How to Age PuErh Cakes 

Watching this video reminded me of a good thing for all people to remember if they're storing their PuErh in a closet of some sort: You want your closet to smell like PuErh, and not for your PuErh to smell like a closet. Thanks for the vids Don, I've been enjoying them a lot!

Don, I want to start collecting cakes of Puerh so I can sit and count them like Scrooge with his coins!!! I have tea cake envy!

Hi Sir, Tks so much for your quick response. You have enlightened me very well. And yes, like you said don't stress too much over it. Cheers

Tks Don, Didn't know my 2nd question is the most frequently asked. Yes, I watched the video and very informative. Tks again

Thank you, very good information and very well explained. Happy New Year!

Great episode, thank you so much for the information!!

Super video! Thank You!

Amazing! Great advice! Keep 'em coming!

Don my friend you have taught me so much about tea through the years i just want to say thank you from the states here in Cleveland Ohio ps I’m waiting on you to analyze some grade A Darjeeling

I have "unknowingly" store my puehr tea about the right way like what you've just explained for around ten years now.. your sharing motivated me to keep it for probably another 10 years.. mine came from Si Shuang Pan Na. Thanks a lot for the information videos. I love teas, especially Chinese Tea..

Good basic training!

This was really interesting. I'm not likely to ever do this, but it's always good to learn something.

Great video, really helpful ! Thanks man !

Just in time. I'm young and have decided to purchase a number of cakes to age well into the years ahead of me.

Great explanation and Pu erh cakes. I'm going to add several of your videos to one of my sites.

Brother Don, I looooooooooooove your videos. Thank you so much from A Colombian American living in Japan.

Many thanks great info

Hi Don, thanks so much for all your free content it’s made such a difference to my tea education! Can I ask, does the advice in this video apply to white tea cakes such as your wonderful Jade Star? Thank you 😊

So helpful

very interesting thank you, i love pu erhs...

BTW, i have a 2012 'Xiguan "Jia Ji" Raw Puerh Tuo in Green box ' aging at my grandmothers house. I check on it at least once every 3 months

Great Video - thank you for your constant effort. I got some questions: I also store my pu-erh in a cardboard box but why is this environment aging it faster? And would it make any sense to put such humidipaks inside such a cardboard box with those cakes? And last but not least. I was wondering if I store all those different cakes together just in their wrappers in a box aren't those different Pu aromas mixing up and influence each other.

Thank you for Pu'erh support; the world needs you. Question: My 2021 cake has a 2025 expiration date. What have they done to it?

I would also add that it's important to store the tea away from the kitchen or in areas where there is a lot of cooking going on, as PuErh tends to absorb aromas and over time it could effect the flavor of the tea.

Got my humidor coming, got my hygrometer setting up and once everything is set I am gonna add my first tea to the ageing collection, an unopened cake of night forest muse.

You're videos are always very informative, Don. However, after aging tea for several years in a variety of locations, I can confidently say that between 40 and 50 percent RH is definitely too low for the aging of puerh. My personal aging solution is an old, sealed, wooden cabinet. I keep all of my Sheng in there, along with two "room humidifier" balls. Right now, my measuring device says that the inside of the cabinet is 22 degrees C with a humidity of 81% RH. This is cool enough that I don't run the risk of mold while still maintaining the aging process at a fair clip. I turn the tea once every month to ensure that each cake gets a similar amount of exposure. My oldest teas are from the early 90's with the youngest cakes from spring 2015. I've got a tong of 2009, formerly Guangzhou-stored, Yiwu and a tong of 2007, formerly Menghai-stored, Hekai, my greatest treasures that I intend to age for decades.

though waiting 20- 40 years for tea seems silly but it sounds like a cool idea to share a well aged drink with your son or grandson when the time is right.

I love your videos and have learned so much. We will be in London Sept 19-21, 2018 and plan to visit your shop. Will you be there one of those days? Cathy

I find most people consider 70-80%+ rh to be wet storage and 60-70%rh to be dry. Not sure you’d see any real fermentation happening below 60%. I aim for 65% myself

Hi Don! I have seen people store cakes in baskets with lids. Would it be sensible to use one, and a basket near in circumference to the cakes being stored? Where would YOU look for cakes that have been aged for 30 or more years? Is there a "trusted source" for a budding tea enthusiast just to get the taste experience? I love the artwork behind you!

Hey Don, a question. Planning on going the cigar humidor route for tea ageing but I came on a conundrum. Cigar humidors come in two varieties wooden and acrylic. By my research the wooden is less airtight, allowing some breath-ability, and the wood absorbs the moisture keeping it well regulated and controlled but the wood tends to be aromatic spanish cedar and some people are concerned about taste adulteration. the acrylic humidors keeps moisture by being completely airtight so the humidity stays in but I am afraid the lack of air will choke the tea and some say lack of breath-ability will grow mold. Personally I am leaning to wood humidors, I would rather have a slight wood flavor to the tea than killing the ageing process or worse having mold growing, but what are your thoughts?

I'll be turning 25 this year and I'm thinking it might be cool to get a raw puerh tea cake and hang onto it until I'm 50. Feels like a good opportunity in terms of time and a nice way to honor my own aging.

Thanks for your amazing videos Don! I have purchased a few of 9yo cooked puerl bricks. I enjoyed it so much, however having a proper storage the puerl would be a challenge for me, esp in the aspect that i need to avoid strong smelling things on my puerl. Is it advisable to store the puerl in a completely sealed container (say, perfectly sealed thick plastic bag) ? I think its better to get my puerl stop aging rather than aged, but in a wrong direction (like, absorbing unwanted aromas from the environment). What do you think?

nice :)

What about artificial light such as room lams and chandeliers? Would it affect the tea that is stored in a cabinet or cupboard?

What if we store original packings in a wooden cupboard while other parameters remain the same as you advised ?

Hi Don; you mentioned picking up odors. Should we keep them away from each other or could they be in the same pantry? ? If we have a clay pot only one per pot or several in the same pot? Thanks so much for all your videos!

If it takes up aroma then wouldn't it be interesting to age the tea with orange peels or apple slices or something similar?

I have a box at home where I store my raw puerh cakes. Is there any problem when I have the Raw Puer Cakes togehter with Aged White Tea Cakes and/or Ripe Puer (sheng) ?!

I've been keeping my puerh in a plastic bag for about 3-4 months until I saw this video am I completely screwed??

Hm, how about storing ripe and raw cakes, can they be in the same box? Will teas kindof blend to pick up eachothers taste and fragrance over time?

Does the storage works only for sheng puer or also for the shu? Thank you to share your knowledge over tea!

old video but maybe you’ll answer - what about ageing white tea? I have „a cake” of pai mu tan - can i age it somehow to make this cha zui makijg material?

Could you do a video on Yabao or pu erh buds, I'm not sure what the proper name is? I feel like there isn't a lot of information about it out there. Many people including myself don't really know what it is.

for the 2-7 year wait, does that apply to both Ripe and Raw?

How should I age if strong smells are unavoidable? I'm a chef and I live in a small apartment with a dog; I've been thinking about batch storing cakes in a large tub that I would air out every few months or so; stored with some humidity packs, as well. Is this a viable option?

What about keep in zip plastic bags?

I bought Silver needle from a market and they were letting me try the aged silver needles (3-7 years). I ended up buying the recent year's pickings, since I wasn't ready to pay $100+. Can I age silver needle in a similar way to puerh? It's not in a cake though :(

Hi Don, As time passed, a few more questions come to mind. 1) Is there a limit for not overdosing, like how many ml can be drunk in a day. I know it sounds very variable as it depends on how concentrated or how long it steep but lets assume av steeping and av amt of leaves (if it sounds sensible). I believed in all consumable things, everything has to be taken in moderation. Or in summary, how many allowable grams of leave per day. Hope I don’t sound too scientific. 2) How long can the leaves be left in the tea pot for the next few subsequent infusion without losing its effect. I have the whole day free time to slowly enjoy.

would the cakes absorb eachothers' aromas?

Tks for your informative video. I received a riped Puerh cake from a friend as a gift about 3 yrs ago but left it untouched in the cabinet as I don’t quite fancy drinking chinese tea. Than I chanced upon some article and learned its goodness and decided I should now drink it. But discovered a label at bottom of box stated Best Bef Nov 2016 ( I assumed its expiry date). Here’s my questions: 1) Since puerh tea can be stored for many yrs, why is there a Best Before date? As I’m the only one to drink it, it may takes me several mths or maybe even a yr to finish the cake. Is there any harm to continue to consume it? 2) I saw some articles that said riped cake will not aged anymore, unlike the raw type. Assuming my cake still can consume, is there any advantage to let it age further? Can I simply put it in a plastic container with screw in cover (those that put cookies)? This knowledge is for the purpose of future purchase. 3) Most articles mentioned riped puerh tea commonly will have an earthly taste but yet some articles mentioned an earthly taste denotes poor quality. So which is correct? 4) If you strongly advocate storage shld be either in an unglazed jar or paperbag, does it mean we still pick the tea from these storage containers for our daily drinking (means it will subject to light and air when open constantly), or put aside a smaller quantity of leaves separately into another smaller jar/bag for daily cosumption and leaves those larger jar/bag untouch for a longer period. Tks so much.

Sorry, one more question. Must it be stored totally in a dark place (meaning inside a cabinet). Being the case, the air will be stale, isn't it? Or store it within a room but no direct sunlight is good enough? Tks again

I have a tightly compressed brick of puer from 2006 I want to break it up but it isn't easy do you have suggestions

How about how long can wet leaves be left inside the tea pot without loosing its flavour for subsequent infusion.

You have mentioned that tea absorbs other aromas very easily. So if the PuErh cakes are stored tightly together, is there not a danger that the aroma of the different teas will mix and eventually level out over the years? That we lose the distinguished aroma and taste of every single cake at the end?

Hi Don, I saw your video about breaking up the cake and it seems somehow you are able to salvage individual leaves. I tried to break up my first cake yesterday and most of the time it ends up in small lump (the size of cornflakes), with leaves somehow still stick together. If I were to try breaking up further, I’m afraid it may become so small that will end up in small dust (not fine dust though). Is it a sign of poor quality or the breaking up will end up in small lumps? There were also some twigs inside the cake. Can we soak the twig as well?

Sorry, let me rephrase the question. AS a retiree, I have the whole day free. Can I leave the wet tea leaves in the tea pot and infuse it as and when I feel like drinking? Meaning the tea leaves are constantly inside the pot perhaps for next 10 or 12 hrs. It won't be practical for me to take out and dry it in between as it won't be dry anyway.

All of the cakes you sell are very new. Is it expected that people will age these cakes, or are they good for drinking right away?

I purchased tea cakes online, but it doesn't have nei-fei in it, does it mean that what l bought is fake? Thank you.

What are carbol(?)boxes? Sorry for my bad english

so a cabinett made from Cedar wood could work as a quicker aging medium for PuErh?

Is it possible to age white tea at home? Is there a video about it?

i afraid that the cardboard box smell will make the puerh aroma bad, and does two different tea stack up each other will smell alike?

should i take my cakes out of the tongs or leave them packed for storage?

Can I drink the puer from 2017-this year-or it's only for aging?!

Seems like a recipe for mold. How is this prevented?

Is that mold on the paper of the older tea? 9:23

Surprised by the plastic bag storage. Doesn't that affect aroma/taste? Why not keep it in paper bags even while enjoying and prior to long term storage?

Where can I buy the best brand?

So...if you break up the tea and store it in a unglazed clay pot, then it will slow down the aging process...but if you break up the cake, put it un a plastic bag/paper bag, then it speed up the aging process???? Why is that???

Can we only age peur or can it be any tea cake?

😄😄👍🏼👍🏼

Don, maybe put the label on the outside of the bag so the chemicals from the paper and the writing utensil isnt seeping into the tea

Why exactly is it taboo to drink the tea in that 2-6 years of ageing? Is it to do with the flavor or does messing with the tea durring that time throws off the ageing process?

I bought raw puerh tuo cha and it tasted too raw. It has to wait at least 5 more years, maybe 10, before it is drinkable.

Wtf 13 years that's crazy long when are you going to brew it? Also with the 10 yr old one me how long are you going for the full 30 yr

...

Do not open the original pack. Once you open, there is no value in the eyes of buyers

Good thing these cakes are wrapped, otherwise storing them would look like you were some kind of drug dealer. How many police know what pu-erh looks like?!

Shouldn't you use gloves. you're adding you body microbes to the tea, might be ok in the early process. but no one would dip there finger in a 10 year old claret

1000 year old trees. LOL! What a complete load of bollocks.