bottle shock?

[puerhking]

I don't know about you guys but when I first get my pu's they often taste bad. It seems that I need to wait 3 or so days after shipment to get good flavor from them. Anyone else notice this?

[TIM]

I don't know about you guys but when I first get my pu's they often taste bad. It seems that I need to wait 3 or so days after shipment to get good flavor from them. Anyone else notice this?

They suffer from Jet lag. I have to let them rest for a week before tasting. Specially shipment from Asia.

[tenuki]

I have a friend who insists that souls can not travel as fast as bodies, and this is why there is jetlag - you have to wait until your soul catches back up with your body to feel normal. Maybe this is true of tea as well.

[tony shlongini]

I have a friend who insists that souls can not travel as fast as bodies, and this is why there is jetlag - you have to wait until your soul catches back up with your body to feel normal. Maybe this is true of tea as well.

If your friend is serious, tell him he has it backwards. Having no mass, a soul would travel at light speed, while his body, being massive, would always be slower.

My rules of thumb for preposterous suggestions are-

• be consistent

• don't "insist"

Wine has to "settle" after transport, but I can't imagine the same of tea. Perhaps a bit of airing is all that's needed.

[Salsero]

Wine has to "settle" after transport, but I can't imagine the same of tea.

Tim is pretty insistent about jet lag for tea and his instincts and experience are pretty amazing. I know he has cautioned me to wait before tasting things he has mailed to me. It makes no sense to me either, but the guy knows tea.

I consider PuerhKing's OP to be independent corroboration of Tim's observations.

[hop_goblin]

You know, I really don't know. I typically don't taste my teas as soon as they come in. I have a few beengs I have had for months and haven't gotten around to tasting them!

[Trioxin]

It may have something to do with the packaging materials. After a month wrapped in bubble wrap and cardboard...

[beecrofter]

I don't know about you guys but when I first get my pu's they often taste bad. It seems that I need to wait 3 or so days after shipment to get good flavor from them. Anyone else notice this?

Oh hell yes, air them out. It seems to be common practice .

[puerhking]

Its just that after you wait a month.....dreaming about those new beengs....you want to taste them right away.

[maxman]

I have a friend who insists that souls can not travel as fast as bodies, and this is why there is jetlag - you have to wait until your soul catches back up with your body to feel normal. Maybe this is true of tea as well.

I have heard this before. The account I heard was that a WH (white hunter) was on safari in Africa. One day his porters refused to get up and go. They said their bodies had been moving too fast and they needed time for their souls to catch-up.

Ever get that feeling? I think that's what vacations are for.
Moral of the story? Give your tea a vacation.

[Jeremy]

That is an interesting phenomena. I never had this, but I have had to "get to know" my tea. By this I mean, I ll have to drink one tea for a few weeks before I really understand it. So I guess its a time delay. Its wierd, like I cant tell whether I like it or not until I have had it maybe 10-15 times.

[Sydney]

I had never really thought about this phenomena in concrete terms until recently, but I have turned my nose up at some teas (mostly pu'erh, but also some others) when trying them immediately, only to really enjoy them later.

We could be on to something, or we could be well on our way to providing a mountain of anecdotal evidence for a really trippy urban myth!

[Vulture]

I had never really thought about this phenomena in concrete terms until recently, but I have turned my nose up at some teas (mostly pu'erh, but also some others) when trying them immediately, only to really enjoy them later.

We could be on to something, or we could be well on our way to providing a mountain of anecdotal evidence for a really trippy urban myth!

Now begets the question... Can you capture the spirit of the Pu and add it to another Pu? Then you could have double spirited Pu! (or it just get fat, turn yellow and ask for honey)

[tony shlongini]

I have heard this before. The account I heard was that a WH (white hunter) was on safari in Africa. One day his porters refused to get up and go. They said their bodies had been moving too fast and they needed time for their souls to catch-up.

Ever get that feeling? I think that's what vacations are for.
Moral of the story? Give your tea a vacation.

I base all of my philosophical stances on either the superstitious beliefs of lazy porters, or John Edwards.

Is it possible that it's just a matter of getting used to a tea's particular brewing requirements? Do you think anyone would be able to tell the difference between a bing that has been sitting in a closet for two months from one that just went for a ride in the car?

[shogun89]

I am now a believer in this. I just go t out my 2007 Jingmai cake to taste today, that I got on Tuesday. I am not impressed by it what so ever. Taste is very strange. I know I like this tea alot as I have had it before. And that made me think back to my Bai Cha Tang cake I got this summer, I tried it the day it arrived and was not too impressed only to find a month latter that it is a fine tea. So I say, when the pu comes in let it air!