Puerh Tea Storage: All You Need To Know

[@apollostefan7592]

Very clever use of the beads! I use a classic humidifier on low in my closet, which keeps the humidity at 60 %

[@GreenTeaGuru]

+Matt Stefan (Lucky Cat) nice, I'm moving to bigger place, all Puerhtea will be stored in big closet, I may do the same thing as you. Even air tight the door. Will be a massive pumidor! I may also add a temp heater to get the heat up a bit!

[@joehoffmann1610]

I think you just solved my puerh storage. I sure hope so. I just spent a couple hours researching beads, and the proper bins to use, and I should have all I need arriving in a couple days. I had given up hope at maintaining a decent humidity, but now that I know that those beads are made to keep a constant humidity, I'm all in. Now if you'd only get in more of that 2014 ‘Shixiang’ Fuding White Tea Cake that you got me excited about only to find out you don't have anymore. :D

[@GreenTeaGuru]

+Joe Hoffmann lol, your not the only one, I'm kicking myself that I didn't get more, hopefully I will have more in the Summer. Glad your storage woes will be at an end soon! Drain the beads after, leave no standing water!

[@joehoffmann1610]

Will do, and I'll be keeping an eye out for that cake.

[@TeaDB]

Nice video Oli! Always good to have more information on pu'erh storage out there. Thank you for showing your setup too.

[@GreenTeaGuru]

+Tea DB Hi James/Denny, glad your watching! Yep, share the knowledge. If I ever build my walk in pumidor (and it works ok!) you'll be the first to know 👍

[@TeaDB]

Haha. On a sidenote, I think we're working with somewhat similar climates. Seattle is also quite damp but far cooler than pu-hotspots in Asia. I have a similar plastic bin setup, but am using those Boveda packs rather than the beads.

[@GreenTeaGuru]

+Tea DB those Boveda packs sound good, also for wet conditions (2 way humidity control) the only other potential solution I had in mind for wet conditions was using loads of those little packets you find inside sneaker boxes to stop the damp from killing the sneakers!

[@TeaDB]

Wet conditions.. I had to think a second cause I'm almost always trying to add humidity. I've heard of people with large stashes in Thailand and elsewhere sealing up their tea when the rainy season comes and then unsealing when more normal conditions allow for it.

[@GreenTeaGuru]

+Tea DB yeah I'm sure, in the cigar world people are very fussy about what water to use for humidification (I may have invented that word?) they use de ionised water. I used to use it also for my Pu, not sure if it makes a huge difference in PU though. Anyways, I should be having a small stash sitting in HK soon. The room I have in mind is pretty cool with marble floor, I'm hoping that it will end up being a HK dry storage situation. The 2005 HK stored 7542 I acquired last year is a great example of what can be achieved (at home) in HK giving the right conditions. Fingers x'd

[@pasha669]

Loved your video, you may be prone to mold b/c your not adding distilled water to the beads. Tap water brings the mold. Cheers

[@yevgenyhecht9592]

Didn't know about this beads. Need to try.

[@yevgenyhecht9592]

UPD. Tried to use it, seems like it really works

[@wreagfe]

Just bought a fridge I'm never going to turn on. Best insulation space.

[@ArtiomNegura]

I was wondering if the container is airtight. In my understanding, the presence of oxygen is a factor in storing puerh and i'm trying to factor that in.

[@GreenTeaGuru]

Hi, this container isn’t airtight. That’s a good thing. Airflow is very important. Even with some holes in this box it’s still good to air the tea out

[@000DAAN000]

people who have tried the humidity beads, how many % did your RH go up and where did you start? I' m currently at 52% after 1 day of putting the beads in

[@bobbyport]

Thanks for the info Oli. I was actually thinking of emailing you for some advice, but this video covers it nicely. I'm using the same boxes as you, just smaller sizes. Where do you get the beads from? Had a quick look on eBay and Amazon but couldn't quite see the correct looking ones. Cheers Rob

[@GreenTeaGuru]

+bobbyport hey Bobby. I hope your enjoying the tea! I get mine from ebay, I've put the link in the description of the video.

[@bobbyport]

Excellent, thanks. Order placed!

[@GreenTeaGuru]

+bobbyport pleasure Sir.

[@loligbolig1271]

Sorry for this question im new to Puerh :/ If I just want to store Puerh for drinking not aging (3-6 months max). Is it maybe possible to store it in an airtight container or is there another "cheap" way to store it? And do I need to keep an eye on the humidity even when i don't want to age it (i know mold could be a problem).

[@GreenTeaGuru]

+lolig bolig no problem. If only for a short time, you could pop it in an old sneaker box. I wouldn't worry too much if for such a short time.

[@livertine504]

But if those balls caught mold then the mold is actually already within the plastic box and so those spores might also infected the pu-erhs inside that box! That's what I am worried about because mold isn't just a thing that's stuck on one type of material. If it developed into actual mold its spores are everywhere. So I wonder what effect it might have on the Pu's stored inside of it. Did you cakes & co ever caught some of this mold?

[@GreenTeaGuru]

+Philipp Aba if your balls caught mold you should throw them away. Cheaper balls go mouldy quickly. Don't worry about the spores. They can only grow in humid environments I.e: (the wet balls) the box & cakes have a less humid surface area and would not be effected even if spores are present in the box. Mouldy is a problem in R/H + 70 generally. I've never encountered mould on any cakes or anything in the boxes apart from when I used cheap balls.

[@bret1575]

Could you possibly link to the specific bins you have?

[@GreenTeaGuru]

reallyusefulproducts.co.uk

[@LaoZi2023]

Do you have any thoughts on Golden Flower tea storage and humidity, temperature, etc

[@GreenTeaGuru]

Not particularly to be honest. I don’t think there should be any differences in storage for golden flower

[@jenniferjanny5329]

Please between pu-erh black tea and pu-erh red tea which is more effective on weight loss?

[@GreenTeaGuru]

+Chinyere Blessing hi, I would drink Ripe puerh and black tea for weight loss, these 2 teas may help.

[@jenniferjanny5329]

Green Tea Guru Thanks for your reply .. I will have to try both same time.

[@ThomasL.116]

Do you care about the plastic smells of the box or maybe a fridge? Will the tea overpower these smells over time?

[@GreenTeaGuru]

Yeah, check out my more recent vid about plastic, I’m not a fan, airflow also v important

[@ThomasL.116]

@@GreenTeaGuru Thank you! :-)

[@svenschukat2958]

will do that at home👍

[@somedude2748]

Ollie, seems like an odd question but what is the make of the plastic box? Possible to get it in Argos or something like that? Really what I'm asking, is what information should I be looking out for when I look for a plastic box. I don't wanna ruin my future puerh drinking...

[@GreenTeaGuru]

+Some dude yeah sure, most important thing is that it's not cheap plastic that can leach unwanted flavour out under humid conditions. Really Useful Storage is the brand I use,

[@somedude2748]

Excellent, can get one handy in Argos. Any tips on where to find humidity beads? Somehow have been unable to find them anywhere in my area

[@GreenTeaGuru]

+Some dude Easy, search 'water beads' on eBay

[@somedude2748]

Hello again! I've gotten the same plastic box make like I said, albeit a 35L one, humidity beads and a hygrometer. However, the box had a chemical smell of plastic when I bought it, and even after cleaning with dishwashing detergent and warm water using a sponge there is still a slight smell of plastic. I was wondering if you ran into this problem with your own box, and if you have then how did you clean it to remove the smell? Just worried about the taste of my sheng puerhs being affected by the plastic!

[@GreenTeaGuru]

+Some dude was it a 'really useful storage' brand box? Really don't worry about the slight plastic smell, it won't leach into your tea.

[@Cristiantree25]

Hi again Oli do you think there is any risk of a humidity higher than 70/75+ perhaps? mine can sometimes go way up its a little worrying :)

[@somedude2748]

www.dpcalc.org/ Useful stuff

[@thommekx7739]

Should the box be airtight?

[@GreenTeaGuru]

+Thommek X Hey, you know, it's not a big deal. Also the slight airflow that the cakes will get is beneficial. Just keep tabs on the humidity. All should be fine

[@thommekx7739]

Thank you for your answer. I plan to buy a similar box and wondered if it is worth to do a few very small holes at the bottom and top of the box.

[@GreenTeaGuru]

+Thommek X if your going to be diving into the box every now and then for your tea I wouldn't worry.

[@thommekx7739]

Hi, I have one more question - I bought and use a container with the symbol "food approved" (picture with a glass and fork) but unfortunately it has a slight medical smell (I can not remove it, nothing helps). I have another container without this symbol and this one has no smell. I'm a bit afraid - it may have some ingredients like BPA, but on the other hand - tea will not have direct contact with the surface. What do you think about it? Is the container you use designed to store food?

[@Cristiantree25]

I need some humidity beads :))

[@GreenTeaGuru]

+Eliott Jasper eBay!

[@Cristiantree25]

I store my tea in similar containers thick plastic, Puerh pretty much filled up tight not much space but the problem is that they move out into drawers so I don't really want to have any water unless if I can secure it in place haha maybe I'll look into some new storage but just don't have the space unfortunately. I feel with this cold winter though it's been too bad for my tea.

[@GreenTeaGuru]

+Eliott Jasper yeah, the more tea the better in your pumidor. You can actually put these breads into (unused) tights. Then knit them up...job done

[@GreenTeaGuru]

+Green Tea Guru sorry, knot , not knit. But using cakes as frisbee' s down the stairs into the microwave is always going to be a much safer bet for ageing ;)

[@Cristiantree25]

Green Tea Guru I'll try it your way :) I tend to age cakes too fast when using the ancient arbor Dan Cong mafia way. if I use tights do I still need any water?

[@youssefhiggins.6945]

Could I just add a glass of water to where I store my tea?

[@youssefhiggins.6945]

Also, I will be traveling for around 3 months, and I do not want my new pu-erh tea to go bad, should I just leave it in where I store it with humidity beads just in case? I will be leaving in the summer months and where I am it does get very hot and humid during the summer getting to around (80%), so while I'm away should I worry about my tea getting dry?

[@ArtiomNegura]

2 hours of googling solved by a 10 minute video

[@GreenTeaGuru]

More up-to-date version of this video on my channel!