Phase 1: Collect Puerh Cakes. Phase 2: ? Phase 3: Profit!

[whatsinaname]

When I started buying Puerh cakes in 2010, I basically had no idea what I was doing. Still don't!

"Whaddya mean my 7542-901 will never taste like a Red Mark? All ya gotta do is store it!" (Lulz.)

How are your teas that are 6-10 years stored in the good ol' USofA doing?

[mr mopu]

Mine are well and seem to be aging well. There are a few in the awkward stage but I am noticing the difference.

[theredbaron]

Phase 1: Collect
Phase 2: Store
Phase 3: Drink and enjoy

Profit? Forget about it, unless you are a high powered investor who knows the intricacies of the market extremely well.

[mr mopu]

The real profit will be in the drinking of good aged tea.

[Drax]

So, back to the original question, and not some personal nitnoid (and likely lack of South Park knowledge)...

I'm coming up on 8 years of storage of cakes (using a pumidor). I've taken pictures of the progression of some of these cakes from time to time (and posted those pictures here). The teas are definitely aging. The pumidor cakes definitely require airing out (or use of a roaster) before drinking, but I expected that to be the case.

I've been so busy trying to drink up the samples and other bits that I haven't had much time to do pumidor sampling (I do, but not as frequently). I'm hoping to have more of a methodical exploration about when I hit the 10-year mark.

[jayinhk]

How high is the temp/humidity in your pumidor, Drax? Do you open it up to exchange the air often?

[Drax]

The temperature varies between 65-85, depending on the season. My pumidor is in an upper room, so it stays warmer than the rest of my place in general. The humidity, I keep set at ~70% RH.

And I don't do "air exchange." It's a wood cabinet, so there's no danger of stagnant air like in a plastic container or fridge.

[jayinhk]

Sounds good! You're getting humid storage notes at that humidity level?

[Drax]

It's a little hard to describe -- it's nothing as far as I would call a 'wet' quality, but there's a definite profile that has developed across the teas, and it takes either airing out in a clay jar or putting into a tea roaster to get rid of it. It's probably a combination of mustiness, the wood of the cabinet (which although low, is not zero), and all of the diverse teas in the cabinet (unlike a warehouse shelf, which likely has rows of the same tea).

I think it has still been better for the tea, given my location -- the teas that I have kept out of the cabinet have essentially not aged.

[jayinhk]

Gotcha, sounds like it could be the wood. Do you have shu with the sheng? I wouldn't roast the pu, but airing out is what we do here, sometimes for several years.

[Drax]

Nope, I keep all of my shu in boxes outside of the pumidor.

That's a good point about roasting. I met somebody in Singapore who typically roasted his teas before brewing (individually in a roasting pot). I've only done the roasting when I want to get an idea of how a pumidor-tea is doing right now (i.e., so I don't have to wait for a sample to air out for a few months -- and I agree, I think some will take quite awhile to air out... ).

BUT! To link it all back to the original topic... I have noted that some of the teas that I purchased back in 2008-2010 (when I bought the bulk of my puerh) have doubled in price... at least, the ones that are still available from the same vendor (but I'd say that around half are no longer available, which makes it hard to know). So from that standpoint, I've certainly saved money from what I'd have to pay today. I should write up some comparisons at some point...

[jayinhk]

What kind of stuff do you have in your stash? That's quite decent appreciation. I'm thinking about eventually buying cases of sheng and shu to age since I'll have the space.

I roast green/oolong/black teas before brewing, sometimes, but never pu erh, and my dry storage stuff (60-80% humidity) doesn't need airing out, IMO. It's the stuff that's held at a constant 80-100% (traditional HK storage) that often goes a little moldy that needs the airing out (in my book). For my cakes at home...I just reach in and break/pick some off.

Shu also benefits greatly from storage at appropriate humidity, IMO. Well aged shu is really lovely.

[Drax]

I've got a pretty wide variety of stuff in the pumidor. Because I bought the bulk of my pu in the 2008-2010 timeframe, most of my "new" puerh is from those years, and most of my "old" puerh is from 2000-2007. In particular, I bought a fair amount of the Dayi and Xiaguan standards, though I have a selection of "boutique" teas as well. But most of my purchases were through Western vendors, so there's a bit of a filter there.

I've been thinking about putting my "outside the box" teas up in my attic at least during the summer (it'll approach traditional HK storage levels here in the Washington DC area). I'll include the shu as well, if I do, that's a good idea. I'd put my sheng:shu ratio at 100:1, though, so it's much less to worry about... (:

[jayinhk]

VA/DC certainly does get pretty hot and humid in summer--sticking that tea up in the attic sounds like a plan! You could always stick some cups/bowls of water in there to boost humidity if needed.

Sounds like you have a good collection. IMO Dayi/XG is good, reliable, tea, and authentic tea from 2000-2007 will be worth a bomb down the line.

My sheng/shu ratio is about 1:1...it's the Hong Kong in me. Until I got on TeaChat, pu erh was simply shu. I had never even heard of sheng pu erh!

[Drax]

My sheng/shu ratio is about 1:1...it's the Hong Kong in me. Until I got on TeaChat, pu erh was simply shu. I had never even heard of sheng pu erh!

Heh, so is shu much more popular in general in Hong Kong, then? Is there any reason why?