The Orwellian Baozhong

What else would you call a baozhong from 1984, if not Orwellian?   I honestly wish I had made up that terminology myself, though before I heard it called that, I was thinking along the lines of a "Baozhong so famous, they named a book after it!"  Honestly I think quite of the tea vendors I frequent must be upset, because it seems like there has been a plethora of organised tea tastings that use up my tea budget for each month.  While it keeps me stocked with tea, it certainly is far from a dedicated order from a specific vendor.

These Baozhongs were put together as part of an educational tasting on aged Baozhong.  There were 5 packs with approximate ages ~10 years old, ~20 years old, 1984, ~30 years old, and 1967.  I have had the first three already. I am rather interested in digging into the last two, mostly because part of the educational part is examining how does going "green" in style alter how well it ages.  While I have been told by the host of this tasting Tony over at Origin Tea, that roughly 20 years ago Baozhong started being created in greener and greener styles.  So lower and lower oxidation.  A trend that has been happening in many oolongs  to this day.  (How many times have you heard people reference Nuclear Green (Insert balled oolong here?)

From my experience with the three Baozhongs I have already tried, the ~10 year old one is actually very nice to drink, but it dies practically instantly.  The ~20 year old I have a hard time getting the hang of, I just can't seem to brew it right, and it seems to disappoint all around. I am going to write up a note on the 1984 below.



First infusion is very nice, soft, subtle but lots of nice aged flavors.  Prunes, raisins, and plum dominate both the nose and the taste.  Honestly not as heavy as I remember it being, it is sweeter and softer than I remember, but very enjoyable.  Maybe it really did need some exposure to air.


The second infusion is a lot more like I remember it being, a lot of similar flavors as the first but heavier and this time more sour notes come through.  Reducing the time on the third infusion slightly gets an infusion now much more like the first.  Slightly more earthy, no longer as sweet.