Unofficial Pumidor/storage thread!

[Hannah]

Hello all!!

I've been searching through teachat and seeing various pumidor pictures, questions etc all in different places and tea threads - what if we had a central thread for questions or project postings rather than have them scattered everywhere?

Perhaps a good thing to include with any DIYs would be what temp and/or RH you keep your pumidor at, types of materials used etc.

Doesn't have to be complex though! Even just a "this is how I store my pu" post would be helpful, even if they're just in your back kitchen cupboards!

I'll start!!

I WAS working on a bamboo based pumidor early last year however that project got halted when I fell ill and held up my entire tea journey for nearly a year!
Now that I'm back in tea land, I was thinking of switching to metal. I'm thinking of using a powdercoated metal cabinet however I'm unsure of how quickly it would rust in a humid environment..
I live in Aussieland so I'm not sure how I should treat temperature control, if at all.. it gets super hot here though (in the 40Cs here at the moment) so I'm not sure if that will effect my specs.

Look forward to seeing everyones posts!

[Exempt]

I don't have a lot of time but I'll post some quick stats. I use a refrigerator as the container, but it's not turned on and it had no scent when I bought it. It is kept in a room that is 20-22c and I use an aristocrat humidifier set at 70%rh, however the tea releases humidity so it is usually between 70-75%rh. I open the humidor about once a week and move the teas around about once every month or two. Otherwise I don't touch it and the aristocrat does its job very well.

[debunix]

I keep my pu cakes in an old chest in my living room. I'm close enough to the coast in my patch of Hollywood to get a bit of ocean humidity, but the humidity monitor says it stays around 50-55% in there. I'm hoping when I get my aquariums up and running in the same room, it will be closer to 60-70% without any additional contrivances.

[Hannah]

Hmmm maybe I'll have to have a look into that humidifier! I was thinking about using beads but still unsure. Do you keep the room that temp all year round? or just leave it?

Our winters don't get hugely cold, only about -5 at the coolest but we have very dry winters here.. I'm wondering if I'll need to regulate the temp somehow without keeping my loungeroom heater on all the time or AC in the summer.
Is temp always a concern for pu regardless of RH?

[shah82]

Hot and moist naturally stored puerh tend to lead to sour puerh, at least in the early brews. Hot and dry would be a bad, bad idea.

[wyardley]

Temperature and RH interact (if you've felt a hot, humid day vs. a cold, humid day, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about). I'm sure someone else can explain it in more technical terms, but if the environment is too cold, even fairly high RH won't have much effect on the tea.

Many people have argued that seasons are good for tea, but there's a lot of storage chauvinism in terms of pu'er storage (that is, people from a lot of places come up with arguments for why their climate is best for tea storage, whether it's that there are 4 seasons, giving the tea some time to dry out, or that there is a more consistent temperature / humidity).

I think it will be a long time before we have any idea whether using humidifiers to store tea can really produce something you want to drink. Personally, I treat the pu'er I am sitting on as more of an experiment, but I generally try to focus any buying I do these days on things I actually want to drink now (that is, older, and / or wetter stored stuff).

[mr mopu]

Hmmm maybe I'll have to have a look into that humidifier! I was thinking about using beads but still unsure. Do you keep the room that temp all year round? or just leave it?

Our winters don't get hugely cold, only about -5 at the coolest but we have very dry winters here.. I'm wondering if I'll need to regulate the temp somehow without keeping my loungeroom heater on all the time or AC in the summer.
Is temp always a concern for pu regardless of RH?

Beads give off ammonia during the evaporation process, you won't want this odor in your tea. A cigar humidifier is a much better option. The largest Hydra works well for me.

[wyardley]

Beads will also work only in a smallish space that's well sealed.

Any kind of active humidification is a pain, because you have to deal with avoiding mold in the reservoir / wicks / etc. But it's probably what you need to do if you want to humidify your tea.

[Exempt]

Hmmm maybe I'll have to have a look into that humidifier! I was thinking about using beads but still unsure. Do you keep the room that temp all year round? or just leave it?

Our winters don't get hugely cold, only about -5 at the coolest but we have very dry winters here.. I'm wondering if I'll need to regulate the temp somehow without keeping my loungeroom heater on all the time or AC in the summer.
Is temp always a concern for pu regardless of RH?

I used beads for a while but, like mopu said, they ended up giving off an ammonia like smell which I didn't want being absorbed by the tea. I would 110% recommend aristocrat humidifiers. The owner of the company hand builds the units and actually designed the cigar oasis. He quit that company because he knew that he could build a far superior unit in a similar price range. They are a little bit more expensive compared to other units but they have a 3 year warranty, the newest batches have been lasting upwards of 15 years, they are made with high quality components, any time you need you can email the man that builds them and he will respond quickly, and I have been using mine for around a year with absolutely no problems.

[Hannah]

Hmmm maybe I should buy a thermoelectric wine cooler (there's some that go up to about 23C) and mod it with a humidifier, that'd get around our hot dry weather here... Apart from the potential fridgey smell (which I reckon I could get rid of after a while) could anyone see any potential issues with that sorta setup? Apparently thermoelectric ones don't dehumidify but I've only read that from one person

[mr mopu]

Hmmm maybe I should buy a thermoelectric wine cooler (there's some that go up to about 23C) and mod it with a humidifier, that'd get around our hot dry weather here... Apart from the potential fridgey smell (which I reckon I could get rid of after a while) could anyone see any potential issues with that sorta setup? Apparently thermoelectric ones don't dehumidify but I've only read that from one person

If you get one I would not recommend running it and trying to humidify it. Cold and humidification = condensation on the wall lost 3 tuochas and a brick trying this. You might be better of getting an old refrigerator and using it and not running it. They are insulated well and have food safe walls in them to inhibit any mold growth. Good seals on them to keep the air out to maintain the humidity easily.

[Exempt]

Hmmm maybe I should buy a thermoelectric wine cooler (there's some that go up to about 23C) and mod it with a humidifier, that'd get around our hot dry weather here... Apart from the potential fridgey smell (which I reckon I could get rid of after a while) could anyone see any potential issues with that sorta setup? Apparently thermoelectric ones don't dehumidify but I've only read that from one person

If you get one I would not recommend running it and trying to humidify it. Cold and humidification = condensation on the wall lost 3 tuochas and a brick trying this. You might be better of getting an old refrigerator and using it and not running it. They are insulated well and have food safe walls in them to inhibit any mold growth. Good seals on them to keep the air out to maintain the humidity easily.

She said there are some that go up to 23c, which is about 73f. That is certainly warm enough to not have condensation

[Hannah]

Found one with an ambient temp of 25C second hand for $70! Going to give it a go just with some cheapie cakes as test subjects first to watch for mold etc