For people interested in reviewing experimentation about differences in heated temperature storage (or just at varying temperatures) the Late Steeps blog contains long term controlled experiment results. That author also discusses use of sealed pouches as a storage option, and how long it takes to condition cakes to a specific humidity level.
I feel called out - planning my boveda pack lab day now 😀 I’ll email you soon… I ordered some sensors for co2 and relative humidity to track puer aging based on what we talked about previously
I store my cakes over at my mothers house in her basement. It’s phenomenal,same temperature year round,ah,the humidity changes,to be sure. I keep them in a cabinet made out of cane,or bamboo,with weaved raffia in the front,it is enclosed,but definitely not airtight,it breathes. So far,I am pleased with this arrangement. Btw,my mother does not like the taste of these teas🤣 Oh well,all the more for me!😅
eventually, you'll run out of oxygen in the bag, the aging process will slow down and the tea will take a distinct aroma, quite enjoyable but it tends to make every tea smell similar. I'd still recommend to open the bags once every six months.
@@farmerleaf61 Ok, will air some of my cakes then reseal them, just to "replenish the air" inside, though the air has probably gone stale over the years LOL. Another reason why I seal them is due to jassid/bugs which are attracted to my tea. For some reason I found spiders in my cupboard which indicates that they are preying on SOMETHING which could be feasting on some of my teacakes which are unsealed.. Kind of concerned... Do you think that is the reason for the spiders?
This is what I use. I posed about it on the discord in the storage channel. Other folks have posted the ones they use. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FLF3L62
@@Kyrox2 i know right. seems senseless to make them so costly, unless motivated be extreme markups. anyway, thanks for the tip and will investigate the restaurant supply approach for now. otherwise, will have to “smuggle” some across the border on a future road trip 🤪
In a sealed environment, the humidity will be stable whatever the temperature, because the water cannot escape. You have water in the air and in the tea cake. If temperature rises, the air can host more water, relative humidity will decrease. But that decrease in relative humidity will create a pull from the tea cake, suddenly, the water in the tea cake wants to escape into the air. But the volume of air in the sealed pouch is very small, it can hold only a couple micro-liters of water. A negligible amount of water leaves the cake and cause the relative humidity to increase at the same point as it was before the temperature change. What really matters in the aging rate of a cake is the water content inside the cake, but it is hard to measure on the spot. If you place the cake in a confined environment, the relative humidity will adjust according to the water content in the cake. This is a quick way to measure the actual water content in the cake: place it in a mylar bag and check the humidity of the sealed air. We would just need a calibration curve for this.
5:40 "cow shyte" that's how my stepmom described a Yiwu Sheng Pu Erh when I asked her to try it as a non tea drinker. It stuck with me since every time I drink it, wet hay, cow barn and then cow shyte. Of course I don't mention it when I introduce it to someone, don't want to disgust them right away 😂
The only anecdote I can add from my experience of storing tea is that I had to move my tea collection to a room which had a wood stove. After one winter of being in that room where it got quite warm the Dian hongs and other Yunnan black teas I had went from good to great! So much flavor compared to when I first purchased them. Now, I don't know if it was the heat or just the time or both but I noticed a big difference. Here in New York State my house goes through the 4 seasons some months are hot and humid and some cold and dry and everything in-between and my house is old and not totally insulated. It's going to be fun to see how my tea reacts to the different climates over the years.
I live in Albuquerque... it's classified as a cold semi-arid climate... hot and dry summers and mild and dry winters... average humidity of 44%. Is keeping my tea in plastic bins in my upstairs closet good or do I need a humidor?
Funny, I just thought about how I should store my Pu Erh Cakes as winter is coming. I also came to the same solution, that keeping them in their bags and checking humidity and re hydrate once in a while would be the best way. The only thing I'm not so sure about is the temperature. In winter I keep the temperature just around 20°C. My white tea is sitting in a pumidor at 28°C right now. But maybe I should build another pumidor for the Pu Erh Cakes aswell....
I store my tea cakes inside of a thick clay jar designed for that purpose. What do you think of this approach? The jar isn't completely airtight, but close to.
For people interested in reviewing experimentation about differences in heated temperature storage (or just at varying temperatures) the Late Steeps blog contains long term controlled experiment results. That author also discusses use of sealed pouches as a storage option, and how long it takes to condition cakes to a specific humidity level.
mgualt.com/tealog/2017/12/14/conditioning-experiment/
This article is very interesting
I feel called out - planning my boveda pack lab day now 😀
I’ll email you soon… I ordered some sensors for co2 and relative humidity to track puer aging based on what we talked about previously
Does this also apply to white tea cakes?
yes
I store my cakes over at my mothers house in her basement.
It’s phenomenal,same temperature year round,ah,the humidity changes,to be sure.
I keep them in a cabinet made out of cane,or bamboo,with weaved raffia in the front,it is enclosed,but definitely not airtight,it breathes.
So far,I am pleased with this arrangement.
Btw,my mother does not like the taste of these teas🤣
Oh well,all the more for me!😅
I like putting the cake into an airtight ziplock bag, and seal it away for years without opening. That's the best way to preserve as much aroma.
eventually, you'll run out of oxygen in the bag, the aging process will slow down and the tea will take a distinct aroma, quite enjoyable but it tends to make every tea smell similar. I'd still recommend to open the bags once every six months.
@@farmerleaf61 Ok, will air some of my cakes then reseal them, just to "replenish the air" inside, though the air has probably gone stale over the years LOL. Another reason why I seal them is due to jassid/bugs which are attracted to my tea. For some reason I found spiders in my cupboard which indicates that they are preying on SOMETHING which could be feasting on some of my teacakes which are unsealed.. Kind of concerned... Do you think that is the reason for the spiders?
@@Spiritchaser93 you could try clay jar. I use big jar to store my cake, the aroma still continues to grow.
For folks in the US, the 6 qt round cambro bins work well for storage. They fit 7-8 357g cakes and the top half can fit 400g cakes.
polyethylene or polypropylene?
This is what I use. I posed about it on the discord in the storage channel. Other folks have posted the ones they use. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FLF3L62
@@Kyrox2 awesome. thank you. it’s more than double the price here in Canada for some reason 🤷🏻♂️
Yuck. Are there any restaurant supply stores near you? They might carry them or something of a similar size.
@@Kyrox2 i know right. seems senseless to make them so costly, unless motivated be extreme markups. anyway, thanks for the tip and will investigate the restaurant supply approach for now. otherwise, will have to “smuggle” some across the border on a future road trip 🤪
Also want to add, that by changing temperature, you also change the humidity level - even in an air sealed enviroment.
It's an physical effect
In a sealed environment, the humidity will be stable whatever the temperature, because the water cannot escape. You have water in the air and in the tea cake. If temperature rises, the air can host more water, relative humidity will decrease. But that decrease in relative humidity will create a pull from the tea cake, suddenly, the water in the tea cake wants to escape into the air. But the volume of air in the sealed pouch is very small, it can hold only a couple micro-liters of water. A negligible amount of water leaves the cake and cause the relative humidity to increase at the same point as it was before the temperature change.
What really matters in the aging rate of a cake is the water content inside the cake, but it is hard to measure on the spot. If you place the cake in a confined environment, the relative humidity will adjust according to the water content in the cake. This is a quick way to measure the actual water content in the cake: place it in a mylar bag and check the humidity of the sealed air. We would just need a calibration curve for this.
@@farmerleaf61 thank you for clarifying
Answered my questions, thank you so much.
5:40 "cow shyte" that's how my stepmom described a Yiwu Sheng Pu Erh when I asked her to try it as a non tea drinker. It stuck with me since every time I drink it, wet hay, cow barn and then cow shyte. Of course I don't mention it when I introduce it to someone, don't want to disgust them right away 😂
The only anecdote I can add from my experience of storing tea is that I had to move my tea collection to a room which had a wood stove. After one winter of being in that room where it got quite warm the Dian hongs and other Yunnan black teas I had went from good to great! So much flavor compared to when I first purchased them. Now, I don't know if it was the heat or just the time or both but I noticed a big difference. Here in New York State my house goes through the 4 seasons some months are hot and humid and some cold and dry and everything in-between and my house is old and not totally insulated. It's going to be fun to see how my tea reacts to the different climates over the years.
I live in Albuquerque... it's classified as a cold semi-arid climate... hot and dry summers and mild and dry winters... average humidity of 44%.
Is keeping my tea in plastic bins in my upstairs closet good or do I need a humidor?
Funny, I just thought about how I should store my Pu Erh Cakes as winter is coming. I also came to the same solution, that keeping them in their bags and checking humidity and re hydrate once in a while would be the best way. The only thing I'm not so sure about is the temperature. In winter I keep the temperature just around 20°C. My white tea is sitting in a pumidor at 28°C right now. But maybe I should build another pumidor for the Pu Erh Cakes aswell....
I store my tea cakes inside of a thick clay jar designed for that purpose. What do you think of this approach? The jar isn't completely airtight, but close to.
No, now they smell like clay, bad
@@rebirthofthecool5619 yixing clay
@@Mandragara I'm pulling your leg
I love the cow shit tooo
I prefer horse. And I actually found a Tea that smells like it.
I store my Pu Erh in a humidor sometimes even next to cigars. I don't mind if it's gonna taste a bit like a fine tobacco.
NO! Now it will give you cancer
I use my crap puer cakes as a sponge to wash my fishes
🤷 'promosm'