I came back from Taiwan and purchased several selections of tea but forgot how they suggested to store them.
There's a tie guan yin, a hand roasted oolong, regular oolong, and a lao cha (老茶) as well as a cake of puerh. I can provide actual names if it matters.
They're all in vacuum packed bags except the cake of puerh which is sealed in a loose bag. Should I take it out of the bag and store in the box or leave it in? I remember the salesperson saying it can be left on a bookshelf so it can breathe.
They were high end teas and cost a pretty penny so I feel a little silly not clarifying how to store them.
Re: Proper tea storage help?
Store the oolong as airtight as possible. Pu erh needs 70-80% humidity ideally, and keep it away from odors. Definitely let it breathe.
Re: Proper tea storage help?
What Jay said. For the oolongs, keep them in air-tight containers. The pu'erh, they do indeed need to breathe and ideally be at a higher humidity level. Do a search for "pu-erh storage" on here for more info. And don't fall too far down the rabbit hole... 
Re: Proper tea storage help?
How long are you wanting to store the pu-erh?
It sounds like it's just one cake that you don't want to have degrade while you drink it?
In that case keep it in the dark away from strong odors. I keep mine in their original wrappers tucked into open ziplocks so I don't lose tea as the cakes get broken apart. When the cake is really getting broken up I'll close the ziplock.
They get stacked up like that in a wood cabinet with my other tea. Other than when I end up with a cake I don't care for much it takes a few months to get through. If you're keeping puerh for years to continue to age it look up how to do warm humidified storage like the others have suggested
Oolong tea goes in the same cabinet but I'll either roll up the end of the bag and clip it to keep air out or transfer to a tea canister.
It sounds like it's just one cake that you don't want to have degrade while you drink it?
In that case keep it in the dark away from strong odors. I keep mine in their original wrappers tucked into open ziplocks so I don't lose tea as the cakes get broken apart. When the cake is really getting broken up I'll close the ziplock.
They get stacked up like that in a wood cabinet with my other tea. Other than when I end up with a cake I don't care for much it takes a few months to get through. If you're keeping puerh for years to continue to age it look up how to do warm humidified storage like the others have suggested
Oolong tea goes in the same cabinet but I'll either roll up the end of the bag and clip it to keep air out or transfer to a tea canister.
Re: Proper tea storage help?
Thanks for the responses. I wasn't sure if the tea canisters were sufficient as I do have access to a vacuum pack machine.
I do plan to age the puer a bit but will taste along the way. Its actually a raw cake and I remember the sales person mentioned to leave in a dry well ventilated place, the instructions inside also indicate such.
Is 70-80% common? My room hovers around 40-70% with moderate temps. I could leave it in the garage where humidity is higher but also higher chance of it molding and picking up weird smells/hitchhikers.
I do plan to age the puer a bit but will taste along the way. Its actually a raw cake and I remember the sales person mentioned to leave in a dry well ventilated place, the instructions inside also indicate such.
Is 70-80% common? My room hovers around 40-70% with moderate temps. I could leave it in the garage where humidity is higher but also higher chance of it molding and picking up weird smells/hitchhikers.