots. This is a quiet sipping tea, one that needs time to bloom, either in a chawan, or a pot.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Song Tea","offers":[{"title":"30g pouch","offer_id":44053174878421,"sku":"a-0022-30g","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"60g pouch","offer_id":44053174911189,"sku":"a-0022-60g","price":68.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"120g pouch","offer_id":44053174943957,"sku":"a-0022-120g","price":136.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"240g pouch","offer_id":44053174976725,"sku":"a-0022-240g","price":272.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"White Kraft Canister | 60g","offer_id":44053175009493,"sku":"a-0022-gc-60g","price":70.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Single brew | 5g","offer_id":44053175042261,"sku":"a-0022-single-5g","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1728\/6899\/products\/a-roasters_1.jpg?v=1678252254"},{"product_id":"1970s-vintage-oolong","title":"1970s Vintage Oolong","description":"\u003cp class=\"tea-summary\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe attention paid to a tea as it ages varies significantly from leaf to leaf. Darkly roasted teas are largely shelf-stable, and with minimal moisture content, require little intervention over the decades. In contrast, lightly roasted teas require regular maintenance and should be cupped periodically and re-baked to maintain its sweet, fruit-like qualities.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs such, this mid-oxidized and mid-charcoal roasted 1970’s oolong has been closely monitored, and each decade it underwent a soft re-bake to balance its intended moisture contents with the elements of storage and passing time. The light roasts took place in 1988, 1998, 2008, and most recently in 2018, creating a tea more and more concentrated in flavor and sweetness with each successive round. The result is a tea that’s aged with hints of its original, freshly picked characteristics still identifiable.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe iconic, loosely curled shaped of these leaves is called xia mi, small dried shrimp, the result of traditional manual rolling that produces open curls rather than tight clusters. This in turn allows the tea to develop more evenly over the years, and acquire its current dark-fruited notes and mild minerality.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Song Tea","offers":[{"title":"30g pouch","offer_id":49595332133077,"sku":"a-0015-30g","price":62.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"60g pouch","offer_id":49595332165845,"sku":"a-0015-60g","price":120.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"120g pouch","offer_id":49595332198613,"sku":"a-0015-120g","price":240.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"240g pouch","offer_id":49595332231381,"sku":"a-0015-240g","price":480.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"White Kraft Canister | 30g","offer_id":49595332264149,"sku":"a-0015-gc-30g","price":66.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Single brew | 5g","offer_id":49595332296917,"sku":"a-0015-single-5g","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1728\/6899\/files\/a-0015-1970s-vintage-oolong-2_3073fbfc-1b97-47c3-a601-6a18d981d4cd.jpg?v=1726699722"},{"product_id":"aged-hakka-pomelo-oolong","title":"Lunar New Year Aged Hakka Pomelo","description":"\u003cp class=\"product-notes\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"tea-summary\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAging tea in citrus is a tradition passed down by the Hakka people, or “guest families”, from generation to generation, following the cycle of tea and citrus harvests throughout the year. The Hakka are a people of no one particular provenance, but rather a broad diaspora of families and their descendants who left their homes in the north to settle in Southern China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, bringing seeds and saplings to new soils.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt is just such an enclave, on the western coast of Taiwan, that is home to our Hakka Pomelo Oolong, made by an octogenarian matriarch who, while warm and maternal, holds the secret of her craft close.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis tea is produced using spring-picked qing xin cultivar that is oxidized and roasted in Miaoli, just north of Taichung, then held until fall’s pomelo bounty makes the trees bow with ripe fruit. The citrus are harvested during the mid-autumn festival, when family gathers together to hollow the rinds of the fruit, mix the fruit pulp with tea before repacking both inside the citrus rind. They then steam, press, sun-dry, and bake the bundles of fruit and tea together.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEach finished fruit appears like a small package, tightly wrapped and hiding something wonderful within. Ten years is the minimum aging for this type of pomelo tea, but ours are even older. Choose from a 20-year version, mellowed and matured in flavor as its aged, easing off its initial tangy notes, and transcending into a brew that is rich and layered. Or opt for the 30-year iteration, where you’ll find a hint of funkiness has crept in, adding intrigue and enjoyment to each brew. With either version, whole pomelos should be placed in a small linen bag and split open with a strong hammer stroke. Long considered an aid in digestion and vitality, these medicinal qualities are said to increase with time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe bright, clean-taste of Hakka Aged Pomelo lasts over days of steeping. Brew rind and leaves together in gently simmering water, and continue to enjoy across the week. We keep our tea steeping in a glass pot in the refrigerator.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSong’s aged Hakka Pomelo Oolong is a Lunar New Year exclusive and available in whole fruit portions, and as a set of broken fruit tea and rind featuring 40g of each vintage. All are presented in a bright, limited edition Year of the Horse box. May each steaming cup bring fortune and favor to you during the coming year!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n","brand":"Song Tea","offers":[{"title":"Broken Fruit 20 Year + 30 Year | 80g","offer_id":50819944054997,"sku":"a-0014-80g","price":128.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"30 Year Whole Fruit  | X-small 150-174g","offer_id":50819944087765,"sku":"a-0014-160g","price":180.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"30 Year Whole Fruit | Small 175-199g","offer_id":50819944120533,"sku":"a-0014-185g","price":208.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"30 Year Whole Fruit | Medium 200-224g","offer_id":50819944153301,"sku":"a-0014-210g","price":238.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"30 Year Whole Fruit | Large  225-249g","offer_id":50819944186069,"sku":"a-0014-235g","price":268.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"30 Year Whole Fruit | X-large +250g","offer_id":53060018340053,"sku":"a-0014-270g","price":288.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"20 Year Whole Fruit | Large 225-249g","offer_id":53060018372821,"sku":"a-0012-238g","price":238.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"20 Year Whole Fruit | X-Large +250g","offer_id":53060018405589,"sku":"a-0012-270g","price":258.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1728\/6899\/files\/lny_horse1_32dd2fb8-a9a4-45c4-9bb3-ef10e6a2a234.jpg?v=1769664812"}],"url":"https:\/\/songtea.mom\/collections\/aged-oolong.oembed","provider":"Song Tea \u0026 Ceramics","version":"1.0","type":"link"}