Hi,
Have 8-10 kgs of various forms of Pu'er (cake, brick, tuo) stored in a
reasonably tight hardwood cabinet (it's not air-tight). No holes or gaps in
the cabinetry. The tea is wrapped in it's original paper wrapping and
cartons.

Conditions inside are reasonably stable - but we do get the odd hot day here
in summer.

Anyway, I opened a 1990's cooked cake last night, one that had been opened
before, and I saw a minute bug, or mite. Very small - I'd say as an estimate
in size, say 0.1mm - really tiny. I checked the rest of the cake as best I
could and could not see any others.

Is this normal ? If not, is there anything I can do about it?. Our house
is kept reasonably clean and we have hardwood floors - so no carpet for
things to breed in.

Mal from Oz wrote:

I don't know about that specific insect, but am certainly concerned
about pests in my own stash.

Over the decades, I've had two infestations of flour weevils - little
bugs that get into even tightly closed jars. (Good article on such
critters at www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/yf/home/e300w.htm.)

Oh, yeah - freezing would probably work pretty well too. Say, three days
below zero degrees F, though some bugs are pretty hardy. (USDA and such
organizations probably have info published on this.) I just have so much
tea now that I'd have to find a walk-in freezer or run a lot of batches
through a big cabinet freezer.

-DM

While this reply has to be guesswork based on first principles rather
than experience I would not advise freeze sterilizing pu-erh to kill
insects or mites unless it was for immediate consumption (in which
case boiling water will suffice). Maturation of pu erh depends on a
healthy component of living organisms (good bacteria and fungi) which
freezing would kill. Dry tea is not generally attractive to mites;
chances are it's the fungi that the mites are eating. In standard tea
reducing the moisture would deter any alien insect growth, but again
pu erh needs some moisture for its maturation to continue. Carbon
dioxide for 72 hours is a standard insect kill method that would not
upset the fungi and bacteria too badly but requires the tea to be
infused with the gas in an hermeticly sealed vessel...

Nigel wrote:

Interesting - while not any kind of microbiologist, it's my impression
from a couple of dozen food/drink projects (plus random reading) that
pathogenic bacteria and fungi are not usually killed by freezing.
Rather, their metabolism and reproduction are suspended for the
duration. Is there evidence that the living elements in Pu-erh that (are
alleged to) cause beneficial aging could be harmed by freezing?

On 29 Dec, 18:39, DogMa worldnet.att.net> wrote:

I understand that the balance of kill versus suspended animation is
related to speed of freezing - a slow freeze being the most lethal -
quick freezing with intimate contact (liquid N) being non lethal. I
don't believe anyone has tested the effect of freezing on susbsequest
maturation of pu erh but would not want to risk mine to the the
uncontrolled and spatially variable cooling of a domestic freezer.

DogMa wrote:
[snip]

I'd say also to stack the tea boxes as low as possible in the cabinet,
and then put the dry ice on the top shelf, since CO2 is heavier than air
and will sink, so that way you'll have both CO2 and coldness on your side.

AP

"DogMa" worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:Vmrdj.88429$MJ6.53555@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...

Thanks...
Ok, the CO2 seems to be a method to get rid of what I may have, but how does
one stop them getting into the tea in the first place ?

Hence the reason for asking if the presence of minute bugs, such as this
one, is normal. Obviously weevils are not good, but this one wasn't a
weevil - not like you get in flour anyway.

This is the first time I have seen any evidence of any such beasties in the
2 years the tea has been stored. The stash is only opened say once a month,
if that - my daily requirements are left out on the bench in clay caddies.
My point here is that the opportunity for critters to get in is small -
however the one I saw would easily be able to get in. I suppose also that
the bugs may have been in the tea when I bought it.

The one I saw could, I suppose, be the one and only..who knows..

Funny thing is that some people believe this to be good and keep such
bug-eaten pu as a prized part of their stash. Look up the bug poop
pu'er threads we've had here in the past.