Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

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


Apr 25th, '13, 06:57
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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by theredbaron » Apr 25th, '13, 06:57

Hannah wrote:
Hmm.. All good points - I had been planning to use neutral smelling wood but I keep leaning more and more toward stainless steel.
Wood is very fertile soil for mold.

Apr 25th, '13, 10:18
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Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by Exempt » Apr 25th, '13, 10:18

After looking at a sample of "neutral" scented wood it still had a woody scent. I was also worried about condensation creating mold easily. A refrigerator, especially if you can get one unused off Craigslist, is all food grade plastic and end up being very neutral smelling if you let it air out and clean it with baking soda or leave some in for a couple days. Also, because the plastic is so smooth and mostly without bumps/scratches, it limits condensation and places for mold to start. I've been using it for about 5 months and have noticed no negative, unnatural changes in flavor.

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Apr 25th, '13, 10:30
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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by lordsbm » Apr 25th, '13, 10:30

Why not just use a wine cooler or a dry cabinet then mod it. It'll be much easier. Since both are made to store items in regulated temperature and humidity.

Just get those mini humidifier and additional fan (if required), simple wiring and vent out whatever odd smell.

Apr 25th, '13, 11:59
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Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by Exempt » Apr 25th, '13, 11:59

lordsbm wrote:Why not just use a wine cooler or a dry cabinet then mod it. It'll be much easier. Since both are made to store items in regulated temperature and humidity.

Just get those mini humidifier and additional fan (if required), simple wiring and vent out whatever odd smell.
A refrigerator is also made to keep things at a certain temp and humidity so it is essentially exactly the same. I don't understand why it would be easier. I just threw some humidity beads in and a fan. That was all. It took 5 minutes to set up and arrange all the tea. It stays at a constant 70%rh and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, no weird smells, not too much airflow, no exposure to light, no exposure to outside smells. It works great and requires almost no upkeep. Also, if I wasn't clear, the refrigerator isn't on. I simply use it as a storage cabinet. I chose a fridge because it is airtight, insulated, and uses food grade, non mold, scent less plastic. (Also because I got it for 15 bucks off Craigslist)

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Apr 25th, '13, 13:17
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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by lordsbm » Apr 25th, '13, 13:17

Exempt wrote:A refrigerator is also made to keep things at a certain temp and humidity so it is essentially exactly the same. I don't understand why it would be easier. I just threw some humidity beads in and a fan. That was all. It took 5 minutes to set up and arrange all the tea. It stays at a constant 70%rh and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, no weird smells, not too much airflow, no exposure to light, no exposure to outside smells. It works great and requires almost no upkeep. Also, if I wasn't clear, the refrigerator isn't on. I simply use it as a storage cabinet. I chose a fridge because it is airtight, insulated, and uses food grade, non mold, scent less plastic. (Also because I got it for 15 bucks off Craigslist)
A fridge is made to keep things at a certain temp and humidity only if it's ON. You do know fridge material, especially older model can trap smell right?

One of the use of an electric dry cabinet is for storing tea :roll: You pretty much can set the temperature you want meaning no worry about season change, also has Hygrometer. I mean how much does a couple of watts of electricity gonna cost you a year? I mean the fan you put there uses some form of electricity doesn't it?

All you may need is a mini humidifier, or just a humid pack which cost like 10RMB, most likely if u can find outside the China for US$5.

If you have an old fridge and want to save a few bucks then OK, but if you gonna build from scratch, might as well just buy one. Nowadays dry cabinet are so cheap. If you can afford good tea, surely spending a bit of money goes into a professionally made equipment that'll last for many years aren't much.

My first China made cheapo <US$100 dry cabinet for my lenses still working well after 6years. Only changed the battery of the hydrometer once, yearly electric bill for it is like less than a DY 7542, I think if u compared this year 7542, then 7542 is more expensive :lol:

Lucky for me I won't need such equipments to store tea, just dump all into a box with some silica gels. That's all :lol:

edit: Oh ya as for wine cooler convert, just look in youtube. I bet you'll find vids that show you how to convert it to a cigar humidor. Like tea, they are sensitive towards alien smell.

Apr 25th, '13, 14:03
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Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by Exempt » Apr 25th, '13, 14:03

The refrigerator I am using now is unused and has no smell besides the smell of puerh it is trapping. The cigar humidity beads regulate the humidity perfectly with no fluctuations, this combined with the airtight nature makes it totally temp and humidity regulated. I have two hygrometers in different area so I can make sure the airflow create by the fan makes an even environment. Like I said, it's perfect for me because I spent less than 75 dollars on it and it is totally regulated with little to no upkeep. I've been nothing but happy with it for almost half a year and it performs very well. It would be so nice to just stick them in a box. Unfortunately my house is around 66 degrees and 40% humidity.

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Apr 25th, '13, 14:33
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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by lordsbm » Apr 25th, '13, 14:33

Exempt wrote:The refrigerator I am using now is unused and has no smell besides the smell of puerh it is trapping. The cigar humidity beads regulate the humidity perfectly with no fluctuations, this combined with the airtight nature makes it totally temp and humidity regulated. I have two hygrometers in different area so I can make sure the airflow create by the fan makes an even environment. Like I said, it's perfect for me because I spent less than 75 dollars on it and it is totally regulated with little to no upkeep. I've been nothing but happy with it for almost half a year and it performs very well. It would be so nice to just stick them in a box. Unfortunately my house is around 66 degrees and 40% humidity.
The smell trapping comment is actually for the individual tea aroma. If you aren't even going to have a fan in there, a the different aroma of different tea might likely get mixed with each other.

Like strong aroma tea from XG or LBZ are normally separated with other lighter flavor tea. You don't want all tea to have the same flavor right? :lol:

So these aroma/smell from different tea WILL be trapped on the fridge material like a rotten fish smell would, especially when the fridge aren't working. :shock:

Anyway, just a caution. Up to u to decide.

edit: oh ya, here's how a real tea fridge should be.
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a23 ... 6375776697

edit: works more like a fridge :lol:

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Apr 25th, '13, 15:37
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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by Evan Draper » Apr 25th, '13, 15:37

Hey, debate pumidor construction in another thread. What's the point of doing the experiment if you convince everybody to build the same pumidor beforehand? :wink: This is a fantastic idea! I don't imagine I will get one up and running in time, though.... :(

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Apr 25th, '13, 15:47
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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by TIM » Apr 25th, '13, 15:47

Good Luck All.

Apr 25th, '13, 18:04
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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by Exempt » Apr 25th, '13, 18:04

The smell trapping comment is actually for the individual tea aroma. If you aren't even going to have a fan in there, a the different aroma of different tea might likely get mixed with each other.

Like strong aroma tea from XG or LBZ are normally separated with other lighter flavor tea. You don't want all tea to have the same flavor right? :lol:

So these aroma/smell from different tea WILL be trapped on the fridge material like a rotten fish smell would, especially when the fridge aren't working. :shock:

Anyway, just a caution. Up to u to decide.

edit: oh ya, here's how a real tea fridge should be.
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a23 ... 6375776697

edit: works more like a fridge :lol:[/quote]

I do have a fan, but no matter what kind of container you use, whether it's a fridge like I use or the things you recommended, the tea aromas will intermingle. Evan is right though, we totally thread jacked this, HaHa :lol:

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Apr 25th, '13, 18:39
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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by gingkoseto » Apr 25th, '13, 18:39

Could be a nice experiment. But maybe a few things need to be specified. Such as, whether it's a humidity-promoted pumidor in a dry place, or it's a humidity controlled pumidor in a damp place, or a humidity controlled pumidor with about same humidity as its environment (such situation may not exist because maybe nobody wants to put work in such a thing), or it's a pumidor whose humidity can't be tracked or controlled. All considerations of above (or choice of not considering them) will depend on what question you would like to answer by running the process.

Apr 25th, '13, 19:18
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Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by Exempt » Apr 25th, '13, 19:18

gingkoseto wrote:Could be a nice experiment. But maybe a few things need to be specified. Such as, whether it's a humidity-promoted pumidor in a dry place, or it's a humidity controlled pumidor in a damp place, or a humidity controlled pumidor with about same humidity as its environment (such situation may not exist because maybe nobody wants to put work in such a thing), or it's a pumidor whose humidity can't be tracked or controlled. All considerations of above (or choice of not considering them) will depend on what question you would like to answer by running the process.
I don't think anyone should have to store it in a certain way. Everyone could just buy a cake and write something like a monthly journal for how the tea has been stored. Then when the samples get mailed around we could all include the journal we've written. That way we can try to determine what situations have caused changes in the tea

Apr 25th, '13, 20:42
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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by mr mopu » Apr 25th, '13, 20:42

The cabinet on tao looks good. Too bad we can't get something like that over here without $$$$$ shipping.

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Apr 25th, '13, 22:16
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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by lordsbm » Apr 25th, '13, 22:16

Exempt wrote:I do have a fan, but no matter what kind of container you use, whether it's a fridge like I use or the things you recommended, the tea aromas will intermingle. Evan is right though, we totally thread jacked this, HaHa :lol:
Not really, the normal way most people (tea shop, tea factory, tea warehouse) store tea that'll be aged is spitting them into different boxes. The boxes are sufficient to keep the smell within without getting mixed. Meaning one fridge too little :lol:

The above comment is valid for the thread, as it's the basic of any form storage :lol: Of cos if you pulled the topic back to ur experiment it becomes jacked again :lol: j/k

Apr 25th, '13, 23:43
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Re: Ambitious Storage Project 2013-20??

by Exempt » Apr 25th, '13, 23:43

lordsbm wrote:
Exempt wrote:I do have a fan, but no matter what kind of container you use, whether it's a fridge like I use or the things you recommended, the tea aromas will intermingle. Evan is right though, we totally thread jacked this, HaHa :lol:
Not really, the normal way most people (tea shop, tea factory, tea warehouse) store tea that'll be aged is spitting them into different boxes. The boxes are sufficient to keep the smell within without getting mixed. Meaning one fridge too little :lol:

The above comment is valid for the thread, as it's the basic of any form storage :lol: Of cos if you pulled the topic back to ur experiment it becomes jacked again :lol: j/k
Unfortunately I don't have enough space, money, or tea at this time to warrant having different containers to split it all up. My setup has been doing what I want it to so I will stick to it unless my situation changes in the future.

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