I am new here. My name is Antoine, i am 40 and live in Paris (France). I am a real tea addict. My preference goes to chinese teas, particularly Pu Erh and lightly oxydized Oolong, but i am open to all and drink all teas.
As the Pu Erh get better with time, i would like to store some cakes for aging, but have no idea of the "technique"...
Do you have any clue on the topic? what are the perfect temperature, moist level ... ? are there better material for the can ? All knowledge on the subject is welcome!!
pilo_ is the master of Pu'er. You should visit his website, I think there is info there about it.
formatting link
But, I'm fairly sure it's safe to say that it should be aged in an open environment with adequate airflow and a minimum of moisture; don't worry about a can or anything. The temp should be warm.
read the site. heh.
Mydnight
-------------------- thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.
Got that nessage board up and running yet for your website? I didn't think so. Here's a clue. Put up a link to a free blog website and promote yourself over there.
Promote himself? His site isn't a business site, it's just lots of useful information about pu erh. Why would you have anything against someone who is just providing information? Besides, someone linked it first and he just replied.
I have never used that nickname, pilo_ is someone else!
You have me and this other person confused, or at least our nicknames confused. I have always used my real name on the Usenet, both here and on rec.kites years ago.
Mike, Thank you so much for creating your wonderful Puerh website! The Puerh factories should pay you a commission. The Vendor List is very useful, with links to vendors like: Silk Road Teas (David Lee Hoffman) 415-488-9017 Michael Ryan
formatting link
and
formatting link
Jing Tea Shop
formatting link
Seven Cups Teas
formatting link
and many other vendors. I enjoyed seeing your awesome 90 Puerh collection at
Actually if I understood my Chinese sources right, it is good to have puerhs moved for a short time to a less dry places, so they absorb some moisture and then back to drier (but never too dry) environment. That way it "breathes" and the bacteria not die out from drying out. Remember - there are very few really dry places in China. I know that the teas that I have here in Nevada are too dry and do not age well. It looks like the famous "caves" work real well in Chinese humid climate and not that well in drier zones. France is not too dry, anyway, so you may be in a good place to age puers without extra effort. But even then, moving it from place with less humidity to drier places ripen them better. The best way to age puers, however, is to have a really knowledgeable Chinese trader to take a look and smell them once -twice a year and follow his recommendations.
When you say that it's best to move the cakes to less dry places for short time, what "time" do you mean? one couple of weeks every year or something like that?
The same environmental conditions for ageing puerh are the same for ageing cheese even down to the caves in France if you want the good stuff. I think the tobacco and dairy industry could make a gourmet puerh if they wanted. The processes are similar except for the staple. A leaf is a leaf and fermentation is fermentation (not oxidation). I wrap my cakes in cheesecloth to allow them to breath and reduce direct exposure to elements. I think the optimum condition for storing puerh is the same as loose tea dry,dark,cool such as my basement in Western US. I think the best environmental controll would be the use of a humidor. Our professional baseball team started using one last year to keep the balls from drying out so they wouldn't fly out of the park. Statistics have shown it works. Here is a tip: If the wrapper on your puerh cracks or breaks when removed then I'd guess the cake is at least
I am curious where you got this information. You are the second tea connoisseur in the USA that I have heard this from and I highly respect the other gentleman as well. I suspect it came from either Roy Fong or David Hoffman but I disagree with it nonetheless. The thing is that I have asked this exact same question to many people in China who are in the business. Factories, Vendors, Tea Market Owners, as well as some very serious collectors who have collections worth thousands of dollars and not a single one of them have corroborated this practice.
When I asked the question often what I got was more don'ts than do's. I have documented the don'ts fairly well on my website but I have had a difficult time nailing down specific do's. I got many different answers but when taking the natural climate of the person answering the question into consideration I drew some conclusions. The most commonly used conditions were around 70% relative humidity and 75-85 degrees F. In really humid areas like Hong Kong air conditioned warehouse are used, in Kunming unconditioned warehouses are used, and yes in some areas of Xishuangbanna caves were used. The closest thing to the practice you mention that I have heard was that some vendors rotate their stock to even out the way a large stockpile ages. The reasoning being that Qi Zis in the middle didn't have as much air flow as bundles on the outer layers of a large stack of puer bundles.
With regards to the small amount puer that most individuals would have in their homes I would recommend one or more of the larger zisha clay canisters that are available. They breathe adequately and they are attractive. For example I have one that holds 9 whole bingchas. Bamboo wrapped Qi Zi stacks do not require such a container, in China they simply use loosely woven baskets to hold the Qi Zis. The fact is that conditions that are "comfortable" for most humans will suffice for aging puer and the average climate controlled home will do just fine. Attics and basements may or may not be suitable. The main thing is to avoid the don'ts, suffocation, extremes of humidity and temperature, odors, and moisture,
Mike
formatting link
On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 05:12:33 GMT, "Alex Chaihorsky" cast caution to the wind and posted:
OK, Mike - You do it your way, we do it our way and in 30 years lets get together and see who is right :) :) My info coming from Roy and two different Taiwan tea traders.
When I go to SF (I live in Nevada which is very dry) I usually take my puerhs in a large wooden box with me and have them breethe ocean air for several hours while me and my friends cook shashlik on the beach (making sure the crate sits upwind from the grill). It feels right and attracts pretty women who strolls aimlessly along the beach. Many a romantic victory was won this way :) :) I also feel like my puerhs know that I try hard to treat them with love and respect and share my life with them. Somehow romantic ladies find this irresistable. So, even if I lose something in puerhs fermenting, I make up for that and much more in other areas. Just one of my examples of how else puerhs (and teas in general) can be used to increase love and humanity.
He mentioned once in a post that he used a tea box as a "Rosetta Stone". He therefore feels that he owns a copyright on the term anytime it is associated with tea translation. My position has always been that I did not get the idea for my "Puerh Rosetta Page" from him, the term "Rosetta" is commonly used for projects related to translation in all sectors.
Actually he was bitter towards me and tried to run me off long before I added the "Rosetta Page" to my site. I firmly believe that I could delete the page and he would still try to run me off. Life goes on.....
Mike
On Sat, 8 Jan 2005 18:58:41 -0600, Derek cast caution to the wind and posted:
Not really any difference. I recommend a zisha clay canister for loose leaf puer. Furthermore, most loose leaf puer is black puer and does not benefit from oxidation nearly as much as green puer does.
Mike
On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 02:53:32 GMT, Gary cast caution to the wind and posted:
DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.