覓 Bāi. 2011 Summer Aged White Tea Cake
Notes & Flavors
Blackberry, Buddha‘s Hand Citron, Raisin, Plum Wine, Ginseng, Nectar, Chamomile, Vanilla, Tobacco, Goji Berry, Molded Dried Vegetable, Leather, Sea Salt, Pepper, Shiitake Mushroom, Coffee
Deerland Grade / Quality Tea / a memorable tea for the enthusiast
It is balanced, delicate, and with several distinctive, outstanding characteristics.
Summer 2011
Cultivar. QingXinOolong
SanLinXi - YangWan Region. 1400 m
Oxidation Level. Medium
Roasting Degree. None
About this tea
Not every tea is crafted for purposely aging, but this one is. Pressed into cakes and stored carefully underground for more than a decade, this white tea has become an example of how a tea's notes, flavors, and body can transform through time and achieve timelessness.
Cultivar QingXinOolong 青心烏龍 is one of the most iconic cultivars that are popular amongst Taiwanese tea makers for over a century. The signature notes of such cultivar, which are often referred to as "The Flag-Notes of the Oolong 烏龍旗", are the fragrance that is combined with the scent of boat orchids, sweet osmanthus flowers, and bamboo shoots. These signature notes could no longer be found in this aged tea, but all the years in between had further oxidized these ravishing scents into a more complex bund:
Blackberry, buddha‘s hand citron, raisin, plum wine, ginseng, nectar, chamomile, vanilla, tobacco, goji berry, molded dried vegetable, leather, sea salt, pepper, shiitake mushroom, coffee, and more; countless notes and flavors are awaited to be explored via different brewing methods.
The easiest way of brewing
this tea; Cold Brewing is not recommended
1. Place 5 g tea leaf in a pot with a capacity of 500 to 600 ml
2. Fill the pot with 100°C hot water and let the tea steep for 10 min.
3. Pour the tea out and enjoy it. The leaf can remain in the pot and need no filtered away
Please use soft drinking water for brewing, ideally with a TDS below 150 ppm and a pH between 6 and 7
Tasting this aged tea
1. Fill boiled water into a pot with a capacity of 120 to 150 ml. Seal the pot with a lid and wait 90 sec. then empty the pot.
2. Place 8 g tea leaf in the empty pot and wait 90 sec.
The remaining heat and moisture inside the pot would extract the hydrated aroma out of the tea leaf. Open the lid and smell the hydrated Steam Note.
3. Fill the pot with 85-95°C hot water and let the tea steep for 50 sec.
Pour the tea out and taste the Tea Flavor thus enjoying the Tea Note at the same time.
4. Smell and observe the Post-Brew Note that is lasting at the bottom of the cup and the steeped leaf. Repeatedly make another infusion by pouring 85-95°C water into the pot.
*Second to Fourth Infusion: 30-40 sec.
*Fifth to Seventh Infusion: 40-50 sec.
*Eighth & After: 50 sec. and longer
Please use soft drinking water for brewing, ideally with a TDS below 150 ppm and a pH between 6 and 7
台灣衫林溪青心烏龍種 老白茶
辛卯兔 年夏茶
鹿野茶房評選：佳品。
香氣飽滿；茶湯細緻；小壺泡變化層次分明。可品可藏的師級作。
2011年，台灣製茶師遠赴白茶原鄉福建省駐地取經，返鄉後利用衫林溪高山茶區的青心烏龍原葉製作成緊壓白茶餅，一藏十數年，難得一見。
口感濃厚、滋味百變，一泡接一泡黑莓、佛手柑、葡萄乾、梅酒、人蔘、花蜜、香草莢、菸草、枸杞、香菇水、海鹽、胡椒、木質調傾瀉而出。時間與工藝的淬煉撞擊，令人驚喜。
白茶，是一類多數台灣人聽來不熟悉的茶。但在五零到七零年代，來自台灣的白茶曾供應了世界白茶消費市場所需的70%。這一款當年的「隱藏冠軍」到底是什麼茶？White Tea為何在近年一躍成為國際茶友的心頭好？
白茶是指採摘後不經揉捻或殺菁，直接日曬、文火乾燥的茶。因工藝簡約，葉面上的茸毛仍完好地覆在茶葉上，宛如灑上白霜，因此被稱為「白茶」。
廣州自清中葉起成為珠江三角州的政治、經濟重心。一些從事貿易的商人發展出在早、晚兩頓正餐之外以休閒和商務洽談為目的「飲茶」。恰巧，白茶的工藝也在差不多重疊的時間點上（清嘉慶）於福建福鼎一帶開始發跡。成品順風順水地進入廣州、香港這塊中國南方最繁華的大商圈，因口感淡、綿、遠且相傳能清熱消暑，成為饕客的寵兒。
香港的茶樓、茶餐廳、茶莊、飯店無論檔次高低多供應白茶；最常見的白茶等級是『壽眉』—— 把茶葉上茸茸的白毛寓意成老壽星的眉毛來討吉利。也因為比普洱、水仙在粤语裡近似「保你死先」的諧音好聽得多，因此老港人更樂於在早茶時點一壺白茶，慢慢享用。
五零到七零年代初，世界最大白茶消費城的香港市井上有超過60%的白茶來自台灣。此時的台灣茶產業以拚外銷、接單代工為主。對十九世紀以來一路熟悉包花茶（薫花茶／窨花茶）、包種茶、烏龍茶、紅茶等繁瑣製程的台灣製茶師而言，白茶就是一片蛋糕上的白霜，信手捻來。
七零年代起，外銷茶市隨著世界諸茶區戰後恢復，越來越競爭。台灣茶價漸漸被收購的外商削到見骨，農民辛苦卻血本無歸。政府因此輔導茶產業轉做內銷，同時開發高山產區以及新的製茶技術—— 輕發酵球形烏龍茶。「高山茶」（海拔1000 m以上產區所產輕發酵球形烏龍茶）便自此時開始在島內聲名遠播，成為新寵。一開始就只收單外銷的台灣白茶從此匿跡。
白茶的原鄉：今福建省福鼎、建陽、政和、松溪等縣則自二十一世紀起積極追求精緻化，所產白毫銀針、白牡丹、貢眉（改名自壽眉）、新工藝白茶等皆有愛好者，在市場上一支獨秀。近年來，國際茶友拾起對白茶的喜好，除了中國茶商力薦，也因其工藝簡約，符合時下歐青對波西米亞式生活的追求：順應自然、減少人工干預；「無為而味」從而受到報導與關注。
台灣白茶今非台灣市場主流，多為製茶師自己研製的「本格派」作品，質量有的嚇煞人美；有的僅僅嚇人。2018年起農委會茶業改良場協同三峽農會，開始在人口老化的三峽茶區推廣白茶製作研習課，希望以步驟簡單的白茶吸引老製茶師投入。
茶改場建議用台茶八號、台茶十七號『白鷺』、或台茶十八號『紅玉』品種輕度揉捻與炒菁，製成改良版「台式新白茶」。各色風味百變。有的如中式白茶清雅淡泊；有的則在緊壓、窖藏後甜膩如雪莉酒 。令人期待台灣白茶在新世紀裡伸展出更美麗的姿態。