1979 Beipu Aged Oolong

This over-40-years-old tea comes from Beipu, on the West Coast of Taiwan. Beipu has produced a tea called 'Fan Zhuang' for export to the West for many many years. It has all but disappeared today, but you can still find very traditional examples into the 70's and 80's. It is a heavily oxidized, broken leaf tea that, although still and oolong, really leans towards the black tea end of the spectrum. This particular tea is incredibly clean and solid for a Fan Zhuang. On top of that, storage was very careful - not imparting much if any of what they call 'storage taste', a dusty or musty off-flavor. Now the magic of slow oxidation over many decades has turned this solid but basic Fan Zhuang oolong into something really delicious. It brews up a rich, dark ruby-amber color. Taste is that of good, clean aged oolong: Earthy, plummy, woody and slightly tart. Big, luscious broth and long aftertaste like aromatic resin or wood oils. Deep, sinking tea energy and very warming. Great on cold days or