Spraying sheng with water?
Does anyone without a pumidor spray their sheng?
any pitfalls? mould growing or anything like that?
is it something I can do, as mine is now very dry and brittle. ?
Spraying the tea with water is likely to lead to mold. I have heard of people leaving a cup of water near their tea though. Much better idea than spraying the tea with water.
NO No! Spraying with water is what they do to accelerate the process but it can have bad results. I think the risk of mold and the risk of the moldy wet stage tea. I like the drier versions for sure.
My stoner friends have told me about these little porous stones, possibly hardened clay or ceramic, that very slowly release moisture. Not sure if that would help, but they’d probably be cheap.
These http://www.amazon.com/Moisture-Pouch-Buttons-Fresh-Tobacco/dp/B00326GR9W
(I use them in my sheng jars, I think they work)
Yup, that’s the sort of thing I was thinking about! 1st on the “customers also viewed” list was the exact one that I was thinking about!
http://www.amazon.com/RAW-Hydrostone-Natural-Terracotta-Humidifying/dp/B00HFZE6G2/ref=pd_sbs_194_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=41Mn38Dz2UL&dpSrc=sims&preST=AC_UL160_SR99%2C160&refRID=0VAF5ZYWTKC3ASS63PQJ
What is the humidity % and temperature supposed to be? I have a lot of experience aging cheese which I guess would have some similarities.
I keep sheng at 65 to 70f and humidity between 68 to 70%. Shou about the same tepm but humidity about 60%. More to maintain the shou as its already aged and wont change much.
Brie mold definitely propagates under those conditions, but that also has to do with PH and the specific compounds/nutrients in cheese that are beneficial to that mold.
A slightly damp paper towel, or kitchen towel would do the trick. Wet, and then wrung out. You’d have to change it every few days, and I’d suggest slight ventilation, which could be cracking the door to it open a couple of mm, or if it’s not air tight, no need to worry there. (I’m assuming that the tea needs an aerobic environment?) I would think that any standing water would bring the humidity too high in that temperature range, unless the ratio of water surface area to open air volume was extremely low.
But, just extrapolating aging of cheese to tea, so I’m not 100% on this!
I think the tea needs an aerobic atmosphere to develop. From what I have read there are microbes that change the tea over a period of time. I am also careful to use only distilled water to lessen any chance of mold in storage. In some storage circles a small amount of white ‘frosting’ would just be brushed off and the tea rinsed with boiling water and then drank after that. Very similar to a cheese process like you say. I have computer fans and circulate the air a few minutes every day in there. I think it helps eliminate any severe chance of condensation in the back corners. I would push the humidity higher but I am a bigger fan of a drier stored tea.
There are some that say sealing the tea in an anaerobic environment still lets the tea mature. I haven’t personally tried it but some will argue the point.
ah, ok, so not very warm then. That is good to know.
my sheng has a lot of dust every time I go to have some. its really dry – also heating because of being the winter here makes for dryness.
I will monitor the humidity
A small amount of water shouldn’t hurt. It will evaporate and be absorbed. I sometimes hold cakes over a humidifier for a short while until the paper softens but doesn’t feel damp to the touch. When I put it back into my air-tight storage, it humidifies the container. No mold problems, but I’m just trying to keep RH > 50% during the winter months.
I wouldn’t advise it. A cup or bowl of exposed water in a pumidor or storage space will still be effective, but also safer.
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