Aging and Aged Tea Part II

tation—often confused by the fact that there is but one Chinese term for both, “fa xiao.” While fermentation also utilizes oxygen, it relates more to cellular breakdown caused by the presence of bacteria. Puerh tea is unique in that it is covered in bacteria: the jungle trees themselves are teaming with it, as are the villages where the tea is processed. When the cakes are steamed and compressed, more bacteria and other microorganisms make their home in the cakes. As a result, Puerh cakes are truly alive—teaming with colonies of fungi, bacteria and mold. Penicillium chrysogenum, Rhizopus chinensis and Aspergillus clavatus are just a few examples of mold colonies natural to Puerh tea. All Puerh tea is moldy, in other words. Puerh tea has always been fermented, and throughout history many ways of going about this have been developed, though storage for long periods is the oldest and best method. In order for the bacteria to do their work, Puerh needs a humid environment, some oxygen and also heat. Mr. Chan Kam Pong so insightfully pointed out in his two articles for The Art of Tea Magazine that one of the reasons Puerh was always stored in Southeast China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Viet Nam and Malaysia is the seasonal fluctuation of these variables. In the spring, the humidity goes up and the tea absorbs more moisture, the heat of summer then encourages the fermenIn Part I we discussed why it’s important to seek out the wisdom of those who have actually been storing Puerh tea for long enough to have experience worth sharing. We also explored some of the myths surrounding vintage Puerh and ended by discussing “pen shui” teas and the difference between them and wet stored teas. We mentioned that a lot of these rumors are founded in marketing and business. Now let us turn to wet storage, the market and what we know about proper Puerh storage.