Lao Shou Mei (老壽眉)
archetype: Old grandmother with herbs
An astringent simplicity, a healing nature, the smell of an attic full of dry herbs.
History
Lao Shou Mei is aged Shou Mei (5 years and older). In Fuding the white tea is traditionally kept in the attic: dry air, wood, a minimum of light. Year by year the 'lunar' note of the young tea recedes, and honey, dry herbs, warm stone and dried fruit emerge. After 10–15 years the leaf becomes dark chestnut and the brew a saturated red-brown. As the saying goes: 'three-year — tea, seven-year — medicine, fifteen-year — treasure'.
Terroir
Not to be confused with quick 'aged' white tea: a real Lao Shou Mei is slow oxidation in a dry environment, not wet fermentation.
Leaf
dried fruit, honey, bark, healing herbs, a long warming aftertaste very long, warming; the aftertaste lasts an hour, leaving a warm calm in the chest
Properties
very high antioxidant content; traditionally used as a cold and cough remedy, supports immunity dense, warm, descending; felt as a 'grandmother's palm' on the chest low (20–35 mg) — much of it breaks down with ageing
Brewing ritual
a 200 ml clay kettle — to boil 'lao bai cha'; 100 °C, may be boiled directly; 6 g / 200 ml. 20s — the first decoction: dry herbs, honey; 25s — the peak: bark, prune, healing depth; 40s — a long warming note; 70s — the finale — a warm trail of the attic; 120s — a very long decoction — may be boiled together with dates.
When to drink
day and early evening; may be boiled at night. winter and a damp shoulder season. at the first signs of a cold, in a seasonal slump, when the body is tired