Effect of pewter on puer

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jojosyc
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Joined: Wed Dec 29, 2021 4:04 am
Location: Singapore

Fri Dec 31, 2021 11:26 am

Hi everyone,

I have been using a pewter tea canister (looks similar to https://sg.royalselangor.com/peony-tea-caddy.html) to store some raw puer, specifically the 2007 Zhongcha 6311 purchased from @tealifehk. The tea was lovely when I received it, and I have been periodically drinking it in the past 5-6 months. However, today, I brewed it again, and there was a distinct bitterness to it that was definitely not there before. I think all brewing parameters were similar.

I wonder if that was an effect of the pewter on the tea, or perhaps the normal changes to the tea, or something else. I kept the tea inside the foil bag that it came from. Does anyone have any ideas?

Also, just generally, is pewter a good storage solution for puer - or any other tea - which I will be drinking in the next 6-12 months (not for aging)?

Appreciate any thoughts!
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Balthazar
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Fri Dec 31, 2021 1:23 pm

Afaik, pewter/tin canisters ares a popular choice for "waking up" tea in Malaysia, and I believe other places in Southeast Asia too. There's some info here (note that this guy is hardly neutral as he sells such canisters). Not sure about long term storage (most people prefer to store puer cakes intact, and I imagine a cake/tong size solution in pewter would cost a small fortune).

You write that the brewing parameters were the same as earlier - but how about your local climate? Has there been changes to temperature and/or humidity over the last six months that could explain the difference? I can't open your link for some reason - but I imagine you have broken up the tea and that we're not talking about a huge cake-size canister here. Do you have other puers that you have broken up and stored in something that's not pewter so that you can compare the results? Perhaps a combination of changes to local climate and the fact that the tea has been broken up that are the main culprits.
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Baisao
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Fri Dec 31, 2021 8:43 pm

I am aligned with @Balthazar and think there is an environmental reason for the difference.

One thing to note is that if you are using municipal water in the US (I do not know your location), there are often seasonal differences in water. A change in mineral content could make a radical difference in the taste of a tea.

One town I lived in had a lake source in the summer and a warm underground source in the winter. By the time we got used to one water, the city would change it on us. This is perhaps an extreme example but these changes are still common enough.
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OCTO
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Fri Dec 31, 2021 11:49 pm

I'm totally aligned with @Baisao and @Balthazar on this matter. You should try several types of canisters to see which works well for you. Local weather and humidity plays a very important factor in determining the end result of your Puerh stored for ageing.

In one hand, I'm proud that our local product (Royal Selangor) is indeed a very good quality pewter, on the other hand, I'm not 100% convinced that Pewter works well in ageing puerh. Just a minor realignment, well made pewter canisters are air tight. Hence not many use it to "awaken puerh" but rather to "revive" the flavours after waking the tea from slumber. Before introducing to air tight storage, we use any loose lid canisters or even brown envelopes to awaken our tea. The wet and humid weather here in Malaysia does wonders in waking teas that are given a constant flow of fresh air. Hence an air tight canister won't work when it comes to waking teas.

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The above are the non air-tight jars I use to awaken my PuErhs. Both serve different purposes. The NZWH jar is used for more aggressive sheng. I've been using it for the past 2 decades.... even empty, it smells of lovely sheng puerh. The green porcelain one I use for aged puerh which needs to be awaken and some storage smell removed. The inner walls of both jars are lined with calligraphy paper. Just as our fellow tea friends in the west needs hydration packs to keep humidity up, I use calligraphy paper as a form of humidity control to keep humidity down. Simple and cheap hack that never failed me. Non waxed puerh wrapper works equally well too.

Personally, me pewter canisters, cups and scoops are more for decorative purposes. Pewter is muting by nature. They are beautiful!... hahahaha.... But IMO, they suck the life out of my puerh... leaving them too smooth and bland to my liking. I would use it to absorb some unwanted storage odours from my tea.... after that, I will transfer to a simple foodgrade tin / porcelain canister (as shown below) which IMO are more tea friendly.

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This one is a double lid canister purchased in the 90s. It's thick walled. A lot firmer than the recent ones. Both equally well... just a personal liking for older things... hahahaha.....

I hope this provides a more in-depth explanation.

Cheers!!
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Balthazar
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Sat Jan 01, 2022 12:20 am

OCTO wrote:
Fri Dec 31, 2021 11:49 pm
Just a minor realignment, well made pewter canisters are air tight. Hence not many use it to "awaken puerh" but rather to "revive" the flavours after waking the tea from slumber.
An important distinction, thanks!
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OCTO
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Sat Jan 01, 2022 1:23 am

Balthazar wrote:
Sat Jan 01, 2022 12:20 am
OCTO wrote:
Fri Dec 31, 2021 11:49 pm
Just a minor realignment, well made pewter canisters are air tight. Hence not many use it to "awaken puerh" but rather to "revive" the flavours after waking the tea from slumber.
An important distinction, thanks!
Pleasure.... 🙏🏻
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jojosyc
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Location: Singapore

Sat Jan 01, 2022 6:52 am

Hello everyone,

I’m grateful for all the inputs!

I thought my profile would show my location, but guess not! I’m currently based in Singapore, but proudly Malaysian :) So the weather here is definitely consistently hot and humid, and the tea is stored in the middle section of my 4th floor apartment on a shelf about 1.5m above the floor. Given that, I don’t think the weather is the culprit, and that’s why I started my hypothesis from the pewter canister.

Thanks @OCTO, for sharing your thoughts on pewter, because it is a topic that I have been wondering about. I don’t intend to age teas in them; but will consume their contents in 6-12 months, like in this case.

I’m going to take some of the tea out and store them in another container side by side with the pewter, and see if there’s a difference in a couple of months’ time!
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wave_code
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Sat Jan 01, 2022 1:15 pm

Good topic! I've been curious about petwer and looking in to it a bit for storage as well as other things. I'd be keen to try a pewter canister against the nixing ones I'm currently using for waking up teas to see if it concentrates the aromas more. I've tried also just using paper envelopes with ok results- initially around 1 month noticing the tea being much more full and flavorful, but after a couple months starting to go the other direction again. I've tried using glass too, with pretty bad results actually. For longer term storage rather than waking I feel like I've mostly seen either white tea or oolongs stored in pewter, which would make sense given how differently they age. I recently was given a pewter sake set which I'll be trying the cups out for tea.
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OCTO
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Sun Jan 02, 2022 8:29 am

jojosyc wrote:
Sat Jan 01, 2022 6:52 am
Hello everyone,

I’m grateful for all the inputs!

I thought my profile would show my location, but guess not! I’m currently based in Singapore, but proudly Malaysian :) So the weather here is definitely consistently hot and humid, and the tea is stored in the middle section of my 4th floor apartment on a shelf about 1.5m above the floor. Given that, I don’t think the weather is the culprit, and that’s why I started my hypothesis from the pewter canister.

Thanks OCTO, for sharing your thoughts on pewter, because it is a topic that I have been wondering about. I don’t intend to age teas in them; but will consume their contents in 6-12 months, like in this case.

I’m going to take some of the tea out and store them in another container side by side with the pewter, and see if there’s a difference in a couple of months’ time!
Good to know! Hahaha…. I wouldn’t suggest the use of Pewter under our South East Asian climate.

Cheers!!
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jojosyc
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Location: Singapore

Mon Jan 03, 2022 8:56 am

Got it, @OCTO! The Selangor Pewter canisters sure look beautiful, though! Now I'll have to think of what to use them for... :?

I've purchased a couple of the food-grade airtight tin canisters that you suggested, and will do a comparison with the pewter. Do you recommend to use them to store all types of teas that I will be drinking on a daily basis for the next 2-3 months, e.g. yancha, black, dancong?
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OCTO
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Tue Jan 04, 2022 4:19 am

jojosyc wrote:
Mon Jan 03, 2022 8:56 am
Got it, OCTO! The Selangor Pewter canisters sure look beautiful, though! Now I'll have to think of what to use them for... :?

I've purchased a couple of the food-grade airtight tin canisters that you suggested, and will do a comparison with the pewter. Do you recommend to use them to store all types of teas that I will be drinking on a daily basis for the next 2-3 months, e.g. yancha, black, dancong?
You can try roasted Oolongs like DongDing or TGY.

Cheers!
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wave_code
Posts: 575
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Fri Mar 04, 2022 3:08 am

just FYI, according to Artistic Nippon on instagram- "Production of certain tin items (mainly tea caddies) at Osaka Tin Co. will be suspended on the 1st of April, 2022 until further notice. (Due to rising raw materials etc.)"

So, expect prices to jump big time - get your nice Japanese tin caddies while you can if you want them
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StoneLadle
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Sun Mar 20, 2022 11:13 am

Pewter is awesome for aging traditional Oolongs in... detrimental to PE in my opinion and as stated elsewhere...
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