Storage, My Pumidor, a little Q&A — TeaDB James InBetweenIsode Episode #67


A one-off episode about storage, pu’erh storage, tinning teas, and my pumidor. Thanks to Benoit for the great questions.

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16 responses to “Storage, My Pumidor, a little Q&A — TeaDB James InBetweenIsode Episode #67”

  1. Hi James,

    Maybe this is a silly question, but is the mini fridge set to a specific temperature? Are you cooling the cakes as well as maintaining a certain humidity?

    Thanks!

  2. Great episode James. Interesting to compare storage strategies, as there isn’t much information available on that matter – and most instructions come from people living in asia, under conditions that are very different than ours in the west.

    My current storage sounds pretty similar to yours. Though I need to experiment more with tins…

    • Hi Bef,

      Thanks for the comment and yes indeed. Us in the west, seem to have to finagle more complex solutions to deal with our dry climates.

      Cheers,
      -James

  3. Great to see all those (probably) lovely teas tucked together.
    Is there a reason to keep puer teas, in your opinion, in a little closed space like your fridge, other than regulating the humudity? I have my few cakes on a open shelf away from sunlight so they are exposed to air flow, but i have no reason for doing so.
    Another question i have – if the cakes pick up smells from one another, dont that also show slightly in the taste, especially on a longer term?
    I can also see that all of your cakes are in their original paper, what is your view on having them in cardboard storaging boxes f.ex.? (if you have tried it or know something in this regard).

    Thank you for showing ‘your tresure’.

    And happy new (monkey) year from Denmark.

    //Silas

    • Hi Sila,s

      Thanks for the comment and good questions. I’d be careful with airflow. I’m not particularly convinced that you need tons of fresh air to age pu’erh.

      I’ve used cardboard boxes as a temporary storage method and they seem to do fine. It’s not as easy to raise the humidity levels, but I don’t feel as if I’ve ruined/dried out the teas.

      Cheers and happy Chinese New Year!
      -James

  4. Well nice episode and pretty informative. I would like to know how you would regulate the temperature in the fridge though?

    So for now my cakes still remain in the plastic/bubblewrap that was around it when I bought them and have them in a cardbox. I should probably start some better storage but I’ve had no luck finding big iron cookie jars to store the cakes and just putting the cakes in a wooden closet is also no good I believe.

      • Well with some bargain shopping in thrift stores I got a few ceramic jars so I can air my cakes a bit. But those only fit enough for a few sessions so I still need something for the cakes itself.

        So thanks for the glass jar tip perhaps I can find some but will need some looking into since I’m from the Netherlands and buying the jars from an American store would be pricey for me.

    • Hi Fiona & hgsheperd,

      Good question. It’s just at room temp so nothing special there.

      Good idea hgsheperd. Those wal mart cookie jars I’d imagine will do well to retain the aroma and keep them clustered together.

      Cheers,
      -James

  5. Hi James,

    This was quite informative for me for relatively as I experiment with effective, fuss free storage options. I’m a fan of breaking up teas I drink regularly into small batches of mao cha. However, since most of the those are young sheng (between 1 to 6 y/o), I’ve been keeping them in mini Japanese tea tins with the inner plastic lid. I suppose this is best for teas with youthful characteristics I wish to maintain. Once I build up my collection of aged teas, I will to use tins that aren’t air-tight, so thanks for that idea.

    I’m experimenting with aging mao cha as well. These past few months, I have kept mao cha I find unpleasantly-green/sharp in a semi-glazed/porous Korean earthenware jar similar to your Daiso tins. How would you age mao cha?

    Thanks,
    Theo

  6. Nice episode! In the video you mentioned you got the smaller tins for loose leaf teas from Upton Tea, but where did you get the larger, double lidded ones? Thanks!

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