Bingcha Storage Options

[pedant]

for storing individual cakes, kraft boxes are always an option:
https://www.chawangshop.com/tea-hardwar ... -cake.html

however, i've been using big ziplock bags.
several friends recently did a group buy for bingcha bags and sample bags, and i thought i'd share our findings.

here are some options we considered:
https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S- ... il-10-x-10
https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S- ... sable-Bags
https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S- ... sable-Bags

10"x10" should be enough to accommodate even bigger 500g cakes.

as far as polypropylene vs polyethylene...
PP bags have higher optical clarity and have more of a firm feel to them -- thin bags can feel 'crinkly'.
PE has a softer feel and is the material that typical ziplock bags you buy from the store are made of.
PE is also less staticy than PP, so if static charge buildup (trapping tea and dust particles) is a concern, PE is a better choice.
both PP and PE are food safe.

i sampled 2mil PP and 4mil PE, and both were nice. the PP bag was not unreasonably staticy, but i did see some particles clinging to it. how annoying this is depends on your climate (lower humidity -> more static).

we ended up getting a case of 4mil PE bags mostly because we thought they might be a little more durable, and 4mil PP bags were not available from uline in 10"x10" size.

please share other sources and ideas for storage materials

[mrmopu]

I have been using these.
https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/emer ... Mylar-Bags

[debunix]

Are you talking about storing them sealed? I store mine in ziplock bags, but not sealed

[pedant]

sometimes i seal them, sometimes i just use them as organizer sleeves in the pumidor and leave them open

[Noonie]

Is there a theory behind sealing them, or not sealing them? I’m not looking to store cakes long term, but I’m new to Pu’er and have ordered 4-5 cakes...that I’m planning to drink in the next x months. I was thinking that by consuming the tea soon, I don’t have to worry much about storage.

[pedant]

Is there a theory behind sealing them, or not sealing them? I’m not looking to store cakes long term, but I’m new to Pu’er and have ordered 4-5 cakes...that I’m planning to drink in the next x months. I was thinking that by consuming the tea soon, I don’t have to worry much about storage.

bags would probably be helpful for you.

sealing them permits less gas exchange. if the cake is at the correct moisture content, then sealing would be good to prevent it from drying out outside of a pumidor.

if a cake is dry, then having it sealed up in a bag inside of a pumidor is counterproductive.

however, partially sealing the bag or just using the bag as a sleeve in a pumidor can be nice.
you can use them as organizers. i don't necessarily want to re-wrap a cake every time i pry tea off of it, and older wrappers can be torn/eaten/fragile.
bags also prevent crumbs and debris from getting everywhere, and they may help better preserve volatiles over time.

bing_bag.jpg (120.2 KiB) Viewed 31083 times

i take the wrapper and fold it up, folding in the top/bottom edges first and the side edges second. this is because the top/bottom flaps can get in the way when inserting/removing the cake, so better to keep them tucked inside. then i slide the cake in behind the wrapper.

[teabug]

Has anyone here tried using stackable clay container?
Like these ones here:
https://de.aliexpress.com/item/10050032 ... de_order:1

https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005003 ... 9309%22%7D

[DailyTX]

Has anyone here tried using stackable clay container?
Like these ones here:
https://de.aliexpress.com/item/10050032 ... de_order:1

https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005003 ... 9309%22%7D

I have not tried the ones you linked but I have other Yixing/zisha canisters for lose puerh. The ones you linked do not look like air tight seal. So the quality of storage depended on your environment. If your living environment is good enough to age puerh, those will be fine for individual cakes. Eventually, you will start collecting more cakes, you may want to consider storages that can fit one or more tong of puerh.

[teabug]

Has anyone here tried using stackable clay container?
Like these ones here:
https://de.aliexpress.com/item/10050032 ... de_order:1

https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005003 ... 9309%22%7D

I have not tried the ones you linked but I have other Yixing/zisha canisters for lose puerh. The ones you linked do not look like air tight seal. So the quality of storage depended on your environment. If your living environment is good enough to age puerh, those will be fine for individual cakes. Eventually, you will start collecting more cakes, you may want to consider storages that can fit one or more tong of puerh.

Yes, very true. The amount of tea one can store is somewhat limited with those clay canisters. I intend to get a few (probably around 6 or maybe up to 8) for long term storage of promising and in my eyes expensive cakes. For me expensive cakes start at around $200 per young sheng bing cha. I’m talking classic 357g cakes. And since I intend to age the cakes and beeing the cheap skate that I am, I patiently wait for the black friday and end of year discount weeks, that some vendors do. So, my long term storage candidates from the spring harvest 2021 (I am planning on aging two cakes from 2021 harvest for about 10 years or maybe even longer) haven’t even arrived yet, which gives me the opportunity to muse about the ideal storage set up.
I have a medium size wooden chest in which I will be placing those clay canisters along with bing chas in sealed plastic bags and cardboard boxes. In my current set up, I have placed three shallow & large surface water containers in said wooden chest. That generates a relative humidity of 70% -75%. So the clay containers don’t need to be air tight. The humidity is probably even a bit too high at the moment.