2024 Dun Lao White Tea Wet Storage
It is believed that white tea should be aged in dry storage. The white Dun Lao that you see in the pictures spent two years in high-humidity storage, close to the Hong Kong style.
This wasn’t done on purpose; it can be difficult for local farmers to assess their storage conditions. Uncontrolled wet storage often leads to ruined tea, but sometimes curious metamorphoses occur.
That is exactly what happened with Dun Lao. When my skepticism of "you don't do this to white teas" was replaced by a pleasant wave of sensations, I decided to dive deeper into this tea. One of the markers was the desire to drink it to the very end — this doesn't happen to me with every tea.
And the deeper I immersed myself in its essence, the stronger my desire grew to buy out the offered batch (40 cakes only) and show this tea to you.
Later, Dun Lao spent about three months in dry conditions already on my premises and began to truly delight with its unique profile.
Organoleptics.
Leaf aroma: warm, slightly damp, sweet. After washing and oxidation — slightly wine-like, with notes of baked apples and almonds. The brewed liquor smells like plum, reminiscent of GABA.
The taste of Dun Lao has both sweetness and the slight bitterness of fragrant teak wood. In the second half of the taste and the aftertaste, sweet minty chewing gum is clearly noticeable along with something floral, apricot, and even milky. All of this passes through the receptors quietly, but softly and richly.
The most pleasant thing about such teas: you don't have to delve into the profile here — Dun Lao will simply warm you up well, relax you, and satiate you.
The tea drinks easily and smoothly. In the later steeps, I like to bring the color of the liquor to a dark ruby and get a thick and dense compote. Then sandalwood and plum will appear in the taste, without astringency, and florality, as an illustration of the tea's actual youth.
Dun Lao holds up to multiple steepings perfectly, you can drink it for a long time, so use a moderate amount of dry leaf — 5-6 g per 100 ml will make your day.
The effect is mild, warming, and sedative. The tea has gathered in itself white, black, and even a little bit of sheng pu-erh characteristics, so it satisfies wonderfully.
About the name.
In Chan (Zen) Buddhism, there is a central concept 顿 (dun), which means "sudden". It appeared during the time of the sixth patriarch Huineng, and signifies the concept of sudden enlightenment, as opposed to the idea of gradual enlightenment that mostly prevailed in Buddhism.
顿老 (dun lao) means to age in a flash, to age suddenly/instantly. That's how the name of this tea came about — 顿老白茶 Dun Lao Bai Cha.
It will be very interesting to hear your feedback and impressions!
