The history of storing pu’erh.
Pu’erh storage terminology.
Storing pu’erh in the US or Europe.
Pu’erh is a tea grown in Yunnan for export to Hong Kong and other parts of southern China and southeast Asia. Here it was stored by vendors for consumption. For many decades, this was done in a process that is referred to as traditional storage. But at some point this changed and people began to store pu’erh in different climates with different methods.
There are a few common pu’erh terms typically used to describe storage (12:57). I also explore a few of the major challenges in storing pu’erh in an inherently different, colder, and drier climate.
Voices:
Garrett ( https://www.instagram.com/islikewater/?hl=en )
Kelsey Schergen: http://www.kelseyschergen.com
Referenced:
http://www.marshaln.com/2011/01/traditional-not-wet/
http://www.puerh.fr/en/article/vesper_chan.htm
https://www.banateacompany.com/pages/storage.html
6 responses to “Pu’erh Storage Explainer [Inbetweenisode 212]”
Thank you for another great video.
From some of your past videos I had the impression that you are generally
pleased with the storage you have done and noted aging in the teas you stored that you were pleased with. Is this a proper description?
Very Best Wishes-Steve
I would say I’m fine with the way my tea is aging. I wouldn’t say it’s anything outstanding either. The tea has changed slowly but satisfactorily.
Nice video. What do you think is the role of airflow in storage? I’ve seen people say too much airflow destroys aroma, and others say it’s absolutely necessary for proper storage. Personally, I suspect that it’s only necessary insofar as it might allow higher humidity levels with less mold risk, but I don’t actually have any evidence, so this is really a wild guess.
I’m of the belief that airflow isn’t that important. Considering most tea stored in long-term is stacked in tongs and then in boxes, I doubt it gets that much airflow.
Whether it is OK to have none at all is where I’m not totally sure.
I’ve heard that HK wet/traditional storage often contains watering the basement warehouses to start a fermentation process wich is pretty close to shou. In the end the result is very similar in my eyes. I prefer HK dry a lot more, wich is of course not close to a dry climate at all.
Personally I think the results are very different between traditionally stored sheng and ripe. There’s of course a pretty big range of traditional storage so I suppose it may depend on what you’ve tried.