Disassembling a tuocha/2

[Dogma_i]

Subject reference is to this thread: http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=11024. I haven't been here in a while, and the way of adding images seems to have changed. If someone wants to PM me with instructions on making them more accessible, I'll be happy to edit this post.

One of the more sensuous demonstrations of Pu-erh management I witnessed was some years ago in NYC, when a high-flyer of blessed name took apart a valuable sheng bing as follows: holding it prayerfully between spread (and clean) hands, he gently and persistently cupped palms one way and then the other. After a dozen sways, the bing began to creak. After a couple of dozen, leaves were visibly disentangling. In under three minutes, he had reduced the disc into a neat pile of small clusters and single leaves, essentially unbroken. A tour-de-force for sure.

But not so likely to work on most iron cakes or other products of hot-and-hard pressing. Nor do we always want to take a cake all the way to bits for sharing with a large group, as in this case. Hence all the knives, sledges, tomahawks, karate chops, etc.

An aspect of that "laying on of hands" method that might well be more broadly applied is the deliberate, easy pace. Without getting into a long and possibly contentious discussion of polymer relaxation phenomena, non-linear shear moduli and the like, I'll just reiterate what most of us know: that going gently into that good cake often frees more whole leaves than bashing, hewing, sawing, incising, lacerating, avulsing or committing other high-velocity acts of violence.

And like some others, I am appalled at the poor functional design of many (almost all, really) of the available commercial Pu-erh tools. Long handles lead to slippage and self-inflicted puncture wounds. (-With all those mysterious molds and bacteria to ensure sepsis, too.) Thick blades will not penetrate a hard cake. Too-sharp edges cut instead of prying; blunt ones crush to powder.

Anyone with patience and access to a bench grinder can easily make a much safer and more effective splitting tool from an old screwdriver, wood chisel or - really - almost any handled implement, as per previously posted photos:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hexjlnkfcukrq ... a.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9uir5mvax8uih ... a.JPG?dl=0

But applying a gentle bending force in any convenient direction, slowly enough to let leaves pull apart without breaking, can "open" a cake more elegantly and neatly. Problem in most cases is to apply enough force for enough time without too much muscle strain.

In many respects, the perfect tool is an arbor press; wooden jigs to hold and crack any cake shape are easy to make. But while a nice made-in-China or used/vintage press can cost less than some pu-erh knives, they do take up a lot of table space. And unless the machine is taken to pieces, rigorously cleaned and degreased, then most parts re-coated with an odorless, food-grade lubricant/rust preventive, the tea is going to taste a lot like machine oil.

A handier option, which I've used for some time, is the gear puller. Again readily available for not much money, and small enough to stow in a drawer. Degreasing again required, but only a few minutes' easy work. The challenge is to find one with jaws long enough and correctly angled to hold your cake, more difficult with a tuo than a bing. And unless one uses a three-jawed version, keeping everything lined up may require more than two hands. But once past all that, slowly cranking down and watching/hearing the cake slooowly fall apart is very satifying.

Since the OP concerned tuocha, however, and where almost any bing can be broken apart simply by setting it across two blocks and leaning an elbow on the unsupported middle, I got to thinking about cheap and available tools just for the smaller diameters. Into the toolbox, and out comes a faucet puller:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/88ww52y5fsb89 ... a.jpg?dl=0

I've had this one for a few years; it's phosphated steel and has never been greased. A quick look at on-line stores didn't show one of this exact design - especially the three legs and the detent adjustment to set those legs apart at the top, so they don't slip off the rounded edges of the tuocha. But they must be out there someplace, and other versions might work fine with a little more care. Here's how it does with a typical XG nest:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/o1kcswrb76q9h ... a.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0se7pq4drc4zt ... a.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1igyaq787f3u9 ... a.jpg?dl=0

The tool comes with a sort of ram-head for its intended application. Too narrow for this use, it would just punch through the thin center of the bowl. A flat pebble would do nicely; I used - and slightly dented - this bit of currency. (Two bits, actually, if you'll forgive the pun.)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/un6r4s9gqv0nd ... a.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ujrfr83uyvy4j ... a.jpg?dl=0

A few easy turns start the process:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vzyy6kn1adm8m ... a.jpg?dl=0

The smooth coin (that pebble would be better) and my not bothering to keep the ram on point let it slip to one side; I allowed this to progress instead of re-centering to see how bad it would get. Not very, as it happened.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/q5e2manp9tdqo ... a.jpg?dl=0

With a few more turns, the cake came apart

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8trs7628oww2n ... a.jpg?dl=0

into clean leaves with almost no fines, and larger lumps that can be further divided by hand or with any old dull knife or letter-opener:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ltdiwqosa77rb ... a.jpg?dl=0

Hope this is useful to somebody out there.

-DM

[Tead Off]

Interesting demonstration.

I've never tried this, but steaming a tuo gently enough would probably soften it sufficiently for breaking with hands and poker tool. I think it would dry quickly enough to put into a storage caddy.

[debunix]

Very cool post. I love finding different uses for tools like this....

[TwoDog2]

Cool post. That gadget could prevent some tuo related injuries

[debunix]

Now pondering the usefulness of my bench vise for this use.....if properly lined to prevent tea contacting the machine-oiled bits....

[Dogma_i]

Now pondering the usefulness of my bench vise for this use.....if properly lined to prevent tea contacting the machine-oiled bits....

Works fine. My 5" bench vise has far more than enough power; any well-made vise with jaws at least 4" wide should work. I wrap cakes in kraft paper to hold the fragments (original cake wrapper works fine), then cotton for padding, then in a plastic bag to keep oil, metal filings and general schmutz away, then press between pieces of scrap wood.

A large C-clamp also works and is cheap, though keeping clamp, cakes and wood bits together as the cake collapses can be tricky.

-DM

[Cwyn]

Great post!

(As an aside, a true tea nerd is awesome to behold.)

[kiwi303]

whats wrong with packing it in a plastic bag and driving over it a few times in the car?

[Cwyn]

I've learned in recent months that a highly compressed tea can be opened up by putting into a crock ware container with added moisture for a day or two. Then it can easily be broken apart.

[AllanK]

That is one cool if somewhat impractical tea tool.

[wymmtea]

This sounds like a really cool diy project, but for convenience; if the cake is compressed too tightly and you cant pry the leaves open with conventional methods, microwaving it will be the most efficient option. As long as its less than 30 seconds, there will not be an impact on the tea quality. It warms up the residual moisture present in the tuo which loosens the cake.

[demonyc]

Cool idea! I'm toying with the idea of getting a faucet puller for myself and trying this out. I do wonder what other effects on the cake's micro biome microwaves might have, though. I'd be leery of trying that before I knew for sure I wouldn't be killing off any important microbes.

Edited for grammar.