derk said

Gold flecks in puerh

I’m sipping on this sheng cake that I think is pretty low quality. Along with plenty of charred bits in the bottom of the cup are flecks of gold almost like dust. I’m no stranger to finding gifts in my puerh but this is the first I’ve come across some kind of dusty, shimmering metal that settles. Hairs and larger objects don’t bother me but it’s clear I’m ingesting this stuff (omg am i gonna die).

I was thinking about tossing what I have left of the puerh. I’m using an extra-fine mesh filter and the gold dust is still making it through into my cup so easily panning my way to riches by drinking tea is unlikely.

Anybody come across something like this before in their puerh?

11 Replies
mrmopar said

Maybe put that puppy to the side till you figure out what it is. Any pictures to help with id?

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derk said

I did stop drinking it. Brewed up some more to take a few photos but it’s really difficult to catch something of such fine size, especially without macro capability on my phone.

You can see the reflection of one larger gold fleck in the middle of the picture:
https://imgur.com/Ft073EP

Again difficult to see, especially with glare and some of the leaf hairs catching the light at the bottom of the picture. The gold dust not visible in the dry cake has settled at the bottom of the cup with the char and fannings.
https://imgur.com/U3ugjXH

mrmopar said

Yeah looks like metal or something else. A Golden Flower brick wouldn’t have something that heavy in it as the yellow flowers break into the brew.

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Huh. I can’t really tell from the picture, and you seem certain it is metal — but I found something about yellow mold through Google.

Might it be that? https://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=11790

derk said

Thanks for searching!

It’s definitely not golden flower or yellow mold because it’s reflective. Could be shards of plastic or glitter? Mica and vermiculite are shiny minerals but don’t reflect like this stuff. I don’t have any chemicals to test reactivity and give me a better idea of what the gold dust might be. I might be able to get it under a microscope at school.

Maybe a teamaker was glitter bombed.

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I wonder if anyone on reddit.com/r/Puer would have ideas? I’ve seen some crazy stories/pictures on there of things people have found in their pu cakes…

derk said

Good idea

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YuNow said

well, if it’s metal , try magnet on it. Yet, the pieces seem to be quite small and if I got it right, it’s only on top of the pressed tea, not inside , right? Might be rubbish from the pressing stone or other tool.

derk said

As far as I can tell, the flecks are in the cake, too. Magnet might help rule out what it is. Wonder if it’s brass or something from machinery.

brass isn’t magnetic, so if it was that a magnet wouldn’t affect it.

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YuNow said

I just realized . When tea is pressed it’s not going to directly in touch with any metal. The tea is placed into the “sock” and then pressed. Only time it could get ( also inside ) would be before pressing when in loose leaf estate. It might happened during the steaming when it sits in metal tube and walls of the tube could just be pealing or before steaming when tea is placed somewhere on table for more convenience. that’s why we clean properly all our equipment before pressing, but if something got in before ( from tea farm or during tea processing it self ) , we can’t avoid it:-(

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