TeaChat

When you're planning on drinking and not really storing a beeng, do you usually break up the whole cake or take a piece off each time. I was watching a couple of videos to try and get an idea of how to break it up without actually "breaking" leaves, and most of them take the whole thing apart to then place in another vessel (I'm assuming a yixing jar).

I'm just curious what you guys usually do.

Thanks a bunch!

toastedtoads wrote: break up the whole cake or take a piece off each time

Take a piece off each time for me. After taking a piece off, I know that I may not get back to that bing for six months or a year or even more, so I don't want to alter its natural aging trajectory by breaking it up.

Also, I am lazy.

Salsero wrote:
Also, I am lazy.

Bingo! Me too. Especially when it's a really hard one to pry apart.

EW

I stab em and split them into 2 thin discs like Clouds shows on his videos, then I store them together in the same wrapper. It's far easier to tease out near whole leaf portions from the thinner splits than from a whole beeng.

beecrofter wrote:I stab em and split them into 2 thin discs like Clouds shows on his videos, then I store them together in the same wrapper. It's far easier to tease out near whole leaf portions from the thinner splits than from a whole beeng.

Good idea. Do you do the same with bricks and tuochas?

I take mine apart piece by piece paying attention to leaf integrity. It just seems more fun that way.

I used to break off a chunk at a time, but (at least for cakes that I'm actively drinking on a semi-frequent basis), I find it much easier to break off a big chunk of the cake or brick wholesale, and store it that way. That also makes it somewhat easier (I think) to store both whole chunks and loose bits, to try and get a mix of the two.

I think any sort of jar is ok, but it's better if it can breathe a little (but not completely open). I usually use small porcelain jars, sometimes sealed completely, sometimes just loosely sealed.

what some of us does is just get a mug, put your chunk inside it, and cover the opening with white tissue paper so that there is a breathable barrier and tie the paper with an elastic band around the mouth of the cup. simple.

I like to break off just enough for each session. Agree that this is more fun. However I have a beeng that was so astringent that I broke it down completely just to age it faster. Now a year later it is fantastic. Yes I can be impatient.