/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>20512153
>it's theoretically more controlled
Traditional shou is a polymicrobial wild ferment with nothing that strictly prevents mycotoxin producing flora from growing. This is not like an alcoholic or lactic acid fermentation where the desired microorganisms creates conditions that kill off the "bad" ones. In theory you could create as safer shou by using controlled more sanitary conditions and inoculating the pile with desired microbes but I don't think this is widely done. I know there is one Japanese shou style tea that is made with koji mold that claims to do this however. All in all my hunch would be that dry stored aged sheng probably has less mycotoxins than shou but I can't prove it.
>it's mostly fixed in time.
They age shou in the same places they age sheng. Mold can grow on shou too.

There are a few studies in english out their on the topic of mycotoxins in puerh but more are definitely needed. There are too few to draw definitive conclusions. However while the limited data out there suggests reason for concern it is also not so alarming that I think I need to forswear puerh. Personally I just try to avoid drinking the sketchy stuff too often. If you are really want to optimize for health there are probably bigger things in your life you can optimize first.