Removing An Odor From Old Puerh?

[Tead Off]

While cleaning out some old storage, my wife discovered a bag of Puerh, loose leaf, which was bought in Hong Kong about 17 years ago. I bought it as a top grade at the time. Unfortunately, it was stored in a box that also contained cloves and there is clove smell that permeates the leaves. Is there any way of getting rid of this as the leaves are perfectly fine but the smell of cloves make it obviously undesirable for me.

[edkrueger]

You might be able to get rid of it with some roasting.

[Tea and coffee]

Just a guess as I'm not a tea expert yet.

But I know that baking soda absorbs oudors in your fridge and freezer and has no scent.
I would obviously separate the tea from the cloves.

Then get a box and add the packaged tea and an open box of baking soda and leave in a dry place for a week or 2.
then if the baking soda starts to smell, replace it and add more new baking soda.

roasting would probably kill the bacteria and also add some extra flavor, more covering up the cloves as the oil from the cloves can penetrate things/food.

I would not try covering the tea in baking soda as then it will taste very salty.
unless you try and mix the tea with baking soda, then sift it out before drinking and maybe rinse the tea in cold water before brewing.

This is just my guess from knowing a bit about foods.
Good luck!
That is kind of neat finding something after all that time!

[TIM]

You must be kidding... Roasting an old good grade loose pu?! It's like melting a fine aged parmesan and aging it afterwards.

unfortunately your mistake of storing with spice already affected the tea. And there is no way to undo it. Only suggustion is to air it out at least a week or longer and start brewing them. If you don't mind the extra favor, I know its good for fighting sore throat. Sorry for your experience.

[Intuit]

Agreed with Tim. Semi-volatile clove oil cannot be extracted preferentially from the tea. Grin and bare it.

Tim regularly posts on the importance of letting packaged tea air out. Put your puerh in a loosely lidded or open jar with a tea towel cover. Let it sit for about 2 months. Occasionally shake or carefully 'turnover' the tea, to assist in it's breathing. Not only will this improve the taste of the Pu'erh, but you will loose a bit of the clove bite.

[Tead Off]

You must be kidding... Roasting an old good grade loose pu?! It's like melting a fine aged parmesan and aging it afterwards.

unfortunately your mistake of storing with spice already affected the tea. And there is no way to undo it. Only suggustion is to air it out at least a week or longer and start brewing them. If you don't mind the extra favor, I know its good for fighting sore throat. Sorry for your experience.

Haha. Yes, I can't imagine roasting a good ol' pu. I'm wondering if putting a chunk of bamboo charcoal into it would help out with the smell. I think it's a long shot, but, I'd like to try to salvage this leaf for obvious reasons. Unfortunately, my unknowing daughter put the bag into a box containing a bag of cloves, hence the odor.

[Tead Off]

Agreed with Tim. Semi-volatile clove oil cannot be extracted preferentially from the tea. Grin and bare it.

Tim regularly posts on the importance of letting packaged tea air out. Put your puerh in a loosely lidded or open jar with a tea towel cover. Let it sit for about 2 months. Occasionally shake or carefully 'turnover' the tea, to assist in it's breathing. Not only will this improve the taste of the Pu'erh, but you will loose a bit of the clove bite.

I've already put it into a large shallow bowl yesterday. I don't think letting it breathe is going to do it. Even with a faint clove aroma or taste, the pu will be tainted and hence its enjoyment for me. It may be healthful, though, but, the experience of enjoying an aged tea like this will be lost, I fear. Do you think bamboo charcoal will help?

[betta]

Do you think bamboo charcoal will help?

Sorry to hear that. Bamboo charcoal absorbs odour material, which means both the aroma of your tea + cloves will be absorbed indiscriminately.
The only thing I will do is try to separate the loose tea into several portions and try different treatment to see what method works best to remove the clove odour. You have nothing to loose anyway.
I've tried airing out pu, which is suggested by Tim and OMTP, and it works very well. Some people do it for weeks and I've read somewhere here that someone air out his pu for 1 (or maybe 2?) months to get the best result.
But again, all the method here will most likely only reduce but not completely eliminate the clove odour.
Please let us know what would be the method you use and the outcome.

[Tead Off]

betta, good suggestion separating the batch. I will report back on any results.

[betta]

Good luck, Tead. 17 years old pu is really worth salvaging

[edkrueger]

It may be a bad idea to roast good pu-erh, but, because of the clove smell, this is not good pu-erh. I wasn't suggesting any a heavy roast, just a "refreshing" roast in your bamboo roaster.

[oldmanteapot]

While cleaning out some old storage, my wife discovered a bag of Puerh, loose leaf, which was bought in Hong Kong about 17 years ago. I bought it as a top grade at the time. Unfortunately, it was stored in a box that also contained cloves and there is clove smell that permeates the leaves. Is there any way of getting rid of this as the leaves are perfectly fine but the smell of cloves make it obviously undesirable for me.

Hi TO!

It has been a while since I seen you here... ehehe....

17 years!... hhmm... It's a pity that there's no remedy to reverse a Pu that has absorbed foreign smell, especially one that is as strong as cloves.

It's impossible to eradicate the smell of clove entirely from your Pu. But there is a rather simple way of reducing the smell. This process is called.... steaming!.. Yup. Steam your Pu for about 1 minute with the lid closed. I've heard of people steaming their aged Pu to remove unwanted storage smell with a very high percentage of success. But none of them are as strong as cloves.

You could take a small sample, possible a brew, and try steaming it and make sure you dry it immediately under the fan after steaming.

Your Pu will actually turn out smoother as a result of the steaming process. On the other hand, removing the aroma of cloves would also mean removing some aroma and strength from your tea.

Keep us posted

Cheers!

[Tead Off]

While cleaning out some old storage, my wife discovered a bag of Puerh, loose leaf, which was bought in Hong Kong about 17 years ago. I bought it as a top grade at the time. Unfortunately, it was stored in a box that also contained cloves and there is clove smell that permeates the leaves. Is there any way of getting rid of this as the leaves are perfectly fine but the smell of cloves make it obviously undesirable for me.

Hi TO!

It has been a while since I seen you here... ehehe....

17 years!... hhmm... It's a pity that there's no remedy to reverse a Pu that has absorbed foreign smell, especially one that is as strong as cloves.

It's impossible to eradicate the smell of clove entirely from your Pu. But there is a rather simple way of reducing the smell. This process is called.... steaming!.. Yup. Steam your Pu for about 1 minute with the lid closed. I've heard of people steaming their aged Pu to remove unwanted storage smell with a very high percentage of success. But none of them are as strong as cloves.

You could take a small sample, possible a brew, and try steaming it and make sure you dry it immediately under the fan after steaming.

Your Pu will actually turn out smoother as a result of the steaming process. On the other hand, removing the aroma of cloves would also mean removing some aroma and strength from your tea.

Keep us posted

Cheers!

Will give it a shot, thanks!

[chrl42]

You abandoned good Puerh for 17 years? How?

[Chip]

17 year old clove pu-erh ... a new Thanksgiving tradition perhaps?

Which will fade first, the clove aroma or the pu-erh taste/aroma? Considering the clove aroma has stuck around for all those years, it is not likely to give up the pu.