Re: Accelerating Sheng Aging
Well, this post went all over the place and left me pretty confused but I hope that you'll still work with me. I went broke for a few years after just getting into tea and I totally disappeared from here but I'm getting back on my feet and I just bought a veritable feast from puerhshop.com. My first venture outside of the store bought variety. It's about 50/50 shou and sheng. My environment is pretty humid (suburban Maryland) during the warmer months and I'm thinking of just separating these bricks and tuos in labeled paper bags in a cardboard box and leaving it in a closet. Should I separate the shous and shengs? What do you think of ziplock bags? Does the plastic affect the flavor? Even for smaller quantities? Any advice would be appreciated.
Re: Accelerating Sheng Aging
I definitely recommend storing your ripe and raw tea in different locations. For your raw tea, you might even consider organizing by region or pungency or age (depending on how much space you have available and such).
As for plastic bags, I am not a fan, but I have to use them out of necessity because of the sheer volume of samples that I have. One of my concerns with plastic bags is that, if air-tight, they may not allow aging to occur at the same rate (say, as paper-wrapped tea). I don't have enough experience or information on that topic -- it's just gut feeling. One of the other concerns is definitely the aroma/flavor issue, as you mention. In this case, the best advice I have is to air the sample out (whether in a clay jar or something else) for a day or two (which is probably a good recommendation anyway).
At one point, I had bought a bunch of small clay cups to hold samples, which worked for awhile, but they take up a lot of space and were hard to stack (unlike bags, which you can mush into piles wherever). And I'll be moving in a few months (*shudder*) and I'll have to re-bag all of them when that happens... *sigh*
As for plastic bags, I am not a fan, but I have to use them out of necessity because of the sheer volume of samples that I have. One of my concerns with plastic bags is that, if air-tight, they may not allow aging to occur at the same rate (say, as paper-wrapped tea). I don't have enough experience or information on that topic -- it's just gut feeling. One of the other concerns is definitely the aroma/flavor issue, as you mention. In this case, the best advice I have is to air the sample out (whether in a clay jar or something else) for a day or two (which is probably a good recommendation anyway).
At one point, I had bought a bunch of small clay cups to hold samples, which worked for awhile, but they take up a lot of space and were hard to stack (unlike bags, which you can mush into piles wherever). And I'll be moving in a few months (*shudder*) and I'll have to re-bag all of them when that happens... *sigh*
Re: Accelerating Sheng Aging
That's why I'm thinking of paper bags in boxes for long-term storage and small quantities in plastic bags (costs less and easier to store) for more immediate consumption. I've only tried one sheng and it's very different from shou so you're right, it makes sense to keep them apart so they stay distinct in flavor. Any comments on puerhshop.com for quality/dollar and any other recommendations? Thanks for your reply.
Re: Accelerating Sheng Aging
This section of TeaChat has a number of reviews on various places, which can give you some indication of places.
Puerhshop is a good state-side vendor with a wide variety and reasonable prices on samples (and shipping). In my personal opinion, the vendor's descriptions can sometimes be less useful, because they tend to focus on popularity and rarity of the tea, vice the taste.
Other places worth checking:
Yunnan Sourcing has a spectacular selection and variety. It's based in China, but recently opened up a US site.
Essence of Tea is an awesome vendor based in the UK. Nice selection of older teas, and produces a very nice collection of new teas each year.
Hou De is based in Texas; most of their pu'erh teas are on the older side.
Then there's Jas-etea, Bana tea, Seven Cups, and many, many more (on eBay, you have the Red Lantern and the Dragon Tea House, plus many many more). I've bought from a wide variety of vendors over the years (all these here and more), so you have a lot of choices.
Every place has teas that vary on the quality/dollar, so that's hard for me to say w/o getting really subjective...
Puerhshop is a good state-side vendor with a wide variety and reasonable prices on samples (and shipping). In my personal opinion, the vendor's descriptions can sometimes be less useful, because they tend to focus on popularity and rarity of the tea, vice the taste.
Other places worth checking:
Yunnan Sourcing has a spectacular selection and variety. It's based in China, but recently opened up a US site.
Essence of Tea is an awesome vendor based in the UK. Nice selection of older teas, and produces a very nice collection of new teas each year.
Hou De is based in Texas; most of their pu'erh teas are on the older side.
Then there's Jas-etea, Bana tea, Seven Cups, and many, many more (on eBay, you have the Red Lantern and the Dragon Tea House, plus many many more). I've bought from a wide variety of vendors over the years (all these here and more), so you have a lot of choices.
Every place has teas that vary on the quality/dollar, so that's hard for me to say w/o getting really subjective...
Re: Accelerating Sheng Aging
In my opinion the best way to age tea of any kind is to live a very long time.
Happy 2012
Happy 2012
Re: Accelerating Sheng Aging
Hello-
I am new to the world of Puer; however, I am living and learning in YUNNAN, CHINA (云南,中国). I have not heard anyone talk about breaking up bings (饼) of puer; however, purchasing puer in loose leaf, chunks or small (think single serving sizes), it will age faster because the air around it ages the tea. Puer comes in several sizes- mushroom shapes, small bowls, large bowls (but not 357grams). There are other sizes and shapes, but those are the most common for consumption. The mushroom shapes and large bowls were designed to quicken the aging process (due to increased surface area and higher air flow).
Yes, do NOT store the tea with other flavors of teas (like flower teas or green teas). Do NOT mix odors- you want to keep the tea flavored only by puer.
I completely understand not wanting to purchase mass amounts of puer to age it so you like it. But, it can be worth it (believe me, I have tried well aged teas!).
-xiai
I am new to the world of Puer; however, I am living and learning in YUNNAN, CHINA (云南,中国). I have not heard anyone talk about breaking up bings (饼) of puer; however, purchasing puer in loose leaf, chunks or small (think single serving sizes), it will age faster because the air around it ages the tea. Puer comes in several sizes- mushroom shapes, small bowls, large bowls (but not 357grams). There are other sizes and shapes, but those are the most common for consumption. The mushroom shapes and large bowls were designed to quicken the aging process (due to increased surface area and higher air flow).
Yes, do NOT store the tea with other flavors of teas (like flower teas or green teas). Do NOT mix odors- you want to keep the tea flavored only by puer.
I completely understand not wanting to purchase mass amounts of puer to age it so you like it. But, it can be worth it (believe me, I have tried well aged teas!).
-xiai