Type of wood for Pu-erh cabinet?

[tenuki]

Actually I think oak's contribution to wine and wiskey is as a source of tannins, probably not what you want being added to your tea although tea has a lot of it's own tannins.

[TIM]

Actually I think oak's contribution to wine and wiskey is as a source of tannins, probably not what you want being added to your tea although tea has a lot of it's own tannins.

Kyara wood will be perfect.

[beecrofter]

I thing quarter sawn white oak would be a good choice for cabinet construction, I wouldn't be making any teapots out of it however.[quote][/quote]

[Janine]

Actually I think oak's contribution to wine and wiskey is as a source of tannins, probably not what you want being added to your tea although tea has a lot of it's own tannins.

Kyara wood will be perfect.

In your dreams!

Seriously though, if this were possible, you wouldn't mind the added scent? or would it add to the tea? I burn kyara wood somewhere near my teas and I do wonder how it adds to them. After they "settle in" to that particular environment I do think they're richer & mellower

[TIM]

dreams do come true.... sometimes

[nonc_ron]

Actually I think oak's contribution to wine and whiskey is as a source of tannins, probably not what you want being added to your tea although tea has a lot of it's own tannins.

Tannins are in grape skins too, thats how they adjust the astringency of wine. But yeah you're right it's in oak. When they first started tanning leather, oak bark, oak leaves and water is all they used. But what everyone's not realizing is, we're not going to brew 50 gal of tea to fill an oak barrel. If we did the tea would probably pick up some tannins.
It's Ok to use kiln dried oak to put your dried puerh cakes in.
Let the puerh be your guide.
Feel the force, Luke.

[tingjunkie]

dreams do come true.... sometimes

I take it you expedition is going well then Tim?

[TIM]

dreams do come true.... sometimes

I take it you expedition is going well then Tim?

Thanks TJunkie. Knock on wood... Knock on wood T

[Janine]

dreams do come true.... sometimes

Well, then, you'd better invite me over to see this kyara cabinet! (And drink some of the tea stored there!)

Lovely photo... I've been in a room of antique aloes/agarwood furniture... what a scent. But kyara? Not heard of it. You're going to have to fill me in on what you paid for that piece and how much it weighs and then burn me a sliver! haha

Someday I'd like to see this piece, but that's another story

[TIM]

Well J, Kyara is the heart of the infected aloeswood. You can see from your image that the Japanese wood has a hollow heart. Most of it was extracted out for Kyara uses if they were infected. The box attached is aloeswood, but not Kyara grade. It's complicated....

[Janine]

Yeah, I know ... I have some very nice infected aloes I burn that someone brought me back from Vietnam and Cambodia.... but even kyara comes in different types and grades (grouped into colors). But the ranjatai (Japanese royal family treasure) is called "sinking grade kyara." I have read highest grade green kyara priced at $400/gm (for kodo use) and going up since, as far as I know.

I look forward to the tea cabinet!! I hope you are enjoying China and bring back loads of good treasures

[gingkoseto]

I would feel safer Not to store tea in any New wood furniture

[nonc_ron]

Any thoughts on the type of wood that I should use for making my own pu-erh cabinet? I know some are called humidors. Would an oak plywood (or oak boards) work? Or is there something better? Ed

OK, Here's what happened,
I went to the cabinet store.

I bought two cabinet doors to use as the sides and two cabinet doors as the front doors. Bought some Oak plywood for the top, bottom and back.
Finished!
I made my stereo cabinet this way except I used smoked glass as the door.
(It looks professional)

[Janine]

speaking of aloes/kyara/agar, I got an ad in the mail today for a new Bond No. 9 perfume... featuring oud (it's the essential oil from the aloeswood, very popular in the MidEast)

http://www.bondno9.com/shop/eau-de-parf ... re-perfume

You may now return to the regularly scheduled discussion ...

edit: by the way, I really do wonder about scent added by particular use of wood in storage. For example, what if you stored tea in a cedar cabinet? Cedar is traditionally popular for all kinds of storage, and isn't it used with cigars in humidors? How would the lovely cedar scent affect the tea? Positively or negatively? I'd be interested in others' opinions ...

[tingjunkie]

edit: by the way, I really do wonder about scent added by particular use of wood in storage. For example, what if you stored tea in a cedar cabinet?

The reason I wouldn't want to do this is because I would be really sad if (years from now) all the puer I spent time and effort to age ended up all tasting similar. How boring.

I do however love the idea of TIM's aloeswood box. That could be fun experimenting with scenting small batches of tea one (or several) weeks at a time. (HINT HINT Tim)