What is Old Bush Tea?

Old bush or Laocong is a term commonly used by tea drinkers and vendors alike, referring to teas that are supposedly made from the leaves of older tea bushes.

A prominent Chinese agronomist named Zhang Tianfu once wrote an article clarifying that the character 从 (cong) is the most correct term in written Chinese for old bush teas, which translates to English as ‘bush’ or ‘thicket.’ Using historical texts, Zhang distinguished the character for cong (从) from the character zong (枞) which refers to non-tea related plants. This terminology, based on the word cong or bush, clearly divides tea bushes from the term shu 树 (tree) used for tea trees in Yunnan. These different terms reflect the biological differences between the larger trees of camillia sinensis assamica in Yunnan and smaller shrub sized camillia sinensis sinensis in Fujian and elsewhere. 

There are some related terms as well. ‘Tall bush’ is sometimes used to refer to bushes that are younger than old bush but still around 30 years old. ‘Centennial bush’ is supposed to refer to bushes at least 100 years old, but in practice is it is often used to describe bushes at least 80 years old. There is no national standard for these terms, and tea vendors will often use these terms freely in marketing.

What qualifies as old bush tea?

There is no fixed standard for what qualifies as old bush. Usage of the term varies by region, but a rough generalisation in Fujian is that old bushes are least 50 years old and are usually unpruned or only lightly pruned. In Chaozhou, the term is sometimes used relative to the age of the mother bush of a cultivar. For example, since the Yashi Xiang mother bush is relatively younger, 40-year-old bushes may qualify as old bush Yashi Xiang.

There is no non-destructive way to conclusively determine the age of a tea bush. Judging the age depends on observing the bush itself and relying on historical records. Older bushes are usually covered in green moss, with larger roots and trunks than younger bushes. Farmers and their family members may know when the bushes were originally planted or discovered, though such evidence is not always reliable. Whether the bush is pruned is easier to prove. An unpruned or lightly pruned bush will be larger overall, with characteristic signs of overgrowth such as more mature leaves and branches. The old unpruned bushes in Zhangping, Fujian can reach 2 metres in height. Pictured below is a 100-year old bush in Zhangping.

The effect of old bushes on tea

Old Bush tea is famously said to have congwei, which is difficult to translate but literally means ‘bush flavour’. A tea with congwei is said to have a refined, subtle, mature character reminiscent of aged wood, with a dry, sweet, enduring aftertaste. While a younger bush rock tea might have floral or fruity aromas, and older bush rock tea may additionally have a wood aroma (muzhixiang) and prominent congwei. Congwei can therefore contribute to the overall complexity of a tea. Congwei is not to be confused, as it often is, with a mossy taste (taixiangwei). Although old bushes are often covered in green moss, the effect of this on tea is speculative. Congwei in tea manifests as a distinctive dry and woody character, not something moist and green like moss. Congwei should also not be confused with chenwei, a term used sometimes when tasting aged puerh tea. Chenwei means ‘aged flavour’ and refers to a flavour arising in tea that has been aged after production like aged puerh or aged oolong. Congwei arises from the tea plant’s age, not the age of the tea itself. Congwei can manifest in newly made tea, so long as the leaves come from a tea bush that is sufficiently old. In other words, congwei is intrinsic, shaped by the tea plant’s genetics and age, while chenwei is extrinsic, shaped by post-production aging and the storage conditions of the tea.

It is difficult to say much more about congwei without tasting yourself. Like the word ‘chaqi’, congwei is an abstruse Chinese tea concept, which is both hard to translate and explain. Many seasoned Chinese tea drinkers do not know how to accurately describe congwei. It seems there is a strong subjective component in congwei, which would explain why there is often no agreement between any two tea drinkers about what it means.

Although abstruse and partly subjective, there is also evidence of an objective component to congwei. A 2018 study comparing old and young bush Phoenix Dancong found that younger bushes were higher in catechins, while older bushes were much richer in amino acids and volatile aroma compounds. This could suggest a chemical basis for why old bush tea is often described as smoother and longer lasting.

Is old bush tea better?

The short answer is no, old bush tea is not necessarily higher quality or better value than tea made from younger bushes, especially when older bush tea fetches a much higher price. In the context of old bush oolong tea, the base material of a tea is but one factor in complicated oolong processing. Poor processing will result in a bad tea, even if the material is old bush. Old bush material should be complemented with suitable processing. For example, charcoal roasting can accentuate the aftertaste and mouthfeel that old bush leaves provide and perfectly match the dryness of the congwei. Old bush tea can also be very different from orthodox versions of particular teas. For example, old bush Zhangping Shui Xian is often very different from orthodox Zhangping Shui Xian, sometimes lacking the classic orchid and osmanthus aroma but having a deeper aftertaste and thicker texture.

Why you should try old bush tea

Although old bush tea is not necessarily better, there are reasons to seek out and try old bush tea. 

First, though this is not always the case, old bushes are usually organically farmed. Gently managed and infrequently harvested, these fragile low yield bushes cannot be over-picked or exposed to aggressive pesticide use. They are usually left unpruned or only lightly pruned, because intensive pruning can dilute flavour.  Old bushes are valuable to farmers, disincentivising them from using chemicals or pesticides that may harm the health of the plants or the taste of the resulting tea. Second, old bush tea can have desirable characteristics that are hard-to-find if not impossible to find in younger bush tea, like congwei. Third, if the material is genuinely old bush, this sometimes acts as an assurance that the processing is up to standard. Farmers do not waste their valuable old bushes on cheap ration tea. In fact, they may reserve their old bushes for smaller handmade batches. Our Wild Old Bush Zhangping Shui Xian is an example. Every year producer Shen Tian Xing reserves the wild bushes he owns for a small handmade batch of tea. One cannot solely rely on material being old bush however. When sourcing old bush oolong tea, it is part of due diligence to also ensure that the tea processing is both up to standard and complements the material. The fourth reason is that trying old bush tea can help you learn more about the complex relationship between cultivars, terroirs, and individual plants. Part of the congwei of old bush tea is that the bushes can develop their own unique characters over time in addition to their cultivar and terroir determined characteristics. Old Bush Shui Xian from a specific terroir can taste very different from Old Bush Shui Xian in the exact same terroir, by virtue of the unique characteristics each plant has developed over the years. The age of a tea bush seems to be an additional layer on top of cultivar and terroir that determines a tea’s character. We have heard from farmers that when a cutting is taken from a very old bush and planted in the same terroir, the tea from the new cutting fails to reproduce the old bush taste. This suggests that a period of maturation in the plant is necessary to develop old bush taste, and that period of maturation cannot be bypassed by maintaining the same cultivar and terroir. Tasting old bush tea can therefore help in learning about this nuanced interrelationship between plant age, cultivar, and terroir.

References

Zhang Tianfu. (2014). 涉茶常用字、词辨析及规范. 福建茶叶, 36(5), 1–3.

Li Zhangwei. (2019). Comparison of aroma and biochemical components between old and new bush Phoenix Dancong tea trees. Food and Fermentation Industries, 45(5), 224–226. https://doi.org/10.13995/j.cnki.11-1802/ts.018367