Storage Failure

[oeroe]

This has been an interesting thread.

I have a few data points to add to the discussion.

I live in Finland, which is due to the need to warm our houses most of the year in practice extremely arid for pu'er. I have been drinking tea from about 2008, and pu'er has been an interest from quite early on. When I started to learn more on tea, there was really no pumidor discussion, people mostly tried the Asian wisdom of cardboard boxes, and then few experimented with wooden cabinets with water bowls for slight added humidity. I noticed that especially aged tea lost a lot of the soft, round character very fast, and there is a kind of sharp astringency which comes fast to old cakes which have been with me for a while. I didn't hoard much tea as the storage seemed like an issue.
2015 I went to Taiwan for the first time, and I brought back some more tea, and I started to think more seriously on storage. As I went more often to Asia and my language skills improved, I started to have so much tea around I just needed a solution. I opted for bovedas and ziplocks as temporary solution. I thought about plastic bins (I would have liked to store more tea together, as the Asian wisdom suggested), but I couldn't find a solution which didn't reek of plastic. I still haven't found a bin I'd be comfortable using, and the ziplock strategy has worked ok in the meanwhile.

With ziplocks, I have noticed (as have many others) that they leek moisture. I compensate by having more bovedas, and recharging them often. The cakes which spend a long time in the bag seem to do well, they don't develop the sharp astringency, and there are some positive signs of tastes changing. When a particular stack of cakes starts to go too low, I start to notice a deterioration, and if I open a specific cake often, the same happens. Shou seems to be much more resistant to these changes, and sheng which I've bought young has worked pretty ok, but the old trad shengs are the challenge.

I also tried some humidity-proof bags like mylar bags, but I had some moulding issues with the bags that were closed for too long time with the boveda inside. Leaky-ziplocks and frequent recharging seem to be safer.

I have been consciously trying to drink through my current stash for some years, and it has been surprisingly slow. Within the next few years I need to find a new solution, before I bring more tea to Finland. I'm thinking that I need to find a suitably non-smelly bin, maybe an old freezer, and make a rule to only open it 1/month or something. I would bring out a cake or a few quarters for use. Those I could store in a mylar with boveda or something for the short term. For the mid-term storage the bin which I don't open too often seems safest. A warming element might be a good idea.

For the long term, I have thought it is safest to keep the tea in Asia.


Another reflection is that some of my early cake purchases have done quite well. Some EoT cakes in the old style wrappers (when they had those blank white wrappers with some characters and a red stamp for the village name in English) are quite good now. Some harsher teas, like some dayi recipe cakes are still horrible. Those teas with strong character but low initial astringency seem to have done best.

As an extreme data point, I have a brick of heicha, originally exported to Mongolia and brought to Finland in the early 20th century, and stored here in an attic since then. It tastes very dusty, like an old tome, but there is an interesting buttery taste to it and a rather strong presence. Patiance is very poor, after a rinse there are two or three tasty steepings, then it fades off very abruptly. Not exactly a storage success, but not as complete failure as I would have thought.

[aet]

I'm thinking that I need to find a suitably non-smelly bin, maybe an old freezer, and make a rule to only open it 1/month or something. I would bring out a cake or a few quarters for use. Those I could store in a mylar with boveda or something for the short term.

The neat sollution is just any non-odor cabinet made of material which doesn't absorb the moisture ( like wood for example ) , which has a sealed door ( lke fridge or freezer.
My friend found 2nd hand wine cabinet .
I dont know how to get direct URL to the post on our FB page, hope that one works.

<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.p ... &width=500" width="500" height="723" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe>

[oeroe]

I dont know how to get direct URL to the post on our FB page, hope that one works.

Often there's a link in the "share via messenger" -menu, at least on desktop. That link worked as well.

But yes. Wine cabinet or dense enough wood might work well.

[aet]

But yes. Wine cabinet or dense enough wood might work well.

I woudn't suggest any wood at all. Wood absorbs the moisture and doesn't give it out , so you would have to keep some water inside ( sponge or small glass ) . At the same time , wood has some aroma and wet wood even boosted aroma. That will affect the tea.
The best is non odor plastic , glazed clay ( like jar ) or stainless steel , or something odor neutral which can't suck / absorbe the moisture.
Important is to keep the space around the cakes. That's why Im not fan of those whatever packs.
More moister = more space around the tea required. The moist has to be evenly disolved in the air and not concentrated at small area/s in high density.
If you have something in zip lock bag and high humidity, it's the recepie for mold or Jin Hua ( golden flowers ) inside of the cake. I understand it is ithe best sollution in matter of the space and cost efficiency ,but for the long run, I don't know.
You have to let the cakes breathe in their environment ( which you create with storage space ) and not stew them up in zip lock packs.

[Kelly]

This has been an interesting thread.

I have a few data points to add to the discussion.

I live in Finland, which is due to the need to warm our houses most of the year in practice extremely arid for pu'er. I have been drinking tea from about 2008, and pu'er has been an interest from quite early on. When I started to learn more on tea, there was really no pumidor discussion, people mostly tried the Asian wisdom of cardboard boxes, and then few experimented with wooden cabinets with water bowls for slight added humidity. I noticed that especially aged tea lost a lot of the soft, round character very fast, and there is a kind of sharp astringency which comes fast to old cakes which have been with me for a while. I didn't hoard much tea as the storage seemed like an issue...

Thanks for adding your experience. I noticed the same with regard to how the tea changed unfavorably. As for a container, I've been using and could recommend Coleman camping coolers. I'd had two in the garage for years, so any plastic odor had long since faded away and I find they work well for the purpose:

Tea storage coolers_600.jpg (208.01 KiB) Viewed 1767 times

Tea storage, small interior_800.jpg (198.15 KiB) Viewed 1767 times

Note, I no longer cut the mylar bags, but keep them sealed within the coolers to reduce contact with my 'foreign' air. The jar pictured within is a mason jar with a cut-out section of recycled plastic walmart bag inside (which is breathable). It contains a salt/water mixture I found on-line that keeps the rH between 68-70% at virtually no cost and only requires changing a couple of times a year. I would be happy to share this.

While all of this has greatly helped to preserve the cakes, it is not yet ideal. I'd mentioned earlier that I'd share the results of looking into vac sealing and found these:

Zwilling vac seal.jpg (20.34 KiB) Viewed 1767 times

I have only just ordered these and will test and report. After opening a fresh cake, the plan is to leave some tea in the mylar bag, in the humidor for daily use and re-vacuum seal some in the bags above in the humidor to store in the interim. Lastly I'll leave the unopened vac-sealed teas in the basement where it's also cool and bring them upstairs for 24hr before opening to ensure no condensation was introduced. Note, Hojo teas ship with a small packet labelled as '"ageless" oxygen absorber' within each vacuum sealed packaging - even samples. Opening these vac-sealed packs fills the room with tea aroma upon opening. My goal is to get as close to that as possible, so I can enjoy my tea as close to 'as-intended' as the years go by.