Aging Nantou Lishan Oolong Tea
Tastes and compares the aging Nantou Lishan Oolong Tea that steeped at 9℃/48.20°F cold water to check if the aging effects the flavor of Oolong tea.
The purpose of cold water steeping experiment is to test the flavor of Oolong tea after aging
-
Tea cold water steeping: Tastes and compares the aging flavor and aging time difference between non-aged and aging Nantou Lishan Oolong Tea that steeped at 9℃ cold water to check if the aging effects the flavor of Oolong tea.
Tea aging conditions and steeping method
-
Tea Variety: Nantou Lishan Oolong Tea
-
-
RO(EC：0.08、PH5.02),5 Stage Reverse Osmosis water filtering (EC, electrical conductivity: 0.08, PH: 5.02)
-
Tea steeping method
-
Tea volume:10g
-
Water volume:500cc
-
Water to tea/powder ratio, according to ISO 3103-1980,10g/500cc
-
Glass Teapot Kettle for cold water steeping
-
Tea cold water steeping temperature & time: 9±3℃/48.20±5.4°F,18 hours
-
-
Tea aging conditions
-
Tea packaging: Sealed aluminum foil packaging
-
Aging temperature: -0.5±0.3℃/31.10±0.54°F
-
Aging Humidity setup: Without setup humidity (disabled humidity function)
-
Aging days:1,2,3,4,5 days
-
-
Tea liquid cupping tasting method
-
Sake copper cup
-
-
Ultra-thin glass cup
-
-
champagne glass cup
-
550ml PET bottle
-
-
Tea liquid smell fragrance method: white porcelain smell fragrance method
-
Measurement instrument and meter
-
Timo plug-in thermometer
-
ATAGO PAL-1 Series Handheld Digital Sweetness Meter（Test range: 0.0～53.0%）
-
-
EZDO 6061 Waterproof Electrical Conductivity Meter (EC meter) [Calibration solution, EC1.41]
-
EZDO PH6011 pH meter [Calibration solution, PH7、PH4]
-
-
Tea cold water steeping: Tastes and compares the aging Nantou Lishan Oolong Tea that steeped at 9℃/48.20°F cold water to check if the aging effects the flavor of Oolong tea.
-
Oolong tea cold water steeping flavors:
-
Longan aroma
-
Thick/heavy taste is concentrated on the front section of the tongue
-
Astringency is on the upper jaw of tongue
-
Aftertaste is not obviously
-
Slightly sweet
-
-
Tea cold water steeping temperature & time: 9±3℃/48.20±5.4°F,18 hours
-
Water to tea/powder ratio, according to ISO 3103-1980,10g/500cc
-
The temperature that tea liquids poured into the cup for taste: 4℃/39.20°F
|
Aged days
|
Non-aged
|
Aged 1 day at -0.5±0.3℃/31.10±0.54°F
|
Aged 2 days at -0.5±0.3℃/31.10±0.54°F
|
Aged 3 days at -0.5±0.3℃/31.10±0.54°F
|
Aged 4 days at -0.5±0.3℃/31.10±0.54°F
|
Aged 5 days at -0.5±0.3℃/31.10±0.54°F
|
|
Tea liquid color
(1: light →5: dark) |
1
|
3
|
5
|
2
|
4
|
6
|
|
Aroma
|
More grassy
|
Smells sweeter
|
Grassy is less than one day aging
|
Grassy is less than 2 day aging
|
Sweet flavor is obviously (mango sweet)
|
Light floral scent
|
|
Taste location
|
Taste is in the middle section of the tongue and both sides of the mouth
|
The taste is on upper jaw
|
Taste spreads slowly in the front section of the tongue
|
Taste spreads slowly in the mouth
|
Taste is in the whole tongue
|
Taste is in the front section of the tongue and both sides of the mouth
|
|
Astringency
(1: light→ 5: distinct) |
Astringency stimulation is increased
|
Astringency stimulation is decreased
|
Astringency is lower than 1 day aging
|
Astringency is lower than 2 day aging
|
Astringency is not obviously
|
Astringency is similar to the astringency that 3 days aging does.
|
|
Body/ richness
(1: light/thin→ heavy/full:5) |
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
3
|
5
|
|
Aftertaste
(1:light→5: distinct) |
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
3
|
|
Sweetness (1-5)
|
Light sweet
|
Similar to non-aged, light sweet
|
Astringency is decreased, and sweetness is increased
|
Slightly sweet
|
Sweet obvious
|
Slightly sweet
|
|
Sweetness (Brix%)
|
0.4%
|
0.4%
|
0.4%
|
0.5%
|
1.1%
|
0.7%
|
|
EC (Electrical Conductivity, µS/cm)
1µS/cm=0.5ppm(TDS) : The higher the Electrical Conductivity, the more the dissolution |
0.34
|
0.35
|
0.73
|
0.40
|
0.40
|
0.56
|
|
pH value
|
5.87
|
5.94
|
5.89
|
5.80
|
5.86
|
5.37
|
|
Blind test
|
Blind test in 2 days is better than 3 days
|
Blind test in 4 days is better than 3 days
|
The overall scores of flavor is similar to the aging flavor scores by 3 days
|
Tea cold water steeping cupping test: Tastes and compares the aging Nantou Lishan Oolong Tea that steeped at 9℃/48.20°F cold water to check if different tea cup effects the flavor of Oolong tea.
The effects of cold water steeping teas with different tea tasting cups
-
Sake copper cup has the strongest astringency taste
-
Ultra-thin glass cup has the watery taste obviously
-
The flavor is more concentrated on champagne glass cup that effects best tea taste
-
The astringency taste is more concentrated on PET bottle
-
Sake copper cup(left)
-
Ultra-thin glass cup(middle)
-
champagne glass cup(right)
Conclusions
-
The Lishan Oolong Tea, after aging, even if it is only aging for one day, average person can obviously taste the difference of aging flavor.
-
When compared the flavors between non-aging and aging cold water steeping Oolong tea, the most obvious taste difference is astringency on the tongue and in the mouth. Average person prefers to have non-astringency cold water steeping Oolong tea.
-
The sweetness of the cold water steeping Oolong tea, by 4-day aging, can be tasted very obviously.
-
Compared taste testing results between day 1 and day 5, the best aging time is 4 days. When aging time is more than 4 days, the overall scores of flavor is similar to the aging flavor scores by 3 days.
