Share to QQ Zone For most varieties of tea, new tea is indeed better than aged tea. Aged tea from the previous year, whether in terms of color or taste, always gives a "fragrant and mellow" feeling. This is because during storage, due to the effects of light, heat, and air, some acids, esters, and alcohol components in the tea as well as vitamin-like substances undergo slow oxidation or condensation, ultimately causing the color, aroma, taste, and shape of the tea to develop in a direction unfavorable to the essence of tea, producing old smells, tastes, and colors.
However, not all teas are like this. Famous teas such as Biluochun and West Lake Longjing, if stored in a lime jar for one or two months, can lose their grassy smell while increasing their purity and fragrance significantly.
Many varieties of Oolong tea also have the characteristic that aged tea from the previous year has an even more fragrant and richer flavor. Tieguanyin and Phoenix Dancong are examples of this.
Generally speaking, new tea has a light and fresh broth color with a taste that leans towards "light" but with a higher aroma, often filling the room with mist as soon as boiling water is poured in; aged tea, on the other hand, has a redder, thicker broth, with not very obvious aroma but excellent "throat feel", possessing a rich and deep flavor. Therefore, many veteran tea enthusiasts like to buy the new tea of the year, store it properly, and take it out after a year (sometimes they subject the tea to "refiring" treatment according to its specific condition before enjoying it) to experience the enchanting deep and rich aroma.
In the early Qing Dynasty, Zhou Lianggong's "Min Tea Poem" No.6 says:
Although the pre-rain tea is good, it is disliked for being too new,
Remove its fire qi and do not let it touch your lips.
Stored until deeply red, its price triples,
Every household boasts about their aged tea from last year.
It can be seen that the ancients also well understood the subtleties of Wuyi tea, whose price was actually three times that of new tea, Tieguanyin, Dahongpao, ginseng oolong tea!
In short, the newness or age of tea does not correspond to the quality concept of good or inferior. New tea and aged tea each have their own characteristics and lead the trend in their own ways. Choosing what kind of tea depends entirely on the drinker's preference, just like other things, there isn't a uniform standard for everything, and practically speaking, tea cannot achieve a consistent taste either.