40 years old Anxi Tie Guan Yin

 For this Christmas Chaxi, we were in for a special treat: a 40 years old Anxi Tie Guan Yin.

These dry leaves tell us several things:
- the color isn't uniformly black and oily, but a variation of brown colors (because different leaves evolve differently based on their water content.)

- the leaves have unfurled with time (and also due to the fact that 40 years ago, the rolling of the leaves wasn't mechanical and as tight as today),

 - this small amount of aged leaves is sufficient to brew a delicious and bright cup of aged Oolong.

The brew looks bright and intense, because the tea is still very much alive! The scents of this wonderfully aged Tie Guan Yin remind me other aged Oolongs, greens and puerhs I've had in the past. Precious wood and incense scents are common themes for very old tea leaves. These smells are very suitable for Christmas where pine scents and incense are triggers for my brains that it's Christmas time.

 Süßer die Tees nie schmecken, als zu der Weihnachtszeit! (Tea never tastes as sweet as during the Christmas season).

The past is source of pure tea happiness.