Cowboy -

Try to roast older TGY and you will absolutely love it (my experience). I am
yet to decide which method (actual roasting or microwave) is better, but
they both work. It looks like actual roasting works better with green teas.
I am strating to think (you heard it from me first!) that may be it makes
sense to introduce a new procedure into normal brewing of tea -

1. Take out of container
2. Roast in microwave or other heater
3. Do whatever you do normally (wash chahu, wash tea, brew...)

Certainly that step could not be a part of traditional way of handling tea -
there were no microwaves in Kun Zi times and untill very recently there were
no supereasy access to fast and supereasy way of heating things in the
matter of seconds.

Anyway - I am an experimental conservative

Sasha.


"Mydnight" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I don't know the scientific info on it, but I can tell you what the tea
> bosses around here say.
>
> Tie Guan Yin, about a year. The freshness is a deciding factor on what
> the final price will be at market, and anything over a year is
> relatively worthless.
>
> Wulong, strange. There are some types of Wulong that are better if
> they have been aged, apparently. Generally, the Taiwan Wulongs will
> last for about a year before they are too old.
>
> Green, two years.
>
> Pu'er, the elder the better.
>
> Keep in mind, this is from some bosses who are hardly scientists; some
> of who are hardly honest. heh.
>