The last year proved to be a rocky one for the marijuana industry.
Stock prices of the publicly traded cannabis companies plummeted, with the market capitalization for the biggest crashing 45% since the end of March.
But for consumers, things are gearing up.
Eleven states have legalized marijuana for adult use. Thirty-three now allow patients to have access to medical marijuana. In Pennsylvania, full legalization has the support of Gov. Tom Wolf and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman. In New Jersey, a ballot question on legalization will be put to voters in November.
Customers in states east of the Mississippi River found it difficult to find flower at dispensaries. CEOs of the big multi-state operators say they’re addressing those bottlenecks.
The Inquirer asked cannabis movers and shakers from the region and the nation about their predictions for the coming year.
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Their responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.
Charlie Bachtel, CEO of Cresco Labs, a multi-state grower and dispensary owner
In Pennsylvania, you’ll see more supply coming to the market in 2020. And it will be just like you learn in Econ. 101. More supply should help stabilize prices, create lower-priced options, and make it less frustrating for people. You’ll see more [forms], a diversity of price points, and a larger array of products that will range from good to better to best.
For the rest of the country, I’m bullish on the SAFE [Banking] Act, which addresses the public safety concerns associated with an all-cash industry. If it passes, it will allow us bank accounts where cash can be deposited and should make it possible for consumers to use credit cards at dispensaries and cannabis retailers. It also could provide access for companies such as ours to list on U.S. stock exchanges.
Social equity will be one of the pillars that will get state legislation passed. An emphasis on tax revenue won’t be enough. It’s hard to create an industry that will generate hundreds of millions in sales a year if you still have people with minor marijuana offenses on their records that keep them from being employable. That’s a hypocrisy that needs to be addressed.
State Sen. Daylin Leach (D., Montgomery)
As the author of Senate Bill 350, the Adult Use bill, I have a keen interest in what happens in cannabis. We see the rest of the country moving in the direction of getting rid of prohibition — which is a cruel, heartless, irrational and racist policy — and substituting it with something where people have safe products, there’s tax revenue, there’s licensed entrepreneurs instead of violent drug cartels.
This [Pennsylvania legalization bill] will pass. The question is how soon.
I predict that Pennsylvania [will adopt adult use] by spring of 2021. That day will be accelerated if New Jersey can get it done. If New York can do it, that will put economic pressure on us to get it done. I think spring of 2020 we’ll start dismantling the machinery of prohibition in Pennsylvania.
Rebecca Uhl, founder of 420EDx: Cannabis Education Experiences
CBD is going to get some federal regulations. The vape crisis isn’t going away. And New Jersey will pass their Adult Use referendum.
We’ll begin to see cannabis incorporated into mainstream health and wellness with the rise of cannabis research. I’m a huge fan of nanotechnology [using tiny particles] and think we will see some companies incorporate nano THC.
Chris Goldstein, activist, organizer for South Jersey NORML
In Pennsylvania we should see real progress in getting legalization bills heard before the Legislature in 2020. In New Jersey, it’ll be a mess, because everyone will still be working on the Legislature to pass a legalization bill while others are rallying voters for the constitutional referendum.
At the same time, both states will be trying to alleviate arrests. Pennsylvania has a Clean Slate program and New Jersey has expungements, but both plans will require significant work in 2020 to start clearing records.
Nationally, so many candidates will run on reforming cannabis laws that it will inevitably be part of the presidential election. It also will play a major role in the big congressional races.
You’ll see weed-branded celebrities get more serious about Philadelphia. Look at the Made in America [concert] lineup. Nearly all those stars have cannabis brands now. Legalized cannabis is becoming mainstream with Major League Baseball easing rules for players.
Last, but not least, the big legalized weed companies will have to figure out how to compete against the black market, because illegal weed will get better, cheaper and more available.
David Tuttleman, boutique marijuana producer, founder of Matrix NV
2019 was a year of humility [for the industry] and 2020 will be a year of rebuilding and creating opportunity.
New Jersey and Pennsylvania as a region should unify and be timely with each other. Medical is a great place to start. I support the medical community. My family has for many years. Adult Use is where the industry is heading.
Chris Walsh, co-founder and CEO of MJBizDaily and MJBizCon
Next year, we’re going to see some more pain in California. It’s had a lot of growth but a lot of challenges. It’s going to get worse before it gets better. But the long-term prospects are great. Also, Canada has experienced a lot of problems and I think they’ll get on the right path next year.
We’re going to see several states legalize next year, on the medical front either through the legislature or the ballot box, and we’ll also see several states legalize recreational cannabis.
New Jersey is a prime candidate to legalize recreational cannabis next year. The debate [there] isn’t whether we should legalize it — but how. Pennsylvania is another candidate to legalize adult-use cannabis in the next year or two. I hope to see both of those markets become powerhouses in the industry.
Mina Mishrikey, operating partner at Merida Capital
We’re at an inflection point. Especially in the state of California.You’ll see a lot of culling of brands, and potentially vertical operators. You’ll see the strongest survive: I mean folks that have access to capital. I think we’ll see the passage of the SAFE [Banking] Act for banking relief. The STATES Act [which would have the federal government recognize cannabis laws in the states] is probably a few years away and a post-election exercise regardless of whether Trump is in the White House or not.
Given the conservative nature of Pennsylvania, it will be difficult for the governor and lieutenant governor to pass something legislatively. Ultimately, I think it goes the path of New Jersey and becomes a ballot initiative.
Ellie Siegel, founder and CEO of Longview Strategic
In 2020 and 2021, what I see is greater understanding, expansion of education and information to consumers, patients, and people in the Northeast and MidAtlantic. Specifically for New Jersey and Pennsylvania, municipal leaders are going to start to understand cannabis a bit better.
The expansion of the medical programs in those states will provide a lot of steam for what’s going to be in the future for Adult Use programs.
If they’ll pass it, they’ll legislate it, and they’ll get rules down and you’ll see a program there in 2021.
Erich Mauff, CEOof Jushi Holdings, a multi-state operator that includes Beyond/Hello dispensaries
I think Pennsylvania continues to be a fantastic program. I’d like to see all 24 of [grower processors] up and running. That will bring down pricing so patients will finally get cannabis that’s not $3,500 to $4,000 a pound. We have a decent shot over the next 18 to 24 months that the state of Pennsylvania will think seriously about adult use.
Seth A. Goldberg, head of Cannabis Group at Duane Morris LLP
We’ll see adult-use in Illinois. While vaping bans are likely to be removed, additional restrictions around THC vaping could be imposed by states.
The hemp space seems situated to expand as the regulations become more clear, and the federal banking regulators have recently announced that hemp can be banked like any other legal product.
A lot is contingent on the federal government. If the STATES Rights Act or SAFE Banking Act were to pass, the latter of which seems to have the best chance in 2020, there will be a boost. Conversely, tightening of enforcement by the federal government could have the opposite effect. FDA regulations around vaping and CBD as a drug, dietary supplement, food/beverage may also be issued in 2020, which would shape the market for those products.
Bottom line, businesses and individuals in 2020 must remain mindful of the differences between the federal and state regulatory framework and the state-by-state regulatory patchwork, and be nimble in responding to changes.
Kenya's prized black tea isn't fetching the prices it once did
In a humming factory in Kenya's highlands, tea is hand-plucked from the fields, cured and shredded into the fine leaves that have sated drinkers from London to Lahore for generations.
But Kenya's prized black tea isn't fetching the prices it once did, forcing the top supplier of the world's most popular drink to try something new.
In the bucolic hills around Nyeri, factory workers are experimenting with a range of boutique teas, deviating from decades of tradition in the quest for new customers and a buffer against unstable prices.
Like the bulk of Kenya's producers, they've been manufacturing one way for decades—the crush, tear and curl (CTC) method, turning out ultra-fine leaves well suited for teabags the world over.
Now however, between conveyor belts whizzing tonnes of Kenya's mainstay CTC into heaving sacks, huge rollers also gently and slowly massage green leaves under the watchful eye of workers, all freshly trained in the art of what is known as orthodox tea production.
The end result—a whole leaf, slow-processed variety, savoured for its complex tones and appearance—is still being perfected at Gitugi, a factory in the foothills of the Aberdare Range that has been trialling these teas since June.
In the hills around Nyeri, in Kenya's highlands, producers are experimenting with a range of boutique teas
It has been costly shifting into orthodox, and a cultural change for workers and farmers, said Antony Naftali, operations manager at Gitugi, in Nyeri some 85 kilometres (52 miles) north of Nairobi.
But the risk was necessary: prices for stalwart CTC at auction nosedived 21 percent in 2018-2019 compared to the prior financial year, underscoring the urgency to diversify and extract more from every tea bush.
"We have relied for so many years on traditional CTC. But the price has dropped. We want to reduce the pressure... but also, to explore this new market," Naftali told AFP.
Market turmoil
Even since prices have recovered somewhat, any fluctuations are still keenly felt in Kenya, the world's biggest exporter of CTC.
Tea is a staple drink in Kenya, though, unlike other major producing countries, it consumes far less than it exports.
After prices plummeted for tea produced in the traditional 'crush, tear and curl' way, some have shifted to what is known as orthodox tea production, a gentler, slower way of tea making resulting in a whole leaf
The humble cuppa is a pillar of the economy: one in 10 Kenyans depends on the tea industry, according to the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), which represents 650,000 smallholder farmers by selling and marketing their tea.
The poor returns this year sparked angry protests on estates, and tea companies registered losses.
Part of the problem is oversupply.
Higher prices in recent years spurred investment in tea planting, resulting in Kenya's best-ever haul in 2018—at 493 million kilos (1,086 pounds).
But Kenya also has long relied on too few buyers, shipping 70 percent of its tea to just four markets.
Its top three customers—Pakistan, Egypt and Britain—have all seen a weakening of their currencies in recent times, making tea imports pricey.
Other big buyers—Iran, Sudan and Yemen, chief among them—have struggled to make payments.
One in 10 Kenyans depends on the tea industry, according to the Kenya Tea Development Agency, which represents smallholder farmers by selling and marketing their tea
"Our key markets are in turmoil," Lerionka Tiampati, KTDA chief executive, told AFP.
"When you cannot control the price, then there's not very much you can do. But what we are doing is we are trying to diversify the product."
Reading the leaves
Orthodox production opens doors to markets where whole leaf, bespoke teas and custom infusions are rewarded with higher prices, says Grace Mogambi, KTDA's manager of specialty products, who has travelled the globe to learn what drinkers want.
Studying samples in Gitugi's cupping room, Mogambi reels off the qualities desired by discerning tea drinkers: Russians like whole leaves, Germans prize tips, Saudis demand jet black and Sri Lankans dislike stalks.
"Consumer taste preferences are changing. Drinkers are becoming more aware of the type of tea they prefer," said Mogambi, clad in a white laboratory coat, before swirling a mouthful of tea and ejecting it into a spittoon.
Grace Mogambi, the Kenya Tea Development Agency's manager of specialty products, says "consumer taste preferences are changing"
"If I'm spending more money on a cup of tea, I prefer given characteristics to be present."
But orthodox and specialty lines represent only a tiny fraction of Kenya's exports, and critics say the KTDA—which accounts for 60 percent of the country's tea production—has been slow to adapt.
The board decided in 2000 to launch an orthodox range but, by the end of 2019, just 11 of its 69 factories were expected to be producing teas other than CTC.
Some like Kangaita, a factory at the southern flank of Mount Kenya, have been cultivating purple teas—a rare speciality unique to the region.
Other craft varieties include white premium, a loose leaf packaged in deluxe pyramidal teabags.
These appeal also to younger tea drinkers, a growing market demanding something other than run-of-the-mill black tea.
"Youthful tea drinkers are definitely looking for wellness, and other health benefits in tea," said Gideon Mugo, chairman of the East African Tea Trade Association.
Craft tea varieties also appeal to younger tea drinkers, a growing market
Major brands outside the KTDA have been targeting the youth segment.
Kericho Gold produces a line of "attitude teas" packaged in bright boxes, including one for "love" and another marketed as a hangover cure.
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In a humming factory in Kenya's highlands, tea is hand-plucked from the fields, cured and shredded into the fine leaves that have sated drinkers from London to Lahore for generations.
But Kenya's prized black tea isn't fetching the prices it once did, forcing the top supplier of the world's most popular drink to try something new.
In the bucolic hills around Nyeri, factory workers are experimenting with a range of boutique teas, deviating from decades of tradition in the quest for new customers and a buffer against unstable prices.
Like the bulk of Kenya's producers, they've been manufacturing one way for decades -- the crush, tear and curl (CTC) method, turning out ultra-fine leaves well suited for teabags the world over.
Now however, between conveyor belts whizzing tonnes of Kenya's mainstay CTC into heaving sacks, huge rollers also gently and slowly massage green leaves under the watchful eye of workers, all freshly trained in the art of what is known as orthodox tea production.
The end result -- a whole leaf, slow-processed variety, savoured for its complex tones and appearance -- is still being perfected at Gitugi, a factory in the foothills of the Aberdare Range that has been trialling these teas since June.
It has been costly shifting into orthodox, and a cultural change for workers and farmers, said Antony Naftali, operations manager at Gitugi, in Nyeri some 85 kilometres (52 miles) north of Nairobi.
But the risk was necessary: prices for stalwart CTC at auction nosedived 21 percent in 2018-2019 compared to the prior financial year, underscoring the urgency to diversify and extract more from every tea bush.
"We have relied for so many years on traditional CTC. But the price has dropped. We want to reduce the pressure... but also, to explore this new market," Naftali told AFP.
- Market turmoil -
Even since prices have recovered somewhat, any fluctuations are still keenly felt in Kenya, the world's biggest exporter of CTC.
Tea is a staple drink in Kenya, though, unlike other major producing countries, it consumes far less than it exports.
The humble cuppa is a pillar of the economy: one in 10 Kenyans depends on the tea industry, according to the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), which represents 650,000 smallholder farmers by selling and marketing their tea.
The poor returns this year sparked angry protests on estates, and tea companies registered losses.
Part of the problem is oversupply.
Higher prices in recent years spurred investment in tea planting, resulting in Kenya's best-ever haul in 2018 -- at 493 million kilos (1,086 pounds).
But Kenya also has long relied on too few buyers, shipping 70 percent of its tea to just four markets.
Its top three customers -- Pakistan, Egypt and Britain -- have all seen a weakening of their currencies in recent times, making tea imports pricey.
Other big buyers -- Iran, Sudan and Yemen, chief among them -- have struggled to make payments.
"Our key markets are in turmoil," Lerionka Tiampati, KTDA chief executive, told AFP.
"When you cannot control the price, then there's not very much you can do. But what we are doing is we are trying to diversify the product."
- Reading the leaves -
Orthodox production opens doors to markets where whole leaf, bespoke teas and custom infusions are rewarded with higher prices, says Grace Mogambi, KTDA's manager of specialty products, who has travelled the globe to learn what drinkers want.
Studying samples in Gitugi's cupping room, Mogambi reels off the qualities desired by discerning tea drinkers: Russians like whole leaves, Germans prize tips, Saudis demand jet black and Sri Lankans dislike stalks.
"Consumer taste preferences are changing. Drinkers are becoming more aware of the type of tea they prefer," said Mogambi, clad in a white laboratory coat, before swirling a mouthful of tea and ejecting it into a spittoon.
"If I'm spending more money on a cup of tea, I prefer given characteristics to be present."
But orthodox and specialty lines represent only a tiny fraction of Kenya's exports, and critics say the KTDA -- which accounts for 60 percent of the country's tea production -- has been slow to adapt.
The board decided in 2000 to launch an orthodox range but, by the end of 2019, just 11 of its 69 factories were expected to be producing teas other than CTC.
Some like Kangaita, a factory at the southern flank of Mount Kenya, have been cultivating purple teas -- a rare speciality unique to the region.
Other craft varieties include white premium, a loose leaf packaged in deluxe pyramidal teabags.
These appeal also to younger tea drinkers, a growing market demanding something other than run-of-the-mill black tea.
"Youthful tea drinkers are definitely looking for wellness, and other health benefits in tea," said Gideon Mugo, chairman of the East African Tea Trade Association.
Major brands outside the KTDA have been targeting the youth segment.
Kericho Gold produces a line of "attitude teas" packaged in bright boxes, including one for "love" and another marketed as a hangover cure.
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Need a calm start to your new year? A cup of hot tea, or a glass of iced tea, could be just what you need. Connie Miller of ZenTea has been blending, brewing and serving tea in Chamblee for almost a dozen years. Her shop’s walls are lined with dozens of varieties of loose teas, bagged teas, teas just right for making iced tea and everything you need to brew a perfect cup of matcha. We browsed among several wellness blends, her cold care line - both relaxing and energizing, and a blend for helping you get that great sleep you know you need. We decided on her Relaxing Travel blend, a mix of catnip, skullcap, chamomile, lemon balm, peppermint and oatstraw. We were intrigued by the ingredients, each selected because it is recognized as being calming. Even if we don’t have any travel coming soon, we can see this being the perfect cup of tea to get you past a stressful day or ready for a good night’s sleep. If you’re a fan of chamomile and peppermint, this is the tea for you.
$7.95 for a tin of 15 tea bags. Available at ZenTea, 5356 Peachtree Road, Chamblee or online at zenteaco.com/.
Lupa’s Kitchen canned kombucha
Looking forward to starting your new year with a probiotic lift? Then you may be considering drinking more kombucha. This fizzy fermented tea provides probiotics, antioxidants and some B vitamins and drinking kombucha can improve your digestion and help balance your gut microbiome. Mother and daughter Lupa and Claire Irie of Lupa’s Kitchen brew their kombucha in a special area of their Doraville commercial kitchen. In May 2019 they became the first Georgia company to offer kombucha in cans. There are four flavors: raspberry, ginger turmeric, passion fruit and hibiscus. Kombucha is often sold in heavy glass bottles. Lightweight cans are easy to recycle and make the kombucha easy to include in a lunch bag or cooler. We’ve tried all the flavors and the ginger turmeric strikes us as just right for drinking on cold winter days.
$13 per 4-pack of 12-ounce cans. Available at Sevananda, Grant Park Market, Little’s Food Store, Whole Foods Markets across the Southeastern region and online at lupaskitchen.com/.
Caramel pecan cheesecake from Zambawango
Cheesecake as a healthy treat? Yes, if you’re enjoying cheesecake from Zambawango, the new Sandy Springs dessert shop that specializes in low carb and gluten-free baking. We sampled a variety of their low carb baking, enjoying cinnamon rolls, cookies and marbled brownie bars. And we tried their cheesecake, with its cookie crust, caramel drizzle, whipped cream garnish and chopped nuts. It’s a best seller and is sweetened with Swerve so it clocks in at less than 4 carbs per slice. We all agreed, everything was delicious and nothing would make you feel deprived. And we appreciate that these special items have zero glycemic impact so kids and grownups with diabetes and other dietary restrictions can enjoy the same delicious treats everyone else does. Zambawango offers traditional baking, too.
$6.95 per slice. Available at Zambawango, 901 Abernathy Road, Sandy Springs, in the retail spaces of the Serrano building. zambawango.com/
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The holiday blues, feeling stressed or sad around the holidays, affects people across the country, and a group called Matcha Meetup is helping people feel relaxed, with some matcha tea at 3 Leaf Tea.
They sit in a group, talk about their feelings for an hour, and sip some matcha.
It’s the first year this meetup has taken place right after the holidays, and people such as Shannon Tanner who attended are so happy it did.
“I get to not put so much pressure on myself,” Tanner said.
Pressure that the holidays, especially Christmas, brings. “Oh lord,” said Tanner, “I could really do without them.”
She can’t get rid of the holidays, but she can get rid of the stress, thinks creator of Matcha Meetup Luciana Torous.
“With the holidays, everyone has a lot going on in their minds,” said Torous. “It’s really great to have a meeting point where people can just check in and relax.”
Torous thinks drinking matcha tea is important when it comes to decompressing and recharging.
“It’s really high in antioxidants but it’s also rich in amino acid called L-theanine,” she said. “It picks you up and calms you down. Traditionally Buddhist monks would drink matcha before mediation to help calm.”
Mediation was one of the techniques discussed to those at Matcha Meetup to help deal with stress. Tanner found this advice and session helpful.
“It was very calming and reassuring,” she said.
Torous, who is also the owner of 3 Leaf Tea, said she liked the turnout from Saturday’s event and plans to do this again next year around the same time.
“I thought it be really great to have a community of people where we can get together and talk about mental health topics over a cup of Matcha,” said Tourous.
She encourages people to sip matcha and chat about their feelings, since one out of five people struggle with mental health issues in the United States and this could really help those who need it.
From technique to beauty and tradition, wine and tea share surprising similarities
Non-alcoholic drinks are a hot topic right now. Seedlip, maker of the first distilled non-alcoholic spirit,just launchedits first cocktail book. Craft beer makerslike Brooklyn Breweryare releasing non-alcoholic beers. Bars across the country arebuildingout their mocktail lists, and there are even “zero-proof bars” thateschew alcoholaltogether.
But for the wine lover avoiding alcohol, a fancy seltzer or fun juice concoction may not be the most satisfactory replacement. As something to order while out with friends at a bar? Sure. As a beverage to replace the beauty and culture of wine? Probably not.
Wine has terroir, meaning the place a grape is grown imparts unique texture and flavor. Riesling grown in the blue slate soil of Germany’s Mosel Valley will be a different wine from Riesling grown in the glacial soil of Long Island. Sparkling wine made in Champagne is not the same as sparkling wine made in California, even if it’s made with the same grapes. Experiencing these micro-differences is one of the joys of drinking wine, and as fun as a mocktail may be, it cannot replicate that experience.
Wine also has centuries of tradition that give it meaning and context. That tasty little mocktail probably wasn’t lovingly grown, harvested, pressed, and bottled by a farmer whose family has worked the same land for generations, proud to be making a sort of magic in the dirt. Bottles of mocktails aren’t aged carefully in a cellar until at their peak, dusted off decades later to serve with a special dinner.
Perhaps it’s time to look to non-alcoholic beverage options that better satisfy the soul.
Tea may not have the flashiness of wine, but for lovers of the more romantic aspects of wine, it has an abundance to offer.
Terroir plays an important role in determining the taste of a tea. (Shutterstock)
Ritual and Theater
Tea culture, like wine culture, is long and storied. The art and appreciation of tea, according to the 1906 book “The Book of Tea” by Kakuzo Okakura, is “founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence.”
When serving tea, there is a theater akin to the theater of wine—steps for serving, proper glassware, prescribed temperatures, and layers of flavor to meditate on.
Chaxi, the ritual of precisely and artfully laying out the teaware before tea service, is “an important part of the ritual of drinking and offering tea,” said Gabriel Grippo, owner of Puerh Brooklyn tea shop in New York City. The “choreography” of preparing and serving tea, he said, brings participants together in a shared experience of beauty and meditation.
Grippo started his career in fashion design and initially moved into the tea business as a way to move away from fashion, and also because he long had been “fascinated by all hand-made teaware and Japanese aesthetics.”
“The spiritual component that tea brought into my life through its practice was unexpected and welcome,” he said.
Terroir and Technique
Also with tea, as with wine, “you can get extremely nerdy about processes, varieties, origins, flavors, notes, colors, etc.,” Grippo said.
“There are clearly terroirs and microclimates to tea,” added William Piper, sommelier at Four Horsemen in Brooklyn and a tea hobbyist.Japanese green tea tastes different from Chinese green tea, thanks both to slightly different processing methods and the different soil types and climates the tea bushes were grown in.
Wine lovers prize “old vine” wines; as a vine ages, it produces fewer grapes, but those grapes often have much more depth and complexity. With tea, “there is also a lot of talk of older ‘tree-like’ tea bushes and wild bushes,” Piper said, the teas from which are prized among tea lovers.
Of course, the maker of the tea or wine has some say, too.Make a traditional method sparkling wine and you will likely get aromas of brioche, thanks to the wine’s long contact with the yeast. Oxidize and dry your tea leaves and the resulting black tea will likely be stronger in flavor than if those leaves became an unoxidized green tea.
Aging
When executed well, aging can bring a wine or tea fully into its own, smoothing out rough edges and unveiling new levels of gravitas. Lovers of old wine can look to pu-erh (sometimes spelled pu’er), the most famous of the aged teas.
“Sometimes a pu-erh can be decades old, and if it was stored well and aged properly it would be an amazing tea, both for taste and energy,” said Grippo.
“Pu-erh teas from southern China start very intense and tannic, almost unpleasurable to drink,” said Piper—though he noted that, conversely, some tea drinkers prize their intensity and vigor. After years of aging, however, they “mellow and become harmonious, not unlike a Bordeaux.”
Pu-erh tea. (Shutterstock)
A secondary sort of terroir comes from the climate in which the pu-erh is aged. Unlike most teas, aging pu-erh can benefit from a humid, warm environment, as the heat and moisture encourage the microbial fermentation of the tea and mellow out its initial tannic ferocity. Piper calls this “the added terroir of aging.”
He cites an experience at the Camellia Sinensis salon in Montreal, where he was “really lucky” to taste a Dong Ding Oolong tea that had been aged in Taiwan since the ’70s: “The tea was extremely mossy and complex!” Aging the tea had brought new flavors to the fore.
Just as with wine, however, aging doesn’t always benefit tea. If you “age” a low-quality wine in your garage, the final product will likely not be pleasant. Leave a box of tea bags on your countertop for a decade and you will just end up with stale tea.
Some teas, like matcha, are best drunk as close to harvest as possible. Wines like Prosecco or Pinot Grigio are similarly prized for freshness, and not especially suitable for aging.
But if a tea or wine is of high quality, has intensity that aging could smooth into something subtler, and is stored in a temperate, consistent climate, you may just end up with something very special.
Community and Connection
And for those who miss the convivial charm of opening a bottle of wine with friends around a table, tea could be the solution.
“The sense of belonging while sharing tea is unique,” said Grippo. Piper agreed, saying that tea, like wine, “is at its most transcendent [when] enjoyed together, informally, with friends and often with food.”
Those sorts of long afternoons spent enjoying a beautiful, storied beverage—“reading the newspaper for hours at a dim sum restaurant drinking tea all the while, or playing pétanque with a carafe ofrosé,” Piper offered in example—can be both ordinary and extraordinary.
Find Your Tea
Not sure where to start in the wide world of tea? Lovers of these wines may find pleasure in these corresponding teas.
Sparkling wine: Jasmine
White wine: Sencha
Red wine: Raw pu-erh
Brandy: Aged pu-erh
Christine Clark is a professional food and beverage nerd. She is a Certified Cheese Professional by the American Cheese Society and teaches cheese classes across the United States. Her work has appeared in VinePair, Bon Appetit, Fine Cooking, and Travel + Leisure.
