I have some bricks of aged 1990 sheng puerh from Taiwan that I flaked about six months ago and put in yixing ceramic containers to store. One of the teas (a Menghai region large-leaf puerh) has taken on a fishy smell, which goes away if I leave the tea out overnight before I drink it.
My suspicion is that this is because of overactive microorganisms in an environment without enough oxygen. However these are non-glazed ceramic containers, which I thought would be appropriate for sheng puerh tea because they breathe. I know that cooked puerh is best stored in paper bags; now I'm wondering if that would be more appropriate for flaked sheng as well--at least an amount for immediate consumption.
I'm curious, what are your experiences with storing flaked sheng puerh? Do you just keep it in a brick and flake off whatever you need? If you flake it, what kind of containers do you use?
Looking forward to your responses.
Danica