When I tried sample of 1981 DongDing (from EoT) I woke up morning after with aftertaste of this tea in my mouth and I knew - I am going to get more. Few months later, when I have opened the bag with bigger amount of this aged kindness, I was wondering if the bag is the best for storage. As this is not the only aged tea in my stock I was looking for pot to storage it in. All tea caddies I use turned out as too small but finally I have find the right one in our "for a sale" shelf.
It is made from iron rich clay with simple slip and carving decoration. Will this piece do good job? We will see.
It is glazed inside by feldspathic glaze and I am not sure how important for storage this is going to be. Glaze protects tea from moisture and loosing fragrances but maybe the clay itself can improve tea better...
This DongDing is pretty light so only 90grams of tea fit to this jar. The color together with scent of those dry leaves is something very pleasant to me. The color of dark caramel but not without luster and mellow, like dried plum scents.
Dear Petr,
ReplyDeleteYour work is wonderful.
Thanks.
. PHILIPPE .
I'll have to get a sample of this to try for myself. Your description of the taste still being with you the next morning sounds so nice. It will be interesting to someday hear about the results from your storage experiment!
ReplyDeletePetr, awesome post, what a beautiful jar and a beautiful picture of the tea.
ReplyDeleteRich
Thank you all for stopping by - I am glad you like the pot or the post or both...
ReplyDeleteLearning to pull radishes : I had few teas where there was "morning after aftertaste" . I am only not sure how much it is about actual taste on my tongue or in my throat and how much it is about print in my mind...Anyway this is good tea and brewing it we can make it great.
best
Petr
I like very much your pottery. For me it's really an Art work.
ReplyDeleteNicolas
Petr, glad you enjoyed the tea. I gave some as a gift to a tea friend that collects aged teas and he thought highly of it as well.
ReplyDeleteI have some oolong that I've stored for the past several years in many different types of material, including glazed and unglazed clay. Over time, the unglazed clay took away too much flavor from the tea, so I found glazed clay or porcelain to work better for long-term storage. If it's a high-fire/high-roast oolong or a young pu'er tea, then the unglazed clay would probably work better.
Of possible interest to you, I once found a site in the US that claims to sell actual yixing clay to potters. It's been 2 years since I've visited that website and I think the clay wasn't cheap. I wanted to mention it to you in case you wanted to try to experiment with that material.
Rich
Hi Rich and thank you for your comment.
ReplyDeleteYour findings about glaze-unglazed, porcelain-stoneware pots for long term storage are interesting and make sense to me too. Also experiments of Stephane Erler show similar results. I think that for example the pot from this post is probably "too heavy" for long-term storage. But on other hand there is only 100g of tea in it which is already 30years old so it will be better to open it next year, share it with friends, see if tea moved and enjoy it.
It is tempting to try yixing clay...but probably I stay hooked with local materials which I have around for several lives...
best
Petr
Hi Petr,
ReplyDeleteWhat have you decided on whether you seal the lid with the wax or leave it as is?
Hi Vladimir,
ReplyDeleteI decided to wax it but have not done it, yet. I find the wax I have at home a little "smelly" so I wait till I will find the right one.
So that wax has to be changed every time you open the jar, right?
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there is another solution that doesn't require changing the sealant... Like those rubber sealants they use on commercial jars. You know what I'm talking about?
You use the wax in case of long term storage. Usually open it after year or two to check if it need re-roast and see how the tea "moved". But as a beginner in this field I do that more for learning and, of course, enjoying the tea. To make lid of ceramic tea caddy more tight you can aslo use some fabric. I am always afraid to use any plastic or glued foil -I rather lost some fragrances then pick up some smells.
ReplyDelete