Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

One of the intentionally aged teas, Pu-Erh has a loyal following.


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Apr 15th, '13, 07:36
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Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by futurebird » Apr 15th, '13, 07:36

After reading the wet storage thread, late last night as I was falling asleep I had the idea for a very ambitious project. Ambitious because it would take a few years.

Participants around the world would all purchase the same bing or toucha. Ideally it would be something that is decent, but not too expensive. Something we all agree could be aged of recent pressing 2010 or sooner.

If a participant has a "pumidor" or any other novel storage method then they should get TWO one to go inside and one out.

At the end of a long time period (a year? three years?) all of these identical bings would be broken in to 10g sample bags and distributed to all of the other participants.

Then we could have a REAL conversation about storage methods.

Some questions would be
"How long would be long enough to see any change?"
"How do we keep current emails and contact info for such a long period?"
"What would be a decent, but not too expensive puerh to act as the control?"

This could also be good for finding out about plastic wrap vs. more open storage.

In the end, though I think it is easy to over-think storage. Most of my tea is long drunk before it has a chance to age... (though there was that one toucha that lived with me for 10 years)

But I think despite all of the effort this would be an amazing thing!

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Apr 15th, '13, 09:35
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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by gasninja » Apr 15th, '13, 09:35

I would suggest avoiding tuocha. The high compression resists aging in all but humid environments. There also can be a large difference between the inside of the tuo and the exterior.

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Apr 23rd, '13, 01:23
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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by Hannah » Apr 23rd, '13, 01:23

This is an awesome idea!!

Agreed on the avoiding a tuo - a bing would probably be best.

Well, if this becomes a thing, I'll get involved! :) I'm building my pumidor at the moment so it would be a good test! :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Apr 23rd, '13, 02:00
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Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by Exempt » Apr 23rd, '13, 02:00

I would definitely participate.

Apr 23rd, '13, 22:18
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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by mr mopu » Apr 23rd, '13, 22:18

I am working on a "pumidor" now for almost 3 months I can see change already and the aroma is like WOW! I hope this change in the shu and sheng continues.

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Apr 23rd, '13, 22:33
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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by TokyoB » Apr 23rd, '13, 22:33

mr mopu wrote:I am working on a "pumidor" now for almost 3 months I can see change already and the aroma is like WOW! I hope this change in the shu and sheng continues.
Pumidor details and photos?

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Apr 23rd, '13, 23:55
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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by Hannah » Apr 23rd, '13, 23:55

TokyoB wrote:
mr mopu wrote:I am working on a "pumidor" now for almost 3 months I can see change already and the aroma is like WOW! I hope this change in the shu and sheng continues.
Pumidor details and photos?
+1!! Would love to see :)

Apr 24th, '13, 01:14
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Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by Exempt » Apr 24th, '13, 01:14

I gave mopu the idea on Steepster. We both have pretty much the same setup. It's a refrigerator with 70% cigar humidity beads, fans, and hydrometers. The only difference is his I'd primarily for shu and mine is only for sheng

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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by mr mopu » Apr 24th, '13, 06:55

Yes exempt and I both built "pumidors" . Like he said I have a lot of shu in the fridge part and the sheng is in the freezer part. But my sheng cupboard is growing as I have started to enjoy them more. Here is a link to the pictures of the "pumidor". 8) http://www.flickr.com/photos/93298157@N02/

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Apr 24th, '13, 09:05
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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by futurebird » Apr 24th, '13, 09:05

If it was a used fridge how did you deodorize it? I've always found it really hard to kill "fridge smell" (in college I used an old 50s fridge as a dresser, yes, weird... it never did smell right no matter how much I bleached and scrubbed)

I assuming you must have found a way!

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Apr 24th, '13, 09:50
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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by lordsbm » Apr 24th, '13, 09:50

futurebird wrote:If it was a used fridge how did you deodorize it? I've always found it really hard to kill "fridge smell" (in college I used an old 50s fridge as a dresser, yes, weird... it never did smell right no matter how much I bleached and scrubbed)

I assuming you must have found a way!
To remove that weird smell, you need to air the fridge with power off for 3-7days. Scrub the inner of the fridge with baking soda on a damp cloth. Good luck :lol:

Apr 24th, '13, 11:32
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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by Exempt » Apr 24th, '13, 11:32

futurebird wrote:If it was a used fridge how did you deodorize it? I've always found it really hard to kill "fridge smell" (in college I used an old 50s fridge as a dresser, yes, weird... it never did smell right no matter how much I bleached and scrubbed)

I assuming you must have found a way!
Mine was very very slightly used. I aired out the fridge for 48 hours then left 1 pound of baking soda in for 3 days then took it out and added all the puerh at once. It ended up being totally neutral. I haven't noticed a change in flavor or smell of the puerh

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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by mr mopu » Apr 24th, '13, 22:16

I just washed it out with some simple green cleaner let it air out for two weeks. As for the shelves I didn't reuse them. I went to lowes and bought some closet storage shelves to put in there, never could get the old ones clean enough.

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Apr 25th, '13, 02:55
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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by tst » Apr 25th, '13, 02:55

I didn't want to have to worry about even the slightest possibility of leaching smells by using anything that carries a synthetic smell ... so I decided to go with the stainless steel shelving units you see. I've draped it in layers of sheets and blankets (all natural fibers like cotton) to insulate it.

I think the rubber gaskets/door seals and synthetic/plastic elements of a refrigerator would keep me up at night wondering if unnatural odors were slowly being leached into my tea, so it wasn't an option for me.

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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by Hannah » Apr 25th, '13, 05:14

tst wrote:I didn't want to have to worry about even the slightest possibility of leaching smells by using anything that carries a synthetic smell ... so I decided to go with the stainless steel shelving units you see. I've draped it in layers of sheets and blankets (all natural fibers like cotton) to insulate it.

I think the rubber gaskets/door seals and synthetic/plastic elements of a refrigerator would keep me up at night wondering if unnatural odors were slowly being leached into my tea, so it wasn't an option for me.
Hmm.. All good points - I had been planning to use neutral smelling wood but I keep leaning more and more toward stainless steel.

Perhaps I could use something decorative like silk over blankets as insulation! :mrgreen:
Back to the drawing board!

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