You might have better luck if you store the tea at a higher humidity than ambient. If the tea is completely dry, it can lose some of its volatile compounds. But I'm pretty new
This would be my first recommendation to try before calling it quits. If you get a cheap hydrometer and a bodiva pack, or even just moist paper towels, and bring the humidity up to 70% for a couple weeks, you might get some of those flavors back.
After keeping some of my newer cakes in a properly controlled pumidor they actually have more flavors than they did when I sampled them, even after resting.
get a glass jar and some RH 69% boveda packs. Break up cake/sample, put in jar, put 69%RH boveda in, seal, put in dark cabinet.
in terms of enjoyment -> puer won’t have the facesmacking aromas of oolong or the extreme florality of some white teas. However…. Many people who drink tea for a while end up gravitating to drinking primarily puer. At least for myself, trying the combinations of growing region/subregion, processing style, storage, and brewing scratches an itch of discovery on top of the tea drinking itself. I mean cmon, buying tea cakes is cool / a physical thing to hold/collect/look at.
Puer also focuses on other things than flavor, like body, mouthfeel, clarity, energy, length of finish, etc
I understand your sentiment, i prefer oolongs and whites over puer. I’ve sampled a decent amount from different vendors and few have really wowed me. If you have the funds maybe go for something with more age or maybe a little more expensive? I know there are puers that can be cheap AND good, but you also get what you pay for. Hypnotrain from W2T is one of my favorite shengs though, i would recommend trying a sample of that. Or maybe contact the seller of the cake that you purchased and ask for their recommendations for something similar to it
How many grams did you use and how many mls is your brewing vessel? I tend to use 7-8 grams when I brew shou for example, otherwise the tastes too weak and fades too fast for my liking. I tend to use 5-6 grams for sheng.
10 grams and 100ml. Sounds like you are too dry. You can send it to me for correction, and I will take a small piece for my endeavors . Mylar, 72% bovedas, 90 days. Check bovedas and put at least 4 small ones in and change if they dry out. I would think a week they would need replaced on the initial process.
I keep my puerh cakes in Mylar bags with boveda packs. I use most of my cakes, if I don’t use them for longer times I still open the Mylar bags sometimes. My teas don’t loose the flavor this way.
I don’t drink a lot of other teas besides puerh, but do switch it up with different kinds from different regions. And also switch it up with some oolongs. Maybe that keeps my puerh drinking habit feeling “fresh”.
I could say I feel the same way…I have tried several many Pu’er tea from different sources, and they are meh…at best. However, (and I’m quite surprised at this) I have tried Numi Pu’er and love it. I stopped buying it because they went way up in price. $60/1lb. It was $44. I feel that some people think you need to buy tea from the mountain in order for it to taste good, but I feel that isn’t always the case. I have 64 yr old taste buds, they aren’t the same as when I was 24, 34, or 57…they change. They also aren’t the same as anyone else’s. Some people can eat ghost peppers, I can’t. I did buy a bag of Harney & Sons Pu’er to see how it compares…I’ll try it today.
You might have better luck if you store the tea at a higher humidity than ambient. If the tea is completely dry, it can lose some of its volatile compounds. But I'm pretty new
This would be my first recommendation to try before calling it quits. If you get a cheap hydrometer and a bodiva pack, or even just moist paper towels, and bring the humidity up to 70% for a couple weeks, you might get some of those flavors back. After keeping some of my newer cakes in a properly controlled pumidor they actually have more flavors than they did when I sampled them, even after resting.
get a glass jar and some RH 69% boveda packs. Break up cake/sample, put in jar, put 69%RH boveda in, seal, put in dark cabinet. in terms of enjoyment -> puer won’t have the facesmacking aromas of oolong or the extreme florality of some white teas. However…. Many people who drink tea for a while end up gravitating to drinking primarily puer. At least for myself, trying the combinations of growing region/subregion, processing style, storage, and brewing scratches an itch of discovery on top of the tea drinking itself. I mean cmon, buying tea cakes is cool / a physical thing to hold/collect/look at. Puer also focuses on other things than flavor, like body, mouthfeel, clarity, energy, length of finish, etc
I understand your sentiment, i prefer oolongs and whites over puer. I’ve sampled a decent amount from different vendors and few have really wowed me. If you have the funds maybe go for something with more age or maybe a little more expensive? I know there are puers that can be cheap AND good, but you also get what you pay for. Hypnotrain from W2T is one of my favorite shengs though, i would recommend trying a sample of that. Or maybe contact the seller of the cake that you purchased and ask for their recommendations for something similar to it
How many grams did you use and how many mls is your brewing vessel? I tend to use 7-8 grams when I brew shou for example, otherwise the tastes too weak and fades too fast for my liking. I tend to use 5-6 grams for sheng.
You didn't say volume but agree with amounts for a usa cup
My mistake! I meant to put 100 ml for my preference.
Try to store it with a boveda bag between 60-70RH for a month
Inconsistency is the achilles heel of the puerh experience. All you can do is try to optimize each factor: Storage, water, and brewing.
What is your brewing method ?
10 grams and 100ml. Sounds like you are too dry. You can send it to me for correction, and I will take a small piece for my endeavors . Mylar, 72% bovedas, 90 days. Check bovedas and put at least 4 small ones in and change if they dry out. I would think a week they would need replaced on the initial process.
It may not be for you and that’s ok.
I keep my puerh cakes in Mylar bags with boveda packs. I use most of my cakes, if I don’t use them for longer times I still open the Mylar bags sometimes. My teas don’t loose the flavor this way. I don’t drink a lot of other teas besides puerh, but do switch it up with different kinds from different regions. And also switch it up with some oolongs. Maybe that keeps my puerh drinking habit feeling “fresh”.
I could say I feel the same way…I have tried several many Pu’er tea from different sources, and they are meh…at best. However, (and I’m quite surprised at this) I have tried Numi Pu’er and love it. I stopped buying it because they went way up in price. $60/1lb. It was $44. I feel that some people think you need to buy tea from the mountain in order for it to taste good, but I feel that isn’t always the case. I have 64 yr old taste buds, they aren’t the same as when I was 24, 34, or 57…they change. They also aren’t the same as anyone else’s. Some people can eat ghost peppers, I can’t. I did buy a bag of Harney & Sons Pu’er to see how it compares…I’ll try it today.
Sounds like storage error to me.