TeaChat

Hello,

I ordered the following Pu Erh teas yesterday:

http://www.teaspring.com/Banzhang-Ye-Sheng.asp

http://www.teaspring.com/Haiwan-Lu-Hua-Zhuan-Cha.asp

http://www.teaspring.com/Jin-Fan-San-Ji.asp

My question is do I need to age them or can I drink them right away? Is it possible to drink part of one and then save the rest, or after you open them is it too late? How exactly do you age them?

-Thanks

rosenkraftlos wrote:Hello,

I ordered the following Pu Erh teas yesterday:

http://www.teaspring.com/Banzhang-Ye-Sheng.asp

http://www.teaspring.com/Haiwan-Lu-Hua-Zhuan-Cha.asp

http://www.teaspring.com/Jin-Fan-San-Ji.asp

My question is do I need to age them or can I drink them right away? Is it possible to drink part of one and then save the rest, or after you open them is it too late? How exactly do you age them?

-Thanks

Certainly all puerh can benefit from allowing it to age. However, your decision to age puerh is a personal one. Does the tea taste good to you in its current state? If so, why not drink it. I have beengs which I enjoy in their current green state so I drink them. However, I also have puerh that I feel will not age approriately so again, I have decided to drink them. Although most buy puerh to age, many puerh drinkers also enjoy pu in its green state.

Yes, it is possible to drink part and age the rest. In fact many do. Just open the wrapper carefully as not to tear it, break off the amount you want to enjoy and rewrap it and forget it in a closet somewhere. Dont worry about exposing the puerh to air in fact if facilitates the aging process.

I would not age the Jin Fan shan as I do not believe it will be a great benefit as it is a ripe puerh. Most ripe puerh which are aged are usually semi-ripe or are special for some reason or another. Aging ripe pu does not really make much sense as ripe puerh is made to be drunk now and will only age for roughly 5 to 7 years before it starts to lose its inherent qualities.

Hop

The first two are uncooked and will benefit from aging, however, you can drink as much as you like, and leave as little as you like to age. The third is cooked and is meant to be drunk now, but it can also benefit from a few years. 2006 is fairly young, so you might not even want to drink it for a few years.

Best of luck.

Thanks, both of you.

I will let you know when they arrive!

hop_goblin wrote:Dont worry about exposing the puerh to air in fact if facilitates the aging process.

This was my first thought when I read this. I know you have to try it to see if you want to drink it right away. But green tea oxidizes, not PuEhr? What if you have a big, raunchy fried food fest or make something loaded with curry. Or if you're like my MIL and have Glade Plug Ins in every single outlet in the house. Doesn't it pick up smell/flavors?

I guess, how would you know, you're used to how your house smells . . .

Ok, glade plugins should be a nono. However you make a good point in saying that you're used to the smell. I don't think an odor like that would transfer that easily, but after a few years I'm sure it'd be easy to pick out the taste. I think tasting the glade plugin would be a lot worse than smelling it.

Cooking shouldn't be a problem, unless you're storing your tea right next to the stove, or above the steam.

A good question for hopperz since he burns incense around his pu. (I think)

Fukamushi Dynasty wrote:Ok, glade plugins should be a nono. However you make a good point in saying that you're used to the smell. I don't think an odor like that would transfer that easily, but after a few years I'm sure it'd be easy to pick out the taste. I think tasting the glade plugin would be a lot worse than smelling it.

Cooking shouldn't be a problem, unless you're storing your tea right next to the stove, or above the steam.

A good question for hopperz since he burns incense around his pu. (I think)

Well, storage is of course and issue if you have smell good all over your house. Unfortunately, teas properties are such that they are very suseptible to orders in that they generally will absorb them. As Fukuamushi suggesting that I burn incense, well in fact I do, but I only burn them in my kitchen. Although I do have an occasional brick or beeng in my cubboard, I take the necessary precautions to make sure they are protected. I generally only keep a ripe beeng in my kitchen for easy access of which is wrapped in thick plastic as to make sure that none of the odors will infiltrate the pu.

I recommend, finding the farthest closet that you have from your kitchen, wrap your beengs in tissue paper around the wrapping and place them in a cardboard box. If you can not elevate the humidity at all in the closet, I would take them out on a humid day and let them sit outside for a hours. Most people who collect puerh have some sort of humidity control. I am lucky as my chosen closet remains a constant 60-70% humidity as it is next to the outside wall. I hope this helps.

hop_goblin wrote:

Fukamushi Dynasty wrote:Ok, glade plugins should be a nono. However you make a good point in saying that you're used to the smell.
Most people who collect puerh have some sort of humidity control. I am lucky as my chosen closet remains a constant 60-70% humidity as it is next to the outside wall. I hope this helps.

Like a cigar humidor . . . for tea cakes? Finding a place that can be humid that doesn't smell like the bathroom or laundry room is tough!

I hate Glade Plug-ins & Candles -- I have too many asthmatics in my house. My MIL has a Buddha incense burner -- Buddha's belly is black! All that stuff makes it hard to smell/taste your tea & food.

augie wrote:

hop_goblin wrote:

Fukamushi Dynasty wrote:Ok, glade plugins should be a nono. However you make a good point in saying that you're used to the smell.
Most people who collect puerh have some sort of humidity control. I am lucky as my chosen closet remains a constant 60-70% humidity as it is next to the outside wall. I hope this helps.

Like a cigar humidor . . . for tea cakes? Finding a place that can be humid that doesn't smell like the bathroom or laundry room is tough!

I hate Glade Plug-ins & Candles -- I have too many asthmatics in my house. My MIL has a Buddha incense burner -- Buddha's belly is black! All that stuff makes it hard to smell/taste your tea & food.

Yes, exactly like a humidor for cigars. However, it must not be cedar lined as the cedar oils can seep into the cakes. This is why many do not collect beengs as it is a invested project, both in time and resources along with the overwhelming uncertainty as to whether they will "age" correctly. However, if you want to try to collect here is one plausable solution. Get a good sized wooden chest such as a hope chest with a lid to place your beeng in; the most suitable ones will be an old one where the smell of laquor or wood as dissapated. Wrap your beengs in tissue paper to atleast so that the air will be somewhat filtered by the time it hits the beeng. Buy humidor caps ( those things that are in humidors that omit humidity) and tape them or glue them to the top of the can lid and store this in your closet. But then again you have to have room for it. If you do this it is important to lift the lid atleast once a week to get new air in the chest. It is crucial that whatever you store your beengs in, it does not have an overwhelming odor. Just a consideration!

Hop

I think MarshalN mentioned that particle board works fairly well for this, as it doesn't have much of a smell. It might just have been his particular particle board experience though, so don't take it as scripture or anything.

MDF (stronger and more dense than particle board, but essentially the same), has been processed and has very little odor indeed.