Hi everyone I am a newbie to this forum and kinda sorta new to Pu-erh in that i don't know much about it. Even though I started buying it back before the boom.
Anyways I bought a tong of sheng CNNP from Imperial Tea,probably in 1998 to 2001. The cost was 140$. It was advertised as being 10 years old at that time. I set it aside and concentrated mainly on sheng Tibetan Mushroom and brick tea. I did buy several 1 kilo of bricks of Menghai at about the same time through M&J on the internet. I still have them in dry storage.
My question is was the tea at that time really 10 years old? As Imperial Tea was advertising some that was aged even longer if I recall.
I quit shopping for Pu-erh in 2002 except for a few purchases as it just got too expensive. All of the so called aged sheng Pu-erh seemed to have vanished from the market or was out of my price range.Just started buying again in the fall of last year. I still brew English style using a measuring cup for a tea pot and a strainer for the cup so i am way behind you guys.
Dan
Thanks for your reply Tom. I am trying to get up to speed with posting digital photos to the web so will try the sites you mentioned.
I am aware that dry storage does not age Pu-erh. Due to mice and various bugs in the places i have lived I kept the tea in plastic storage containers. Also in northern Illinois warm and humid weather exists for only 3 months of the year so i would need a pumidor as it is called in this group for year around aging. I do open up the containers several times a week for about a full day in the summer.
The CNNP cakes do have a slightly darker color than the cakes i have purchased this year. Also they have a bit of the flavor of some shu cakes that i have. That may be due to the recipe of the cakes though. The Menhai bricks,on the other hand taste like unaged sheng Pu-erh. Very astringent and somewhat bitter like the Tibetan mushrooms but much spicier and more full flavored.
I am aware that dry storage does not age Pu-erh. Due to mice and various bugs in the places i have lived I kept the tea in plastic storage containers. Also in northern Illinois warm and humid weather exists for only 3 months of the year so i would need a pumidor as it is called in this group for year around aging. I do open up the containers several times a week for about a full day in the summer.
The CNNP cakes do have a slightly darker color than the cakes i have purchased this year. Also they have a bit of the flavor of some shu cakes that i have. That may be due to the recipe of the cakes though. The Menhai bricks,on the other hand taste like unaged sheng Pu-erh. Very astringent and somewhat bitter like the Tibetan mushrooms but much spicier and more full flavored.
May 20th, '09, 23:56
Posts: 196
Joined: May 1st, '09, 22:28
Location: Malaysia
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oldmanteapot
Avoid plastic containers if you can. The tea could absorb the plastic smell from the containers and that will ruin the tea. You can use porcelain or clay jars.littledog wrote:I am aware that dry storage does not age Pu-erh. Due to mice and various bugs in the places i have lived I kept the tea in plastic storage containers.
Cheers!