Widespread commercial aging of white tea is a relatively modern concept, starting around 2010 in Fuding, China.  Given this, anything labelled as earlier than 2010 may not not be authentic – and in general caution should be taken with teas labelled as being 10+ years old. There are a few signs of authentic aging. Most prominent is the amount of orange and brown leaf and buds: the buds (which start out as silver) are the slowest to transform with time, and only begin to change their colour after 7-9 years of age. Another sign is how crumbly the leaf is, with longer aged leaf turning into very fine particles when handled.

Pressing tea into cakes allows tea, particularly Pu-erh and white tea, to ferment slowly and evenly by reducing air exposure. The process creates unique, deep flavours that are different from aged loose-leaf tea.  Historically, pressing tea into cakes has allowed large quantities of tea to be transported over long distance.

Storage: If you want to experiment with further flavour development, it is recommended to store these cakes in an environment of 50-70% humidity to allow the aging process to continue.  It is fine to store in a drier environment as this tea is excellent drinking at this stage of aging, but note that the aging process will halt. See our selection of Boveda humidity packs and mini humidity gauges to help provide the right level of humidity for you.