【Unintentional】

The first realm of tea storage is perhaps unintentional storage. For example, those border-sale teas casually stored in temple warehouses or corners of Tibetan homes can still be drunk after decades, though with a strong butter tea flavor. Actually, from the storage of Qing Dynasty tribute teas to early storage in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, most was unintentional, at most just checking for mold. If there were signs of mold, they would turn and air them. The four realms have no hierarchy, and unintentional storage doesn't mean you can't store good tea - tea that's stored unintentionally yet naturally aligned with proper principles can actually be very good.

【Deliberate】

Deliberation manifests in artificially controlling storage techniques and methods. Generally, as long as humidity is controlled to not be too dry and no mold develops, and temperature isn't too low to cause freezing, that's sufficient. There's no need to be too deliberate - sometimes going with the flow yields better results.

【Seclusion】

Pu'er tea enthusiasts gradually discovered that sealed storage is far superior to ventilated storage. This has two reasons: first, it preserves large amounts of aromatic substances in Pu'er tea. Tea stored this way maintains its aroma undiminished years later and becomes rich with variations. The second reason is that this method increases the concentration of effective substances in the micro-environment, making Pu'er transformation faster and more effective than with ventilation. This sealed method indeed resembles seclusion - Pu'er tea undergoes intensive internal cultivation.

【Pilgrimage】

Pu'er tea truly resembles those Zen monks on the path of cultivation who go on pilgrimages, visiting and verifying their understanding in the vast world. Though this sounds romantic, it may seem somewhat mysterious. Actually, it's not mysterious at all. Besides the tea quality itself, Pu'er tea's transformation during storage relates to microorganisms and other components in the air - temperature and humidity are far from everything. Each time it arrives in a new place, facing new air, Pu'er tea gains another layer of life experience and integration - this is the meaning of pilgrimage.