Hi,

to pu-erh lovers/collectors I have a question

How do you store your pu-erh ?
Where ?
I live in a block of flats, so I'm somehow limited in getting the right
place to store my tea...

thanks

Tomas

11/15/06


> Hi,
>
> to pu-erh lovers/collectors I have a question
>
> How do you store your pu-erh ?
> Where ?
> I live in a block of flats, so I'm somehow limited in getting the right
> place to store my tea...
>
> thanks
>
> Tomas

Tomas, I store them in their orginal bamboo leaf bound
tongs (sets of seven cakes) and in their orignal paper
wrappers stacked in proper wooden drawers and in
archival boxes, away from strange aromas as far as
is possible in a NYC apartment. I've got fragmented
older cakes that are now stored in transparent bags, but
will be transferred to small ceramic canisters before
long. Issues of humidity abound. I try to keep them
out of the heaviest humidity, but this is hard. Some
say that the varied humidities of NYC are actually
beneficial to the Pu'erh aging process. Where are
you located?

In short, the trick is to keep your cakes away from
odors, dampness, and the hands of craving craven
people who recognize the value of your sacred
Pu'erh cakes! What sorts of Pu'erh are you storing?

Michael

Message to Michael: Over the past couple of years I could get Xiaguan
2.5kg beeng tongs from Chinatown. I haven't seen them in my last
couple of trips. When I order from China I usually get the smaller
bricks and tuos in the tongs which is some multiple of 1kg. I'm
curious if you find your tongs in Chinatown or basically order like me.


Jim

Michael Plant wrote:
> Tomas, I store them in their orginal bamboo leaf bound
> tongs (sets of seven cakes) and in their orignal paper
> wrappers stacked in proper wooden drawers and in
> archival boxes

Space 11/15/06


> Message to Michael: Over the past couple of years I could get Xiaguan
> 2.5kg beeng tongs from Chinatown. I haven't seen them in my last
> couple of trips. When I order from China I usually get the smaller
> bricks and tuos in the tongs which is some multiple of 1kg. I'm
> curious if you find your tongs in Chinatown or basically order like me.

I suspect I'd find them here in NYC if I looked hard enough, but I've never
come across leaf bound tongs of pu'erh cakes in Chinatown other than at the
oft' mentioned Tea Gallery, which is off-Chinatown. I order by mail
or buy from The Tea Gallery. I suspect that the leaf binding will go the way
of the reed weaving around Chianti bottles. Soon it will all be plastic and
we'll pay a premium for natural leaf. Already, lots of "tongs" come in
cardboard round boxes. What's the world coming to?
Michael

Balt wrote:
> Hi,
>
> to pu-erh lovers/collectors I have a question
>
> How do you store your pu-erh ?
> Where ?
> I live in a block of flats, so I'm somehow limited in getting the right
> place to store my tea...
>
> thanks
>
> Tomas

I have seen, and/or use myself, several methods that lend themselves to
Flats or Apartments. Natrual Reed clothes hampers, wooden file
cabinets, wooden chests similar to a foot locker, and I use a wooden
bread box for smaller amounts. Be cautious of any inherent odors in
your storage container, and it should NOT be airtight.

The oxidation process requires oxygen so you want adequete air flow but
not a breeze. In other words don't seal it up in a plastic bag. It is
absolutely imperative to keep the storage space free from odors. A
shelf in a nice dry, odor free, closet will do nicely. Don't keep it in
the same room as the cat litter box, or in your Living Room if you
smoke a lot of cigars etc.

How much puerh are planning on storing? If you are space challenged you
probably dont want to store too much.

Mike
http://www.pu-erh.net

Actually, the biggest problem is, that I'm on the south side and in
summer its about 38 Celsius (100 Farenhreit) in here.. and I think that
it does not good thinks to the tea...

Mike Petro napísal(a):
> How much puerh are planning on storing? If you are space challenged you
> probably dont want to store too much.

Balt wrote:
> Actually, the biggest problem is, that I'm on the south side and in
> summer its about 38 Celsius (100 Farenhreit) in here.. and I think that
> it does not good thinks to the tea...

If you store your stuff in a closet/cupboard away from sunlight, the
temperature in the storage unit shouldn't reach that high.

Tea has been stored for years in Hong Kong where temperature reaches
the mid 30s in the summer with high humidity to boot. They age just
fine. You have to be careful though about mould, that's the only
concern. If your area's not too damp, then it's probably ok. Moisture
is a bigger enemy than heat (although you need moisture for the tea to
age).

MarshalN
http://www.xanga.com/MarshalN

I'm about to rent a storage space at an offsite wine storage facilty
where the temperature is kept between 55- 58F and humidity kept at
about 65%. I'm just going to keep at home what I want to consume for
the short term. It's going to cost me about $10/month for the rent of
a wooden box that can fit 12 cases of wines (that would probably fit 50
or more tongs of pu'er). The wooden box closes properly with small
crevices along the edges to allow minimal air flow and humidity control
within the box itself. Cheap and worry free.

The only problem is the non-existent temperature and humidity
variations througout the year, which I've been told might not be
optimum for aging pu'ers (variation is better and more natural). I've
never gotten any concrete information on this, however. It's all
speculation.

Phyll


MarshalN wrote:
> Balt wrote:
> > Actually, the biggest problem is, that I'm on the south side and in
> > summer its about 38 Celsius (100 Farenhreit) in here.. and I think that
> > it does not good thinks to the tea...
>
> If you store your stuff in a closet/cupboard away from sunlight, the
> temperature in the storage unit shouldn't reach that high.
>
> Tea has been stored for years in Hong Kong where temperature reaches
> the mid 30s in the summer with high humidity to boot. They age just
> fine. You have to be careful though about mould, that's the only
> concern. If your area's not too damp, then it's probably ok. Moisture
> is a bigger enemy than heat (although you need moisture for the tea to
> age).
>
> MarshalN
> http://www.xanga.com/MarshalN

Correction on the above, the rental box can contain 24 Californian wine
cases, which is slighly smaller than the standard Bordeaux case size.
This can fit probably 50 tongs of pu'er or even more if jam packed.

Phyll

Phyll wrote:
> I'm about to rent a storage space at an offsite wine storage facilty
> where the temperature is kept between 55- 58F and humidity kept at
> about 65%. I'm just going to keep at home what I want to consume for
> the short term. It's going to cost me about $10/month for the rent of
> a wooden box that can fit 12 cases of wines (that would probably fit 50
> or more tongs of pu'er). The wooden box closes properly with small
> crevices along the edges to allow minimal air flow and humidity control
> within the box itself. Cheap and worry free.
>
> The only problem is the non-existent temperature and humidity
> variations througout the year, which I've been told might not be
> optimum for aging pu'ers (variation is better and more natural). I've
> never gotten any concrete information on this, however. It's all
> speculation.
>
> Phyll
>
>
> MarshalN wrote:
> > Balt wrote:
> > > Actually, the biggest problem is, that I'm on the south side and in
> > > summer its about 38 Celsius (100 Farenhreit) in here.. and I think that
> > > it does not good thinks to the tea...
> >
> > If you store your stuff in a closet/cupboard away from sunlight, the
> > temperature in the storage unit shouldn't reach that high.
> >
> > Tea has been stored for years in Hong Kong where temperature reaches
> > the mid 30s in the summer with high humidity to boot. They age just
> > fine. You have to be careful though about mould, that's the only
> > concern. If your area's not too damp, then it's probably ok. Moisture
> > is a bigger enemy than heat (although you need moisture for the tea to
> > age).
> >
> > MarshalN
> > http://www.xanga.com/MarshalN

Balt wrote:
> Actually, the biggest problem is, that I'm on the south side and in
> summer its about 38 Celsius (100 Farenhreit) in here.. and I think that
> it does not good thinks to the tea...

Roy Fong claims high heat variations are good, the biggest danger is
wind blowing over the puer and carrying away valuable microbes and
spores. However based on the types of tea I have tasted and their
varied storage conditions, I have come to believe that humidity is more
important, and that periods of high humidity varied with dryness make
for good aging circumstances. I would be concerned about the cakes
getting too dry before I worry about too hot.

I have considered getting a humidity-controlled cabinet humidor that
would ordinarily hold cigars. Any thoughts, experts?

Danica wrote:
> I have considered getting a humidity-controlled cabinet humidor that
> would ordinarily hold cigars. Any thoughts, experts?

My thought is that that would be too airtight, and that it would cost a
fortune to make one big enough to store more than one or two cakes. If
you want to set up a little controlled-humidity chamber so that you can
experiment with humidity fluctuation (an interesting idea) then I would
recommend getting a large-enough tupperware container and one of these:

http://www.cupojoes.com/cgi-bin/dept...h=DD&tier2=147
You could also get water-retaining crystals that are available at
tobacco stores. They come in little vials and are designed to keep
humidity at 70%. This is the cheapo way of controlling humidity. An
actual Credo humidification unit costs hundreds of dollars (or several
good tongs, if you want to think of it that way).

Balt wrote:
> Hi,
>
> to pu-erh lovers/collectors I have a question
>
> How do you store your pu-erh ?
> Where ?
> I live in a block of flats, so I'm somehow limited in getting the right
> place to store my tea...
>
> thanks
>
> Tomas

Hi Balt,

Check out this article on Pu'er tea at
http://www.chinaflairtea.com/guide_puer.html. There are also other
pu'er articles at this site.

Bill