My tea-teacher has long advised that I expose newly-arrived pu’er to the air for at least two weeks prior to tasting it. I have learned that shu is incredibly better when aired. I flake some of it into a bowl and cover it with a paper towel. Then I tap my foot for fourteen days. When nineties sheng arrived with the leaves somewhat the worse for wetnitude, I used to despair. I’d consider my money ill-spent. But I have learned now not to judge nineties pu’er until it has aired for two months. I flake some of it up and leave it in a bowl as I do with shu, but for sixty days rather than fourteen. I’ve witnessed some truly tremendous evolutions. I cannot overstate this recommendation.
This the first time I've heard of "airing" puerh. I have heard that tea in general can suffer from "jetlag" and is best to leave it a few days after receiving an order. But this is something different. My natural inclination to keep my small collection of puerhs stored in a storage box (a pumidor) and the rest of my teas separately in sealed containers (tins). Do people here "air" their puerh? How and why?