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Maybe this has been posted before but I haven't seen it. What do you guys do with your beengs, bricks, tuochas etc do you break them up and store your Pu in canisters or bags or do you just break off what you will use for that brew and re-wrap them back up? I never know what to do.

Billy

Well, I hope you are doing it right, cause if you aren't your puer is ruined forever.

I am doing it right, just wasn't sure if I was supposed to break the whole thing at once or not.

I was trying to be funny, and obviously failing.

Do what you would like, both are acceptable. Although for puerh I really like I have some yixing jars I break it up and put it in. They really enhance the flavor of the tea over time, but are very expensive. Shu benifits most from this IMO.

Thanks for the reply, yeah I missed the humor in your post sorry I like the idea of the yixing pots. Honestly, I feel like I am supposed to break them up and let them breath, and its kinda weird just breaking off pieces and only loosening up 1 side. I guess I need a storage solution if I am to break them all up.

Now I don't mean break them up when I get them, break them up as I use them, is that clear as mud? Keep the beeng in tact until I am ready to drink it then break it up and use what I want and store the rest.

Breaking up the whole thing is useful if you're planning to consume it in the short term. But if you're storing it, most people believe it's better to keep the tea intact (i.e., compressed).

With tea that's wetter stored, breaking it up and airing it out for a while (once you're at the point where you're going to consume it regularly), will really help reduce some of the storage taste. A metal cookie box or a ceramic jar (with a lot of empty space in either case) will work pretty well.

wyardley wrote:Breaking up the whole thing is useful if you're planning to consume it in the short term. But if you're storing it, most people believe it's better to keep the tea intact (i.e., compressed).

With tea that's wetter stored, breaking it up and airing it out for a while (once you're at the point where you're going to consume it regularly), will really help reduce some of the storage taste. A metal cookie box or a ceramic jar (with a lot of empty space in either case) will work pretty well.

+1 on this.How are you storing? I may have asked this on another site.

tenuki wrote:I was trying to be funny, and obviously failing.

Do what you would like, both are acceptable. Although for puerh I really like I have some yixing jars I break it up and put it in. They really enhance the flavor of the tea over time, but are very expensive. Shu benifits most from this IMO.

agree I like to put my favorites in jars... but those jars are pricy...

mr mopu wrote:

wyardley wrote:Breaking up the whole thing is useful if you're planning to consume it in the short term. But if you're storing it, most people believe it's better to keep the tea intact (i.e., compressed).

With tea that's wetter stored, breaking it up and airing it out for a while (once you're at the point where you're going to consume it regularly), will really help reduce some of the storage taste. A metal cookie box or a ceramic jar (with a lot of empty space in either case) will work pretty well.

+1 on this.How are you storing? I may have asked this on another site.

Well, I currently just break off what I need and rewrap the cake in its paper and store it in a cardboard box with like Pu’s in a closet with stable humidity and temp away from sunlight, I never mix Shu and Sheng for storage.
Well, I currently just break off what I need and rewrap the cake in its paper and store it in a cardboard box with like Pu's in a closet with stable humidity and temp away from sunlight, I never mix Shu and Sheng for storage. or Cancel Delete This Reply Reply Edit

I don't know about you all, but I have experienced fresh (less than a few years old) pu that seems to go stale, if kept broken up and open to the air. I think if you're going to break it up, it might be wise to keep it in a low-airflow container.

Stuff to be drunk over a year or two gets broken up and stored in clay jars or canisters, especially if it is very compressed sheng or youngish shou. Really old cakes seem to come apart easily enough so they don't get broken up in one go. Stuff that has a long road ahead of it is kept as wrapped beengs.

I had some 2003 yiwu bricks and broke up a bit of one and found after a year, it seems to have aged better as broken up then as a very tightly compressed brick. So I broke up the rest of the brick. It will literally take me years to go through all the broken up brick. They are pieces about the size of a half dollar to quarter size. I left the other bricks as bricks. There is more surface are on the broken up parts, so it does oxidize faster. Whether that is good or not, can't tell. Seemed good, time will tell.

Another advantage of broken up pieces is that it can then easily be mixed. This may be heresy to the purist, but, for instance, the "young" 2003 yiwu mixed with shou adds a dimension to otherwise fairly plain tea.

I suppose it depends on how much tea you have, how long it will take to drink it and how many good storage jars you have. Really long term tea should probably really be kept as it was wrapped. The magic of rusty wires on bamboo holding in disintegrating cakes with song pin nei fei can be alluring.

Catfur wrote:I don't know about you all, but I have experienced fresh (less than a few years old) pu that seems to go stale, if kept broken up and open to the air. I think if you're going to break it up, it might be wise to keep it in a low-airflow container.

This is essential as oxidation will take its toll on any tea dissipating its aroma and flavor.

Excellent replies! I am learning a lot. Thanks for sharing your wisdom.