I've been looking for some insight into how you all prepare your samples before brewing. If the goal is to see how the cake would be - I would think to follow my usual procedure of what I do with cakes.... breaking up the cake and leaving it in a container with a 69% boveda pack for at least a month after receiving to rest before brewing.
I'm looking to see if anyone has some insight if its worth the extra work to rest/rehydrate with, and have done something similar.
On the other hand, I also kind of feel that resting probably wont change if I like a tea from the sample. Something along the lines of bad tea is bad tea, and good tea is good tea.
Do any of you do something similar with your samples?
How do you prepare your samples?
I think letting it rest for like 2 weeks with a Boveda pack (like one of those small 8g ones) in a room temperature is a very good idea.
While bad tea will be bad anyways, some of the good qualities can get muted quite a bit if the tea is not ready.
While bad tea will be bad anyways, some of the good qualities can get muted quite a bit if the tea is not ready.
Resting seems to be the general consensus. I typically use a zip lock bag to store my samples for a week or two before tasting the tea (assuming puerh). I try not to add or subtract anything so I can determine if this is a tea I would like to buy more or not.
Is pu really that sensitive? Have not noticed such huge differences. Also, if it is to test a tea to determine whether to buy in bulk, is it not better to submit it to worst case scenario to see how it is on its worst day?
Puerh is sensitive to temperature change especially for Sheng, just from personal experience. The flavor profiles diminish with cold weather here in the West. Storage condition influences pricing, so if a seller indicates Hong Kong storage, I would expect a bit more wet storage color, taste, and scent. Basic idea is if I am getting what I ordered. As for bulk purchase, it’s the million dollar question on what characteristics do I see this puerh evolve into in the next 5,10, 20 years haha.